If you’re like me, you might not follow the entirety of college basketball very closely. I love to go to Husker basketball games in person, but I don’t keep up with the sport as a whole. To help me understand the types of players Nebraska is bringing in this year, I decided to find the closest statistical counterpart from Huskers in the last 18 seasons. This exercise is simply based on season-long box score stats. The data is scaled so that a one-unit difference in a stat like blocks or steals is weighted more heavily than a one-unit difference in a stat like points or minutes played.
Rollie Worster
Rollie Worster comes to Nebraska with over 100 starts in four seasons across two Utah schools. Rollie’s freshman season was most similar. His freshman season at Utah State resembled that of outgoing Husker Jamarques Lawrence. His three seasons at Utah followed the play of two Doc Sadler-era guards – Sek Henry and Lance Jeter. The former Cincinnati Bearcat wide receiver, Jeter, is 4th and 5th for total assists in a season by a Husker since 2006. However, Worster’s 149 assists in 2023 would surpass Jeter for 4th on the Husker list.
Braxton Meah
Meah will likely give the Huskers something they haven’t had in over 30 years – a seven-footer in the starting lineup (last was Rich King in the 1991 NCAA Tournament). Meah didn’t play much his two seasons at Fresno State averaging fewer than 10 minutes a game. His junior season at Washington was his best where his play most resembled that of future NBA player Isaiah Roby. However, former Husker Wilhelm Breidenbach stole minutes from Meah during the 2024 season although Meah won the job back at the end of the regular season.
Gavin Griffiths
Griffiths first season in college at Rutgers was most similar to Jack McVeigh’s freshman season at Nebraska. The 6’8 guard average 8 PPG in two contests against Nebraska last season. McVeigh, who had a knack for springing scoring runs, would be a good addition to Hoiberg’s squad looking to replace the world’s most exciting heat-check in Keisei Tominaga.
Andrew Morgan
Andrew Morgan comes to Nebraska from North Dakota State. He became a starter his sophomore year where his comp was fellow Summit League competitor Josiah Allick. At 6’10 his rebounding will be needed with Reink Mast missing the 2024-25 season. In his most recent season, he was mostly closely comped to 2009 guard Ade Dagunduro. Despite only being 6’5, Dagunduro led that team with 4.4 rebounds per game.
Connor Essegian
What better way to replace the sharp-shooting, international sensation, Keisei Tominaga, with a guy who played like him as a freshman. Essegian started the second half of the season for the Badgers as a freshman but was relegated to a bench role his sophomore season after AJ Storr arrived in Madison. Essegian was one of the most prolific scorers in Indiana High School basketball history. I expect him to replace the volume of shots Keisei is taking with him to professional basketball. Oh, and the second closest comp to Essegian freshman season? 2021 Teddy Allen who was only one of two Huskers since 2006 to have most points per 40 minutes than Keisei in 2024 (2007 Aleks Maric is the Huskers leader in that time span).
Berke Buyuktuncel
Buyuktuncel becomes the fifth player to transfer to Nebraska arriving from Turkey after a season at UCLA. His lone season as Bruin compares most closely to that of former Braxton Meah teammate Wilhelm Breidenbach. At Nebraska, Breidenbach played out by the three point line more than he did at Washington relieving a Braxton Meah who dealt with injuries all season. Berke can hopefully demonstrate his skills as a stretch forward like he did in the FIBA Under-19 World Cup victory over the United States last year.
The 2023-24 season was a special one for the Huskers, but it left a lot on the table for Fred Hoiberg. Nebraska addressed its lack of size by bringing in the first 7-footer that will start a game for Nebraska in nearly 35 years. It also brought in an elite shooter can hopefully pick up where the beloved Keisei Tominaga left off. This transfer class might be poised to make Nebraska a mainstay at the top of the Big Ten standings.
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