There are few people associated with the Nebraska basketball program who would argue this season went to plan. However, there are some, such as Rienk Mast, who have more room to complain than others.
Mast announced last spring that he was undergoing a procedure to fix an injury that bothered him towards the end of a regular season that finished in the NCAA Tournament. Those watching his play closely noticed he did seem to lose a step or two down the stretch. However, he offered a piece of good news when he announced he would miss the 2024-25 season. He had every intention of coming back for the 2025-26 campaign.
On Monday afternoon, the Nebraska basketball big man offered a bit of good news to a beleaguered fanbase. He is indeed coming back to play and he is indeed coming back to the Huskers. It’s safe to say that’s the first piece of legitimate good news since NU went from an NCAA Tournament bubble team, to losing its final five games.
Nebraska basketball getting big man back for 2025-26 season
Reports that Mast would return started flowing around social media early in the afternoon and later in the evening, the program made it official with a post that featured a picture of Mast and the caption, “let’s work.”
Let’s work. #GBR pic.twitter.com/et3UF2vYCp
— Nebraska Men's Basketball (@HuskerMBB) March 24, 2025
After three seasons at Bradley, Mast came over to Nebraska ahead of last season and proved to be an effective post player who also had unusual touch from beyond the three-point arc. He averaged 12.3 points and 7.5 rebounds while draining 34% of his shots from deep. That performance included a game against Ohio State where he scored a career high 34 points and was 6-for-8 from three-point land.
This season, the Nebraska basketball team struggled to replace Rienk Mast’s production. Berke Buyuktuncel led the team in rebounds per game with just 5.7 and Andrew Morgan was the highest scoring front court player at 8.3 points per game.