3 thoughts on Jamarques Lawrence transfer from Nebraska basketball

The roster turnover continued for Nebraska basketball on Monday as Jamarques Lawrence entered the transfer portal. It’s not a shocking departure but it’s a little surprising and definitely a blow.

Lawrence started 35 games over the past two seasons. He finished coming off the bench and averaged 6.9 points. He’s also a plus defender — probably the best on-ball defender on the roster — and is a 36.4 percent shooter from 3-point range. That’s on top of 2.4 assists.

Nebraska has now lost seven of the 12 players on its roster from last season due to the transfer portal or graduation and here are three thoughts.

Lawrence didn’t have a clear path to starting

It’s not like Lawrence wasn’t given a shot at Nebraska. He started over 35 games. This season he was the starting point guard but Fred Hoiberg felt the need to make a change. Keisei Tominaga essentially became the point guard and the Huskers were a team without a true point guard, which hurt them in March.

You walked away from the postseason thinking the Huskers need another big or two, as well as a point guard. The Huskers have been after some scoring guards and it feels like Lawrence would have to overcome a lot to make the starting lineup.

It’s a bummer because he has two seasons and two years of eligibility. You never want to lose a core piece but at least the Huskers have plenty of time and scholarship room available.

Time to lock down the other Nebraska basketball starters

It’s easy to say that Nebraska baskeball made the NCAA tournament last season, so they can do it again. But the facts are that the Huskers lost their best player. The next three best players haven’t committed to being on the roster for next season, so as it stands, there is a lot of uncertainty.

Rienk Mast, Juwan Gary, and Brice Williams could all be back. But until they announce it, it’s not guaranteed. Losing any of them at this point would be a killer. Nebraska basketball can sustain the losses of C.J. Wilcher and Lawrence, but they have lost two starters and arguably four of their top eight players.

Nebraska won’t be the only team in that boat. The Huskers had similar issues last season and Fred Hoiberg, who has always been active in the portal, knocked it out of the park for the second straight offseason.

He’ll have to do it again. The bigger priority should be locking down the rest of the current roster. At the very least, they need to get some understanding if players are coming back or not.

Time for Fred Hoiberg to do his thing

Juwan Gary, Josiah Allick, Sam Griesel, Brice Williams, and Rienk Mast are all players Fred Hoiberg has landed from the transfer portal over the last two offseasons. Hoiberg has a system and he knows what he wants in a player. Players have also seen what he’s done for player development.

Nebraska basketball has a solid NIL program and there’s a lot to sell, especially since the Huskers are now an NCAA tournament team. There is work to do in order to stay there, but Robin Washut of Husker Online said Hoiberg will be meeting some “priority targets” soon. William Kyle and Frankie Fidler each visited in the past week and both would fit.

A point guard is needed. More 3-point shooting is too, and a high-volume scorer to try and replace Keisei Tominaga. Hoiberg has six scholarships to work with and it will be interesting to see how he uses them.

But, if there was a head coach you’d trust if you need a strong transfer portal class, Fred would be up there. He’s got an eye for talent and got my trust, even if he’s got a big to-do list.

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