Zeigler Says Husker Basketball is Just Getting Started

After the success of last season, one might think the pressure has cooled off for Fred Hoiberg and the Nebraska Basketball program. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. The heat is still on and pressed to “Big Red” hot with no signs of letting up for Husker Hoops.

“We finished third in the Big 10 last season and got to the NCAA Tournament, but for us the goal still remains. It’s all about taking the next step now,” said Nebraska Assistant Basketball Coach Ernie Zeigler at Monday’s Executive Club luncheon in downtown Lincoln at the Graduate Hotel. “That’s what Coach Hoiberg talked about 4 weeks ago in our first team meeting. Our guys understand now that we can not be satisfied with just making the NCAA Tournament. Let’s look to ascend to the top of the Big 10.”

Zeigler said the Huskers are in their 5th week of the summer session which lasts 8 weeks. He said everyone on the team is on campus, excepting Berke Buyuktuncel, a 6-foot-9 sophomore transfer from UCLA and native of Bursa, Turkey. Zeigler said Buyuktuncel is currently playing with the Turkish 20-and-under National Team in the FIBA games being held in Poland.

This is Zeigler’s third season with Nebraska basketball, but that doesn’t mean he was comfortable pronouncing the young Turkish hoopster’s last name. He hesitated with the last name briefly and begged off for possibly making any mistakes.

“I may be wrong. I’ll have to get Kent Pavelka to give me the correct pronunciation once the season starts,” Zeigler said rather sheepishly. “We’ll just call him Berke for now, but we’re really excited about him.”

There are only three returning players from last season’s team which includes Brice Williams, Juwan Gary and Sam Hoiberg, according to Zeigler. He said they have nine new guys which includes 6 transfers and two incoming freshmen. Zeigler said the key to this season will be having all team members buying in and playing together as one unit in sequence.

“We have literally 11 guys that between now and November, when we start playing, are all vying for ‘how do I put myself in position to help this team be successful,’ when Fred (Hoiberg) decides what that rotation is,” Zeigler explained. “I think the difference for this group from last season, we’ve got to find a way to play 10 guys and keep them happy because we just have that type of depth to be able to play different ways.”

The different ways he referenced were playing big and small depending on what the other team was trying to accomplish against the Huskers. He said last season their run in the post season ended earlier than expected due to an Aggies team that was more athletic and long which Nebraska was not able to match.

“The NCAA Tournament games are a lot like boxing, different styles, different fighters. The question is, can your style supersede the next guy’s style. That’s what happened to us against Texas A&M,” he said. “Now we have better depth to match up with that type and style of team. There are now 18 teams in the Big 10, they all bring a different style and talent level.”

When the Huskers go “big” come November, Zeigler described a lineup consisting of Buyuktuncel at the 4 position, 7-1 and 250-pound Washington transfer Braxton Meah at the 5 position, Gary at the 3 position, Williams at the 2 position and at the point guard position, either 6-4 Utah transfer Rollie Worster or 6-3 Ahron Ulis, who sat out last season due to a suspension after transferring from Iowa the previous year.

Another aspect of this season’s Huskers is age and experience. Zeigler said they have 4 players on the team that are in their 6th year of eligibility, including Williams, Gary, Ulis and Meah. He said North Dakota State transfer Andrew Morgan will be playing in his 5th year of college basketball.

“We’re going to have an older team,” said Zeigler, who has been an assistant and head coach in college basketball since 1999. “We’ve got half our roster at 23, 24 and maybe one of them at 25 years old. This is where college basketball is because of the transfer portal and because of the pandemic, as well. All of these guys received an extra year of eligibility because of COVID.”

If you asked Zeigler, who is a native of Detroit, what else is remarkable these days, he’ll tell you what Hoiberg was able to accomplish with this program by turning things upside down to find success at Nebraska is remarkable.

“Fred (Hoiberg) did a helluva job at just doing a 360 in his philosophy from when he started 5 years ago to where we are right now. A lot of that maturation occurred with the staff changes. In any business that’s successful, sometimes you think you have the right people on the bus and the next thing you know, hey! They’re not the right people on the bus and you’ve got to move seats around and that’s what Fred was able to do with our staff. Now as we sit here and get ready to embark on year 6, we’re just extremely excited about the group.”