Nebraska Basketball: Bryce McGowens ‘has potential to be a star’ in the NBA, teammate says

Former Nebraska basketball star Bryce McGowens’ stint with the Huskers was not great, but it appears his time in the NBA has been more beneficial.

At the very least, it’s been beneficial enough that one of his Charlotte Hornets teammates believes he will eventually grow into an impact player. In fact, forward Kelly Oubre believes that while the former Nebraska basketball star is still trying to become someone who cracks the Hornets’ rotation, he’ll eventually be quite a bit better than that.

Oubre talked about his young teammate during a postgame press conference recently. The comments were especially interesting because the rookie guard has mostly struggled in his limited playing time.

However, it appears that his teammates are starting to see something in him that makes them believe he’s going to be growing into a role that could eventually see him be a star.

"“His poise, his demeanor. He doesn’t get rattled. No moment seems too big for him. He’s always ready. He comes out there and he plays his game, he’s smooth. When I was his age, I was 100 miles per hour running through walls and just banging my head against everything, so to see him in his mind frame right now as a rookie, it doesn’t emulate a normal rookie. He’s NBA ready and I feel like he’s going to be a star in this league. Whatever I can do to help him, it’s what I’m here for. Just pointers, getting up shots, or just talking about defensive film things like that. He has a lot of talent, a lot of potential to be a star in this league.”"

While no one likes to suffer through a losing season, it’s worth pointing out that McGowens might be in exactly the right situation to help him reach stardom. The Hornets are currently just 10-26 on the season.

Bryce McGowens has played in 13 games so far and has shot 40 percent from the field while averaging just 4.1 points per game. However, he has seen more minutes as the season goes along. As the Hornets drop further and further out of a playoff spot, the former Nebraska basketball star could see even more playing time. And at that point, he could indeed take a big step towards being a star.