■ John Robinson II, a
transfer from New Mexico,
also joins practice.
By Joshua Camenzind
Staff writer
The Nebraska basketball team
received a boost Monday from two
new players at practice.
Husker split end Matt Davisort
and a transfer, John Robinson II,
joined the team for practice in prepa
ration for the Iowa State game.
Davison, a junior, is eligible to
play whenever the NU coaching staff
deems him in game shape.
But Robinson, who transferred
from New Mexico, must sit out until
the second semester of next year
because of transfer rules. He will
have two years of eligibility after that.
Although neither player will play
on Wednesday against the Cyclones,
Nee said the impact will be felt most
in practice.
“The scout team now, with
Cookie Belcher and John Robinson
and Matt Davison, becomes formida
ble,” Nee said. “They can become a
very competitive situation quickly
and help us a lot.”
Davison, a Nebraska high school
standout at Tecumseh, was named Mr.
Basketball following his senior sea
son in 1996. He averaged 25 points
per game in both his junior and senior
seasons and led Tecumseh to the
Class-C2 Title.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder said
he has been aching to get back into
the sport he loves for quite some time.
“1 just thought about this for a
long time, and when the basketball
season started this year it was one of
those things where I started thinking
about it a lot ” Davison said. “Once I
talked to Coach Nee about it, we kind
of concluded that I should give it a
shot and see how it worked out.”
Davison said he sees both sides of
why he should and should not join the
team.
“I don’t know if anybody thought
that I would ever make it playing
football in this state,” Davison said.
“Everybody has an opinion for me on
whether I should or shouldn’t do this,
and I see both sides of it.
“There are reasons why I should
n’t do it, and there are many, many
reasons why I feel I should try it.”
Nee said he was concerned about
letting the wide receiver join the team
because of what he called the “Matt
Davison Watch.” But Davison clari
fied what he believes will be his role
on the team.
“I am not coming in here thinking
I am going to score 25 points a game
or anything like that,” Davison said.
“I am looking to come into a situation
and contribute to a team that I think
could win.”
Robinson was an AAU teammate
of current Husker Louis Truscott and
has enrolled in classes for the spring
semester at UNL.
He started for New Mexico last
season as a freshman and averaged
10.2 points per game while leading
the Lobos to the second round of the
NCAA tournament. He said his post
season experience should help NU
next year.
“There are a lot of great players at
Nebraska now, and there will be a lot
of great players back next season,”
Robinson said. “I am excited to have
a chance to play with them. I think I
bring even more experience to the
team, and my NCAA experience
from last season should be a big help
to next year’s team.”
Mike Warren/DN
MATT DAVISON PLAYED basketball in high school, but isn’t expected to
play a huge role for the Huskers this spring. He’ll come off the bench for
depth and help in the outside shooting department. Currently, Nebraska
only has three scholarship players in the backcourt - Danny Walker,
Rodney Fields and Cary Cochran. Additionally, John Robinson II trans
ferred from New Mexico to the Huskers and enrolled for classes Monday.
Jayhawks loom for Nebraska
By David Diehl
Staff writer
The world didn’t end for Nebraska
women’s basketball Coach Paul
Sanderford on Saturday after his team’s
72-68 Big 12 conference-opening loss
vs. Texas.
“I was kind of questioning whether
the sun would come up on Sunday,”
Sanderford joked. “But it did.”
Because life continues, so must his
team, and a game at No. 23 Kansas, 10
3 overall and 1-0 in the Big 12
Conference, is up next for the
Comhuskers (6-6 and 0-1). NU, who is
set to play Kansas tonight at 7:05, is
looking to pick up its first win at Allen
Fieldhouse since an 80-64 win in
Lawrence in 1988.
The two teams have split their last
four contests with each team capturing
two home victories in the four games.
Sanderford said the KU game, like
UTs contest, would hinge on rebound
ing. Saturday, Texas pulled down 18
more rebounds than NU, and 22 of its
55 boards were on the offensive end.
Kansas poses a similar challenge,
Sanderford said.
“Their rebounding numbers are bet
ter than Texas,” he said, “which sends a
little bit of a message to us and to our
team,”
Forward Cisco Gilmore backed up
Sanderford’s remarks about Kansas’
rebounding strength.
“They have big players, and they’re
quicker than Texas’,” Gilmore said.
“Against Kansas, you got those big girls
who are real quick, and they’re going to
the boards real hard.”
Gilmore said that they haven’t done
anything but the usual rebounding drills
in practice to improve their chances in
preparation for Kansas, which averages
22 more rebounds than its opponents
“We rebound every day in practice,”
she said. “One thing we have to focus on
is the individual boxing out and
rebounding on die defensive end. If we
don’t concentrate on that vs. Kansas,
* we’ll get killed.”
