NE HS HOF NOMINATION INCLUDE 2 FROM CENTRAL NEBRASKA:
Twelve athletes, five coaches, an official and a contributor will be inducted into the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame at its annual induction ceremony.
The Hall of Fame will also honor a family, two dominant dynasties, a golden anniversary team, a silver anniversary team, a great moment and an inspirational athlete during its induction ceremony on Sept. 29 at Lincoln East High School.
Inductees include Sargent’s Casey Beran, A three-sport star in the mid 90swho earned all-state honors in football, he also averaged a double-double in basketball and set the school record in the shot put. At Chadron State, Beran was a two-time Division II All-American defensive end and conference Defensive Player of the Year.
Kearney’s Jeff Wolf is also set to be inducted. A basketball official for 39 years and a football referee for 26 seasons, he was selected to work the finals in all 20 state basketball tournaments he officiated. He has also refereed five state championship football games. After retiring, he continues to work as an evaluator and mentor.
UNK WRESTLING PLACES 12 ON ALL AMERICAN ACADEMIC LISTS:
Twelve members of the Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team have earned Division II Scholar All-American honors from National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA).
In order for a student-athlete to qualify, he must have a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale, with that benchmark at 3.25 for those who qualified for the 2024 NCAA Championships and a 3.00 for those who were All-Americans at the NCAA’s. Additionally, a student-athlete must have competed on four dates of competition. This year, a total of 363 individuals from 61 institutions were honored.
National runner up and senior Nick James (Kearney) is honored for the fourth time with All-Americans Billy Higgins (Omaha Skutt) and Crew Howard (Creston, Ia.) qualifying for the third and second times, respectively.
CALAPARI POTENTIALLY LEAVING KENTUCKY FOR SEC FOE:
Longtime Kentucky coach John Calipari was in negotiations to potentially leave and take the men’s basketball coaching job at Arkansas, multiple outlets reported late Sunday.
Arkansas officials have been in discussions with Calipari about the opening, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported, citing anonymous sources. ESPN, also citing anonymous sources, reported that Calipari is finalizing a five-year deal.
The 65-year-old Hall of Fame coach has spent the last 15 seasons at Kentucky. Athletic director Mitch Barnhart recently said Calipari would return, despite calls for his firing following the Wildcats’ third consecutive early exit from the NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky was seeded third in March Madness, but fell 80-76 to No. 14 seed Oakland in the first round. This latest loss in Pittsburgh came a year after the Wildcats were ousted in the second round, and two years after they were upset as a No. 2 seed by 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s in their NCAA opener.
HAC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT SEEDING ANNOUNCED
Grand Island earned the #3 seed and Kearney earned the #5 seed in the 2024 HAC Baseball Tournament this week, held at Lincoln later this week.
Kearney will take on #12 seed Lincoln Northeast (1-13) at Noon Wednesday. The Bearcats will play at Densmore Park Field 2. The winner will take on Fremont at 3PM at Densmore Field 2.
Grand Island earned a first round bye, and will play the winner of #6 Lincoln Southeast and #11 Lincoln High at 3PM Wednesday.
HUSKERS FALL IN SERIES FINALE AGAINST OHIO STATE
No. 24 Nebraska fell behind early and couldn’t come back, as the Huskers fell 9-3 vs. Ohio State in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.
Nebraska (22-7, 5-1 B1G) totaled three runs on nine hits and an error, while Ohio State (13-14, 3-3 B1G) totaled nine runs on nine hits.
Josh Caron went 3-for-4 with a double, while Case Sanderson was 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. Rhett Stokes turned in an RBI double, and Riley Silva, Tyler Stone and Joshua Overbeek each had a base knock.
Nebraska hits the road for a midweek matchup against Old Big 12 rival Kansas on Tuesday, April 9. First pitch between the Huskers and Jayhawks is set for 6 p.m. at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence, Kan.
NEBRASKA SOFTBALL DROPS SERIES OPENER TO PENN STATE, 3-0
Penn State used a pair of two-run home runs to rally for a 6-4 victory over the Nebraska softball team in 10 innings Sunday at Bowlin Stadium.
Nebraska took a 4-2 lead into the seventh inning before Penn State tied the game on a two-run homer. The Nittany Lions then took the lead with a two-run homer in the 10th inning.
With the win, Penn State won the series and improved to 28-8 on the year and 7-2 in Big Ten play. Nebraska fell to 23-15 overall and 6-2 in conference play.
Nebraska is back in action next weekend, when the Huskers travel to Rutgers for a three-game series on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
SOUTH CAROLINA WOMENS BASKETBALL COMPLETES PERFECT SEASON
Kamilla Cardoso delivered once again for Dawn Staley and South Carolina.
