(Saw this posted elsewhere and thought it worth re-posting here
Of course you look at what other puzzle pieces are on the table. Can you see the picture they could make?
"That's honestly a really big part of it," Josiah Allick said on Sunday as he discussed his decision to finish his college hoops career at Nebraska.
While a player could just think about where he might go to best stack up individual stats, the real fun comes in contributing to a winning product, no? Yes.
It comes in being part of a team with chemistry where your best work feeds off the other guy's best work, and his off yours.
Whatever a program offers you as far as potential scoring opportunity, "If you don't have players around you who you feel are going to compete or play the right way or be unselfish ... then none of that really matters," said the 6-8 forward Allick. "You might be able to get some numbers but you're not going to see it in a way that matters."
When Allick looked at the pieces Fred Hoiberg and his staff have been putting together this offseason, he could see the picture coaches had for this Husker squad that will try to start building a bond over these summer months.
He names off transfer additions Rienk Mast, Brice Williams and what seems the growing possibility of a Keisei Tominaga return.
"They also got (Ahron) Ulis and have that point guard spot secured. I really felt comfortable with just the type of guys they have coming in," Allick said. "Because none of those guys were just really like high-volume, just jack-it-up guys. And I felt like obviously having three upperclassmen transfers, there's going to be that molding process of coming together and whatnot. But I really feel like those guys and just my play style would fit well."
Allick hadn't yet made a public commitment when James Ulis spoke of his son Ahron's decision to pick the Huskers, but James said they also spent a fair amount of conversation with Nebraska's staff discussing the roster construction.
"It's not like it's about him getting the most shots. He wants to win..." James said of Ahron Ulis, the 6-3 transfer from Iowa. "I just think the roster's a good fit. We've got good shooters around him. There's a guy coming in [Mast] that's 6-9 that can shoot the ball. Ahron's a point guard first. A pass-first point guard. But he also can score, which he has shown."
The Huskers still have two open scholarship spaces after having added four transfers so far in Ulis, Allick, Mast and Williams.
A couple of the new parts weren't known yet when Mast committed, but the transfer from Bradley was looking forward to growing with new teammates.
"I kind of know my own character and I get along with a lot of guys," Mast said then. "If you have that mutual love of the game of basketball, you'll be fine. You'll get along."
Hoiberg's staff found players with winning college pedigrees in last year's portal additions, and you can see a similar formula with this group of newcomers.
– Mast was just part of a Bradley team that won its first Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title since 1996 and finished 25-10.
– Williams was on a roll late in leading Charlotte to the CBI title, with the 6-7 guard winning MVP honors in that tournament.
– Allick, who has started 84 games at the college level, was on a New Mexico team that won 22 games and was in the NIT. Prior to that he was on a Missouri-Kansas City squad that had its highest win total in 30 years.
– Ulis started 27 of 32 teams for an Iowa team that was in the NCAA Tournament.
"And obviously they have upperclassmen, experienced players coming back as well that's going to keep it competitive," Allick said. "Like C.J. Wilcher, Juwan Gary and Blaise Keita. From that side of it, it's not like there's a guaranteed starting spot. I know that I'm going to have to work for it and it's going to be competitive trying to earn those spots. It also just means that there's a lot of options for doing versatile lineups."
Showing up understanding starting spots aren't in anybody's pocket is appealing to someone with Allick's competitive mindset.
"Just knowing that guys are going to have to be getting after it in practice and establishing themselves as productive reliable guys and coming together, I think that's really good just for getting the team prepared in the early season."
Of course you look at what other puzzle pieces are on the table. Can you see the picture they could make?
"That's honestly a really big part of it," Josiah Allick said on Sunday as he discussed his decision to finish his college hoops career at Nebraska.
While a player could just think about where he might go to best stack up individual stats, the real fun comes in contributing to a winning product, no? Yes.
It comes in being part of a team with chemistry where your best work feeds off the other guy's best work, and his off yours.
Whatever a program offers you as far as potential scoring opportunity, "If you don't have players around you who you feel are going to compete or play the right way or be unselfish ... then none of that really matters," said the 6-8 forward Allick. "You might be able to get some numbers but you're not going to see it in a way that matters."
When Allick looked at the pieces Fred Hoiberg and his staff have been putting together this offseason, he could see the picture coaches had for this Husker squad that will try to start building a bond over these summer months.
He names off transfer additions Rienk Mast, Brice Williams and what seems the growing possibility of a Keisei Tominaga return.
"They also got (Ahron) Ulis and have that point guard spot secured. I really felt comfortable with just the type of guys they have coming in," Allick said. "Because none of those guys were just really like high-volume, just jack-it-up guys. And I felt like obviously having three upperclassmen transfers, there's going to be that molding process of coming together and whatnot. But I really feel like those guys and just my play style would fit well."
Allick hadn't yet made a public commitment when James Ulis spoke of his son Ahron's decision to pick the Huskers, but James said they also spent a fair amount of conversation with Nebraska's staff discussing the roster construction.
"It's not like it's about him getting the most shots. He wants to win..." James said of Ahron Ulis, the 6-3 transfer from Iowa. "I just think the roster's a good fit. We've got good shooters around him. There's a guy coming in [Mast] that's 6-9 that can shoot the ball. Ahron's a point guard first. A pass-first point guard. But he also can score, which he has shown."
The Huskers still have two open scholarship spaces after having added four transfers so far in Ulis, Allick, Mast and Williams.
A couple of the new parts weren't known yet when Mast committed, but the transfer from Bradley was looking forward to growing with new teammates.
"I kind of know my own character and I get along with a lot of guys," Mast said then. "If you have that mutual love of the game of basketball, you'll be fine. You'll get along."
Hoiberg's staff found players with winning college pedigrees in last year's portal additions, and you can see a similar formula with this group of newcomers.
– Mast was just part of a Bradley team that won its first Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title since 1996 and finished 25-10.
– Williams was on a roll late in leading Charlotte to the CBI title, with the 6-7 guard winning MVP honors in that tournament.
– Allick, who has started 84 games at the college level, was on a New Mexico team that won 22 games and was in the NIT. Prior to that he was on a Missouri-Kansas City squad that had its highest win total in 30 years.
– Ulis started 27 of 32 teams for an Iowa team that was in the NCAA Tournament.
"And obviously they have upperclassmen, experienced players coming back as well that's going to keep it competitive," Allick said. "Like C.J. Wilcher, Juwan Gary and Blaise Keita. From that side of it, it's not like there's a guaranteed starting spot. I know that I'm going to have to work for it and it's going to be competitive trying to earn those spots. It also just means that there's a lot of options for doing versatile lineups."
Showing up understanding starting spots aren't in anybody's pocket is appealing to someone with Allick's competitive mindset.
"Just knowing that guys are going to have to be getting after it in practice and establishing themselves as productive reliable guys and coming together, I think that's really good just for getting the team prepared in the early season."
