Nebraska Basketball: “Heart over Hype” Easier Said Than Done

On Oct. 29, I spent around 90 minutes inside the beautiful Pinnacle Bank Arena watching the men’s and women’s Nebraska basketball teams scrimmage and have some fun for their fans.

It certainly wasn’t ‘No Sit Sunday’ as far as energy and atmosphere goes, but it was fun to get a first glimpse at the 2014-2015 Husker roundball squads.

Wearing new ‘Heart Over Hype’ t-shirts, each team was introduced to the crowd followed by a quick back and forth between the teams’ respective head coaches Tim Miles and Connie Yori.

‘Heart Over Hype’, especially for the men’s team, is no easy task coming into this season. A returning first-team All-Big Ten player? Check. Returning league scoring champion? Yep. Nearly every contributor returning? They have that too.

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However, perhaps what stood out to me most of all was the physical stature of this team.

For any faults they may have, the 2014-2015 men’s Nebraska basketball team looks the part. They are long and athletic across the board (well, Benny Parker excluded).

The biggest addition (both physically and with possible contributions on the court) is Moses Abraham.

At 6’9″ and 250 pounds Abraham, a transfer from Georgetown, will likely sub for Walter Pitchford as the center and will fit in as the five with Pitchford as a four/power forward when the Huskers elect to go with a bigger lineup.

The Kano, Nigeria native was ranked as Top 100 recruit by Rivals in the class of 2010 and originally chose Georgetown over Indiana and Maryland. He’ll have one year of eligibility at Nebraska.

Another newcomer who impressed on Wednesday night was Andrew White III, a 6’7″ two guard transfer from Kansas.

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Between spectacular breakaway dunks, White showed off his range draining four three point attempts pushing him into the leading scorer position with 18.

White will have to sit out this year due to NCAA transfer rules, but if by some small miracle Terran Petteway decides to return, he and White could form a dynamic shooting guard/small forward pairing.

If Petteway does elect to forgo his senior season, White will immediately be looked upon to fill that role as a ‘slasher’ and scorer.

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It was Cady and not Laudermill who stole the show, however. In the evening’s highlight, at least from my perspective, the Men versus Women three-point shootout featured six of the best sharpshooters, three from each team, competing to crown a winner.

Of note for the women’s team, Nebraska officials announced their largest number of season ticket requests ever (though no number was specified).

For the men’s team, season ticket letters noted a 97 percent renewal rate and a completely sold out Vault crowd.

It certainly is an exciting time to be a Nebraska basketball fan, but with expectations as high as they are for each team, let’s hope the heart of each of them can indeed overcome the hype.