A perfect finish. A dynasty. A team too big for Caitlin Clark and Iowa this time around.
Cardoso had 15 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, and South Carolina completed its perfect season with an 87-75 victory over Clark and the Hawkeyes in the NCAA championship game on Sunday.
With Staley directing a relentless attack from the sideline, the Gamecocks (38-0) became the 10th Division I team to go through a season without a loss. And they accomplished the feat after they lost all five starters from last season’s team that lost to Clark’s squad in the national semifinals.
TOMINAGA SCORES 14 IN ALL STAR GAME:
Keisei Tominaga closed his college career by helping the West team to an 87-75 win in the Reese’s NABC College All-Star Game Friday afternoon.
Tominaga came off the bench and had nine points on 4-of-7 shooting and three rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench. The West squad out-scored the East, 48-31, after trailing by five at halftime.
Tominaga became the seventh Husker to participate in the event, joining Chuck Jura (1972), Rich King (1991), Eric Piatkowski (1994), Aleks Maric (2008), James Palmer Jr. (2019) and Derrick Walker (2023).
Friday’s performance capped a busy 24 hours for Tominaga, who won two events at the State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships on Thursday.
NEBRASKA VOLLEYBALL’S MURRAY HAD LATE WEEK DUI:
Husker Outside Hitter Harper Murray was cited for a DUI early Friday Morning, according to the Lincoln Police Department.
Murray’s blood-alcohol content was .169, which is double Nebraska’s legal limit. She was cited at 12:45AM near Antelope Valley Parkway and S Street.
Murray was also cited for reckless driving, obstruction of a peace officer, minor in possession and carrying a false ID.
A university spokesperson said: “The Nebraska Athletic Department is aware of the incident. We are awaiting more information and will have no additional comment at this time”
Murray is the reigning Big Ten freshman of the year after hitting .237 and having 291 kills for the Big Red. Earlier this week, she was named to the USA Volleyball U21 National Team.
KEARNEY HIGH GOLF WINS INVITE
Kearney High won its home invite at Meadowlark Hills Friday.
The Bearcats shot a team score of 311 at the par 72 Meadowlark Hills course. Individually, Owen Bartee lead the Berarcats with a 76 to take 4th, and Cooper Feddersen shot 77 for 5th.
Jackson Hinze of York won the event with an individual score of 73.
LOPER SOFTBALL SPLITS DOUBLEHEADER AGAINST EMPORIA STATE:
Sophomore Madeline Janssen scattered nine hits over 6.2 innings and Nebraska-Kearney struck for four runs in the sixth to win game two over Emporia State, 8-6, Friday evening at Patriot Park. The Lopers dropped game one, 4-3.
The Lopers host Central Missouri (18-18, 7-8) and Newman (15-23, 3-9) next weekend.
HOIBERG TAKES COACH OF THE YEAR HONORS:
University of Nebraska men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg was chosen as the recipient of the 2024 Jim Phelan National Coach-of-the-Year award Thursday afternoon.
The Jim Phelan Award is presented annually to the nation’s top Division I coach.
Hoiberg guided the Huskers to one of the most successful seasons in program history in 2023-24, as Nebraska went 23-11 and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. The 23 wins were the most since Nebraska won a school-record 26 games in 1990-91, while going 12-8 in the Big Ten. The Huskers’ third-place finish in the Big Ten Conference was the best since joining the conference in 2011-12 and the program’s best conference finish since the 1992-93 season.
Hoiberg is the second Husker men’s basketball coach to earn the honor, as Tim Miles was the 2014 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year.
GARY, WILLIAMS ANNOUNCE RETURN TO LINCOLN:
Nebraska’s Juwan Gary and Brice Williams announced today they will return to Nebraska for their final season of eligibility.
This is welcomed news for Fred Hoiberg’s program after the roster attrition has dominated much of the talk surrounding the team this offseason. There have been six scholarship Huskers from this season’s roster to enter the portal, including guards CJ Wilcher, Jamarques Lawrence, Eli Rice, Ramel Lloyd Jr. and centers Blaise Keita and Matar Diop.
The third member of that core, Rienk Mast, has yet to announce his plans for the 2024-25 season. Like Williams and Gary, Mast has one season of eligibility remaining but it weighing playing professionally overseas.
NCAA MEN’S, WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR SCHEDULE/SCORES:
WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP – SUNDAY:
South Carolina 87, Iowa 75
MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE – TODAY:
No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 1 UConn 8:20PM (TBS/TNT/truTV)
KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Sports Nightly (6PM – 8PM)
