Husker Corner
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Nebraska basketball target Yavuz Gültekin commits to Virginia Tech

By Oliver VanDervoort

BLOOMINGTON, IN - DECEMBER 28: Head coach Tim Miles of the Nebraska Cornhuskers watches the game from the sideline in the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Assembly Hall on December 28, 2016 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, IN - DECEMBER 28: Head coach Tim Miles of the Nebraska Cornhuskers watches the game from the sideline in the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Assembly Hall on December 28, 2016 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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The Nebraska basketball team continues to struggle when it comes to recruiting high school big men.

The Nebraska basketball got some bad news on Wednesday afternoon. A highly touted power forward target announced he was headed to Virginia Tech.

Yavuz Gültekin made the announcement on social media with a picture of him adorning a Virginia Tech jersey. The bad news was not exactly a shock.

While the Maryland prep star had scheduled a visit to see the Huskers, that visit wasn’t planned until next month. When he announced Tuesday night he was picking his school, it appeared the writing was on the wall.

Still, there was hope that the forward might see what was happening in Lincoln and take the plunge. It isn’t like he couldn’t have decided against it later if he had taken the trip to see the Cornhuskers and decided it just wasn’t what he was expecting.

The bit of bad news comes on the heels of the announcement that an incoming freshman is going to miss the season with an achilles injury. Karrington Davis is a power forward himself, one of the lone successes in recruiting this kind of big man Miles has had during his tenure here.

Losing out on Gültekin might be a little more painful because of that injury. While Davis is expected to make a full recovery at the moment, the achilles is one of those that can linger for quite a while. If it’s severe enough it can even be career ending.

Whether Gültekin was going to be counted on to be an insurance policy for Davis, or just more size and talent (he’s the third best player in Maryland) on the roster, he was a prospect that wasn’t a sure thing as far as the Nebraska basketball team landing him. At the same time, he’s the kind of player Tim Miles is going to start needing to “close” on.

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