Nebraska filled two needs with latest transfer portal commitment

We said earlier this week that Fred Hoiberg and the Nebraska basketball team had work still to do in the transfer portal. 

On Thursday, Hoiberg took care of some of that, landing 6-foot-5 guard Taj DeGourville, who entered the portal after two seasons playing for San Diego State.

DeGourville fills a major need for the Huskers, two of them in fact.

Nebraska basketball needed someone else who could play point guard. There wasn’t enough depth there. The Huskers also needed more playmaking to replace Jamarques Lawrence.

There won’t be a spot in the starting lineup for DeGourville, but he came off the bench in 59 of his 64 career games, so that shouldn’t be an issue. He averaged 5.5 points per game, playing an average of 19.2 minutes. This season, he dished out three assists per game and shot 34.7 percent from 3-point range.

DeDourville has 40 3-point field goals in his career, with a percentage of 32.3 percent. That’s not great, but if anyone can help him improve it, it’s Hoiberg. The good news is that he can contribute in other ways.

Nebraska basketball needed another ball handler. They got one in DeGourville. He can be the backup point guard, but he is also a proven playmaker, with 100 assists this past season. He’s got 46 career steals, and averaged 0.8 last season.

So, beyond the ball-handling and playmaking on offense, he is a plus defender who is 6-foot-5. That gives Nebraska two playmaking point guards with size.

The dynamic guard, at least with the ball in his hands, had 12 games with at least four assists last season. He only shot 37 percent from the field. That part of his game needs work.

This feels like a player who hasn’t played his best basketball yet and there’s a good chance that will happen under Hoiberg.