The departure of Nebraska basketball strength coach Kurt Joseph could be the first real setback for Fred Hoiberg as he gears up to reload and make another run in the NCAA Tournament. Joseph, whose official title is Director of Men's Basketball Strength and Conditioning, has been with the Huskers for the past five seasons but is now making the jump to the NBA with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Hoiberg confirmed to On3 on Saturday that Joseph had accepted a position with the Pelicans. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native will oversee the NBA franchise’s entire sports performance department. His acknowledgement was short and sweet saying, “Great opportunity for Kurt,” but that could be because he's busy looking for his replacement.
Nebraska basketball must replace a key staffer before summer workouts begin
Nebraska will begin open summer workouts in early June and should have the new strength coach in place by then. However, Hoiberg added he wasn't ready to name a replacement just yet. It's thought at least that final candidates are lined up.
Before joining Hoiberg’s staff in 2021, Joseph served as an assistant strength coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves for two seasons. He was also the head strength coach for the NBA G League’s Iowa Wolves after working with the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets. It will be hard to find someone who had that kind of experience to come to Lincoln.
Kurt Joseph leaves Nebraska basketball with a culture void to fill
Nebraska is in the middle of retooling its roster after the best season in the history of the program. The Huskers lost several key cogs from the 2025-26 campaign due to the Transfer Portal and graduation. However, the Huskers managed to land several players to fill those holes including a few who could be next season's big scorers alongside Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager.
Those around Nebraska feel that the loss of Joseph is a big one, not just because he was a good strength coach, but because he installed a culture of "mindfulness" that several players and coaches credited for several come-from-behind wins and/or holding off late charges from opponents.
“This is a really mentally tough team,” Sam Hoiberg said following Nebraska's NCAA Tournament win over Vanderbilt that required a very late layup from Frager to get the victory. “We were in one of the last media timeouts, and we were down a couple of points. I was really tired. I thought back to the summer workouts. That’s the reason we did this, was for this time of the year to stay mentally tough. Shout-out Kurt Joseph for that."
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