With the Nebraska basketball team set to tip off their season in a few days, the Huskers hope transfer dead eye Sam Orme will finally be healthy enough to play.
"He has done full-speed non-contact the last couple of days," NU head coach Fred Hoiberg said Thursday. "And we'll see how he reacts."
Brian Christopherson of 247Sports reports that since Orme didn't play in any exhibition games because of a hamstring injury, the former Belmont star will miss Friday, and Nebraska will look to get him in some contact drills on Saturday.
How he responds to the drills will help drive the decision on whether he'll play in the season opener on November 2 against LeMoyne.
Fred Hoiberg plans expanded Nebraska basketball role for transfer Sam Orme
"I've said this all along: We're taking a very precautionary approach to this," Hoiberg said during a meeting with the media on Thursday. "Those hamstrings/quads, those types of things, can be tricky and linger on if you try to rush back. So we'll see how he's doing on Saturday, and if he's ready to go on Monday, we'll throw him out there."
Because Nebraska won't need Orme unless something goes horribly, horribly wrong, it's possible they'll just wait until the next opportunity to get him on the court, the following Saturday against Providence. If and when Orme returns in the next two games, it will be a big boon to Nebraska, which had some problems in their exhibition schedule without him.
The 6-foot-10 Orme should allow the Huskers to stress defenses even more. However, he could also be a Rienk Mast-type weapon on offense. Orme averaged 12.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists last year.
"He's got great size. Obviously, his biggest strength is his ability to shoot the ball. He was a 42% three-point shooter a year ago at Belmont," Hoiberg said. "But he's more than that. He can put the ball on the deck. They used him in a lot of ways."
"They" in this case refers to former Belmont and current Kansas State head coach Casey Alexander. One of the reasons Nebraska wanted to take on the Wildcats in their final exhibition match of the year is that he wanted to get a look at Alexander's offense for a more complete look at how the Bruins used Orme up close and personal.
"They did a lot of really unique things with Sam as a playmaker," the Nebraska basketball head man said. "And we added a couple of those to our sets. In the last game I thought we executed them really well ... So that gave us a chance to steal some things, and add to the package some sets that fit with our group as well."
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