3 questions and a prediction for Nebraska basketball teams in 2024-25

Last season was collectively one of the best in the history of Nebraska basketball. Both the men’s and women’s teams made the NCAA tournament and each is expected to contend for postseason berths again.

The Nebraska women’s basketball team has started the season ranked 23rd in the AP Poll. Jaz Shelley is no longer on the roster after graduating, but five-star freshman Britt Prince, maybe the most highly-touted recruit the Nebraska women’s team has ever had, should help fill that void.

Alexis Markowski will be a driving force for Nebraska down low, along with Natalie Potts, the 2023-24 Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Sophomore guard Logan Nissly is poised to take a leap, plus Allison Weidner will be back after missing last season due to injury.

The Nebraska basketball men’s team lost arguably its two best players Keisei Tominaga and also Rienk Mast, who is redshirting this season after an injury. Tominaga is in the G-League so there is a lot of production to replace.

Fred Hoiberg did a brilliant job of adding talent in the portal and landed five players with experience in a high-major league, plus another mid-major veteran in big Andrew Morgan, who has many of the same qualities as Rienk Mast.

Rollie Worster ( PG) and Braxton Meah (C) should anchor a much-improved defense, while Connor Essegian and Gavin Griffiths should help make up for some of the 3-point shooting that departed, which also includes CJ Wilcher.

Nebraska opens the season tonight against Texas Rio Grande Valley, while the women play Omaha this afternoon. Big picture though, here are three questions and a prediction for Nebraska basketball teams in 2024-25.

Will the defense improve for the Nebraska men’s basketball team?

The Huskers were 43rd last season in adjusted defense according to Kenpom. That’s a big improvement from the season prior but Nebraska basketball still struggled to defend the rim as we saw in the Big Ten tournament and against Texas A&M.

The Aggies hit a ton of 3-pointers too, but one reason for that was that Nebraska couldn’t keep the Aggies out of the paint. This season, the Huskers are returning two starters but added some key defensive pieces via the transfer portal.

Rollie Worster isn’t just a true point guard, he’s a really good defender. He’ll be a huge upgrade defensively, in addition to being a creator on offense. Braxton Meah should also improve the defense from a shot-blocking perspective.

The Huskers didn’t have much rim protection last season. But in 2024-25, with Meah and Berke Büyüktuncel, the rim protection should be much better. There’s just more athleticism around the rim. Andrew Morgan will add another quality body inside, giving Nebraska three quality bigs who can play center or the four if needed.

Can Nebraska replace the 3-point production?

The men’s team lost 227 3-pointers last season to various players who graduated, transferred, or are injured (Mast) which includes four of the top five 3-point shooters from last season.

Nebraska added players who made 82 3-pointers last season from the transfer portal, so there’s going to need to be a jump in production.

Essegian and Griffiths are the obvious candidates. They combined for 51 3-pointers last season but will need to shoot at a higher volume and a higher percentage this season.

Essegian made 67 as a freshman but just 20 last season for Wisconsin in a limited role. Griffiths made 31 last year, also in a somewhat limited role with Rutgers.

Taking into account that Tominaga and Wilcher combined for 126 3-pointers, with one starting and one coming off the bench, getting as close to that number as possible should be the goal for Essegian/Griffiths.

If Essegian can shoot like he did as a freshman (67 3-pointers) and Griffiths can make another 20 treys, which seems doable under Fred Hoiberg instead of Rutgers, you could see in that 100-120 range.

The 3-pointers that will be tough to recover are those by Mast. Morgan and Büyüktuncel have a chance — they combined for 23 triples last season, but the offense could be more interior-oriented.

Will Britt Prince live up to the hype?

Prince, a 5-foot-11 frehsman from Omaha probably should be playing for UConn. Instead, she will be suiting up for the Huskers in the biggest recruiting win in Nebraska women’s basketball history.

Prince averaged 24 points per game last season as she led her team to a state championship, scored more than 2,400 points in her high school career and made 46 percent of her shots from 3-point range.

The fact that she was featured on the social media post with the details for the season opener against Omaha tells you all you need to know — she is expected to be a star.

Prince is part of the reason the Huskers are ranked along with a solid core of returning players that nearly knocked off Iowa to win the Big Ten tournament title and did win an NCAA tournament game.

Sometimes, it can be hard to meet the hype but if Prince can do that this season, the Sweet 16 feels like a realistic possibility for the Nebraska women’s basketball team.

One Nebraska basketball prediction

Both teams will make the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row, but put me on record as saying that the Huskers win their first-ever tournament game (men’s basketball), while the women also win a game in the tournament, meaning both squads will win in March Madness for the first time ever.

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