Nebraska Cornhuskers: Keisei Tominaga rings the bell, but for whom does it toll

Nebraska Cornhuskers star Keisei Tominaga got to ring the bell at Indiana Pacers’ practice on Tuesday, and that could be bad news for Huskers fans.

“No man is an Island, intire of it selfe; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.”

That poem by English philosopher John Donne deals with the heady subjects of death and the connectivity of humanity. So why, you’re likely asking, would I allude to it in an article about the Nebraska Cornhuskers? Because in that poem and the book John Hemingway wrote, titled For Whom the Bell Tolls, the bell tolling announces death.

The bell that Nebraska basketball star Keisei Tominaga rang at Indiana Pacers’ practice didn’t signify actual death. But it might have signified the death of the hopes that Husker fans were holding out that he’d return to Nebraska next season.

Nebraska Cornhuskers fans might be in for disappointment

The specific reason why Tominaga rang the bell is that he had an excellent practice. Husker Hoops Central pointed out that when someone at the Indiana Pacers practices hits 20 or more of 25 3-pointers, they get to ring the bell. Keisei rang the bell.

Worse than that (from a Huskers’ fan perspective) after the practice, Tominaga talked about how badly he wants to play in the NBA. When you listen to him talk, it doesn’t sound like he’s at all ambivalent about going pro.

One way or another, Nebraska Cornhuskers fans will be finding out in the next day or two whether they’ll get Keisei Tominaga back for another year, or have to watch him make good in the pros. So when asking “for whom the bell tolls?” Husker fans are hoping it tolls for thee, NBA Draft.