Ryan Anderson knows that last year’s Nebraska basketball team was just one or two players away from a shot at the NCAA tournament.
“I definitely believe that if we’d had big guys last year, we could have done some things,” he said. “But this is a new year.”
This year, the senior guard has those big men – 6-foot-11 center Jorge Brian Diaz and 6-foot-10 forward Brandon Ubel – but he’ll also have six other new scholarship players who are making their Husker debuts this season.
Led by Anderson and fellow senior Sek Henry, NU plans to feature the same brand of hard-nosed defense that led the Huskers to 18 wins last season under coach Doc Sadler.
Anderson and Henry will be surrounded by a group of high-talent, low-experience players. Of the eight Huskers who could hit the court for the first time this season, at least one has already clearly established himself as a starter.
Lance Jeter, a junior college transfer from Polk, Fla., has settled in at the starting point guard spot left vacant by the departures of Steve Harley and Cookie Miller. The 6-foot-3 junior put up a combined 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists in NU’s exhibition wins over Arkansas-Fort Smith and Hastings.
“I just go out there and lead vocally, and it’s been working so far,” Jeter said. “My teammates have responded well, and I definitely feel like I’m getting there. I’m just being a sponge and soaking up everything our coaches and players say. I need to get all the information I can, because once it starts, you’ve got to be prepared.”
Jeter is a physical defender and, at 6-foot-3, is a considerable upgrade in height from Harley and Miller – two attributes that will prove vital against the top point guards of the Big 12 Conference like Kansas’ Sherron Collins.
“Those other point guards already have their names,” Jeter said. “They’ve done work and done their job in the Big 12 so people know them. I’m here to make my name. When the lights are on, you’ve got to show up.”
Sadler said Jeter’s consistency on and off the court since arriving in Lincoln this summer has proven to him that he’s found a gem at the point.
“He’s just what I thought he would be,” Sadler said. “Lance is a winner. There’s going to be games when he may score more points or less points, but you know you’re going to get what you want.”
Though several newcomers will have a chance to make an instant impact, the player who is perhaps the most talented of NU’s fresh faces won’t get that same opportunity.
Christian Standhardinger, a 6-foot-8 forward from Munich, Germany, was the Huskers’ leading scorer through two exhibition games, but due to an NCAA amateur ruling, won’t be eligible to play until NU travels to Texas A&M on Jan. 9.
Standhardinger averaged 17.5 points and seven rebounds per game in his first two games with NU, but Sadler said the freshman has plenty of improvements to make on his defensive game while he waits to play.
“He’s got to be ready when we start league play,” Sadler said. “I would say this about Christian: There’s not going to be anybody that plays any harder. He’s going to give you everything he’s got; he’s got a knack for scoring the ball, and he’s got a long, long way to go defensively.”
Standhardinger admits it won’t be easy to stay as motivated in practice knowing there won’t be any games in his near future, but he sees the time on the bench as a chance to bulk up and hone his game.
“It is harder, but I think I will stay motivated,” he said. “I have 15 games (on a sheet) in my locker, and I numbered when the first game is and I will mark them all off.”
When he returns, the real test will begin for NU. The conference is considered by some to be the toughest in the nation this year, and the Huskers were tabbed to finish 11th in the Big 12 by conference media.
Anderson said he wasn’t offended by the slight. Instead, he savors the opportunity to catch opponents by surprise with NU’s fundamentally sound, relentless defense.
“We know where we can be as a team,” he said. “We can’t let people dictate where we’re going to be at. Ever since I’ve been here, they’ve always put us at the bottom. This year, hopefully we can make a statement.”
Jeter has already taken his new coach’s style of play to heart, and he vows the Huskers won’t play like the pushovers they’ve been projected to be.
“We’re going to be the hardest-working and scrappiest team. That’s what Nebraska’s about,” he said. “Every team we play will have to expect to get a battle from us, and that’s what they’re going to get.”
maxolson@dailynebraskan.com
Be the first to comment on this article!