Sadler convinced Huskers can Git-R-Done?
Posted: Thursday, September 03, 2009 9:53 AM
Filed Under:
Coaches, Big 12
Doc Sadler spent part of his summer in Larry the Cable Guy’s entourage. No surprise there.
A sense of humor is essential to being Nebraska’s basketball coach. (Cue laugh track.)
Seriously though, laughter would be a necessity with the Huskers. Most basketball coaches would lose their minds swimming upstream at a place like that. Consider:
Nati Harnik/AP |
Doc Sadler
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It’s a football school with hardly any hoops success in its past. Unlike colleges like Notre Dame, USC or Oklahoma, the Cornhuskers have never been to a Final Four. They’re more like Alabama – moderate success that usually goes unnoticed because of fall, spring practice, signing day and summer workouts.
There’s not much in-state talent. According to rivals.com, the state’s boasts two 3-star players for the class of 2010. The only 4-star player in the last six years was Lincoln Southeast’s Matt Hill. He committed to Texas. In-state talent isn’t crucial to a strong program, but it certainly helps. And Sadler could use it.
Plus, it seems like Sadler can’t catch a break.
Center Christopher Niemann will miss the season due to a knee injury. At 6-11, he was going to bring some much-needed height to the Huskers, whose roster is usually dotted with players 6-7 and under. Ask Aleks Maric how much fun it was being Nebraska’s lone post player.
(True, 6-8 Christian Standhardinger is eligible now, but only because of Neimann’s injury.)
But hey, Sadler’s still optimistic. Maybe it’s Larry’s influence.
"I think with this group, down the road, in the next two or three years, we can compete [for a top spot in the Big 12],” Sadler told Andy Katz. "We can compete now, and even though we've been a seventh- or eighth-place team in the Big 12, that's not our goal. Being an NIT team is not our goal.”