The Jayhawks have four players
who average double figures in scoring
and forwards Jaclyn Johnson and Lynn
Pride, the leading scorer, average a
combined 17boardsagame
Gilmore said she will be defending
Pride, who puts up 18.2 points per
game, for most of the night.
Matt MiUer/DN
CHARLIE ROGERS AND the Nebraska women’s basketball team face a criti
cal neatest tonight against Kansas.
“Most teams aren’t physical with
her” Gilmore said. “I’ll try and bump
her every time she cuts through the lane.
“She’s their fire. She’s their fuel.
When Lynn Pride is going, when she’s
fueled up playing her best, Kansas is at
their best.”
KU has beaten Arizona, who
Sanderfbrd said was the best team in the
Pac-10 and also Top 25 UC-Santa
Barbara. But the Jayhawks have also
lost on the road at Creighton and at
home to Arkansas State.
“They have some big wins, but evi
dently they have a hard time getting up
for certain teams,” Sanderford said “If
you’re not ready to play, Creighton is
good enough to beat you.”
Sanderford said that his team had to
“steal one on the road” after the UT loss,
and doing that against Kansas, he said,
would provide some relief.
“We just need some confidence
rightnow,” Sanderford said “We need a
win. A wm at Kansas would cureTa lot of
problems.”
—RECRUITING—
Husker football finds
Texan commitments
2
By Sean Callahan
Staff writer
While die Nebraska football
players were preparing to play in the
Fiesta Bowl in December, the
Comhusker coaches added six more
verbal commitments to make the
total number of high school seniors
who plan to play for the Huskers
next year 19.
The main area of concern for
NU during this recruiting season is
the linebacker position. Nebraska
has filled that void by gaining com
mitments from four different line
backers thus far.
une or tnose oacxers is i.j.
Hollowell out of Copperas Cove,
Texas. Hollowell, who is 6-foot-2,
205 pounds, plans to play strong
side linebacker. He runs his 40-yard
dash in 4.5 seconds. He bench press
es 320 pounds and squats 480
pounds.
According to his coach, Jack
Welch, a player like Hollowell is a
hard one to replace.
“A player like T.J. doesn’t come
along very often,” Welch said.“He is
hard to block, and 1 feel Nebraska’s
scheme fits him very well.”
In three years of high school
play, Hollowed finished with 296
tackles, hi 11 games his senior year
he had 139 tackles, including 21 for
losses. He was all district three years
in a row and second teamAd State in
Class 5A in his senior season. 5A is
Texas’ largest classification. He was
also listed on the Texas Top 100 list
Along with Welch, Hollowell
also has high hopes for his career at
Nebraska and is very excited to
become a Husker.
Hollowell said he found himself
bragging a lot after Nebraska’s 31-.
21 Fiesta Bowl victory.
“I can’t wait to play ball*for
diem,” Hollowell said. "I plan on
coming in July because I want to get
everything dcwnas fast as I can.”
Hollowell chose the Huskers
over Oklahoma, Kentucky and
Texas A&M.
The other linebacker NU
received a commitment from over
the break was Lanny Hopkins out of
Rowlett, Texas. Hopkins is a 6-2,
185-pounder and runs his 40-yard
dash in 4.55 seconds.
His coach, Tommy Watkins,
who has coached at Rowlett for four
years Says Hopkins is one of the
best, if not the best, players he has
seen in his 43 years as a coach.
Watkins said that includes play
ers such as Keith Mitchell, who now
plays linebacker for the New
Orleans Saints.
“He’s got it all,” Watkins said.
“He has a great work ethic, and he’s
an excellent leader. He never missed
a workout for me.”
In 10 games during his semor
season Hopkins finished with 152
tackles and 12 sacks. In his junior
and senior years, Hopkins blocked
nine punts.
In his senior year, Hopkins was
the district defensive player of the
year and was listed on the Texas Top
100 list
Hopkins plans to play weakside
linebacker for NU. He chose
Nebraska over Missouri, Oklahoma,
Texas A&M and Memphis.
Another defensive player the .
Huskers added over the break was 6- |
foot^4 rush end Bernard Thomas out .
of St. Frances High School in ;
Mountain View, Calif.
According to tne Kivais.com
recruiting site, Thomas is rated 28th :
amongdefensive ends in the coun- ;
try. He was first team All State in :
California’s largest classification.
Thomas, who runs his 40-yard
dash in 4.81 seconds, may also play ,|j
linebacker for the Huskers.
He chose NU over Southern
California and Arizona.
Continuing the heavy recruiting
in Texas, Nebraska received a fourth
commitment out of the Lone Star 1
.. ^
Please see RECRUITS on 15 |
