Husker Corner
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Nebraska Basketball continues reshaping roster with loss of Denim Dawson

By Oliver Vandervoort

Nebraska basketball guard Denim Dawson (12) is defended by Iowa Hawkeyes forward Payton Sandfort (20) during the first half at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. (Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports)
Nebraska basketball guard Denim Dawson (12) is defended by Iowa Hawkeyes forward Payton Sandfort (20) during the first half at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. (Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports) /
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The Nebraska basketball team has another opening on its roster. One day after Fred Hoiberg’s squad lost Oleg Kojenets to the transfer portal, Denim Dawson joined him.

The departure of Dawson is yet another odd move considering that the Huskers roster is going to be seeing plenty of openings without anyone leaving for a transfer. Sam Griesel and Keisei Tominaga could both be out the door. Griesel will definitely have to move on. It would seem there will be more than enough playing time for Dawson as he continues to grow and develop.

There is very obviously one thing that ties Kojenets and Dawson together. That’s neither player got much in the way of playing time this past season. There were already some chances for Oleg and Denim to take the reigns and show what they could do.

Sam Hoiberg is a testament to the fact that there was especially a chance for Dawson to step up and get quite a bit more playing time. Instead Dawson averaged 1.7 points and 1.8 rebounds in 28 appearances this year.

Dawson especially had a real chance to grab a starting spot after Juwan Gary suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. He started the next eight games, but didn’t play a ton even in those starts and was eventually moved back to the bench. Once he was no longer in the starting lineup he played only 14 minutes the rest of the year.

I wondered on Tuesday whether Kojenets’ departure might actually have been at the suggestion of Hoiberg. The Nebraska basketball coach has shown before that he’s willing to tell a player when there isn’t going to be room for him on the roster. It certainly seems like that might have been the case with Denim Dawson, especially considering he wasn’t given much of a shot once a spot opened up.

With Derrick Walker and Sam Griesel gone for sure, the Nebraska basketball team now has four open scholarship spots for the 2023-24 season. The Huskers do have one incoming player already in Eli Rice. They’re also in on a few transfers, including Central Arkansas’s Camren Hunter.

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