Doc Talk Podcast: Former Nebraska Sharpshooter Cary Cochran on the Sweet-16 Huskers

In this episode of the Husker Doc Talk Podcast, Travis Justice and Dr. Rob Zatechka bring on former Husker sharpshooter Cary Cochran to talk about Nebraska’s run to the Sweet 16. They recorded it on the eve of the Iowa game down in Houston, so there’s a mix of excitement and nerves, especially with the opponent being Iowa and all that comes with that.

A lot of the conversation ends up being about what coach Fred Hoiberg has built culturally. Cochran says they’ll probably need to put up a statue of him at some point. The way this team plays is just different from what Nebrasketball usually looks like. The Huskers don’t really have that obvious NBA guy, but they share the ball, they play together, and it’s worked.

Cochran points out that when they're shooting well, the Huskers can hang with pretty much anybody. He brings up games like Vanderbilt as an example of what it looks like when things click.

They also get into the Sweet 16 matchup itself and what it means. Cochran thinks Nebraska’s chemistry is kind of the thing that gives them a shot against teams that might be more talented on paper. He goes as far as predicting a double-digit win over Iowa -- bold, but he backs it up: Nebraska didn’t play well in the loss at Iowa and still almost won, and then handled the Hawkeyes at home.

Toward the end, they start talking about what this run could mean long-term. There’s a feeling that maybe this finally gets people to take basketball NIL a little more seriously, because if you don’t, you’ll just lose they guys you develop.

Win Thursday night, and Nebraska’s sitting 40 minutes from a Final Four. A program that has been roundly mocked for its history of first-round exits seems to have found a seat at the "big kids' table" of college basketball.

About Cary Cochran

Cary Cochran with ball — Cary Cochran was a record-setting three-point shooter for Nebraska from 1998 to 2002. | Nebraska Athletics

Honors
• 2002 Jack Moore Award
• 2002 All-Big 12 Honorable-Mention (Coaches)
• 2002 Academic All-Big 12 First Team
• 2002 Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team
• 1999 Honorable-Mention Academic All-Big 12

Career Highs
• Points: 27, vs. Baylor, 2/27/02
• Rebounds: 9, vs. Kansas State, 3/2/02
• Assists: 8, three times
• Steals: 5, vs. Oklahoma State, 2/17/99

Cary Cochran finished his playing days as the Huskers' career, single-season and single-game leader for three-pointers. Cochran was just as deadly from the free throw line, where he led the nation as a senior.

Cochran emerged as the Huskers' long-range threat as a freshman, hitting 39 three-pointers in his first season. He added 62 as a sophomore and 78 as a junior before setting the single-season mark as a senior: 89 three-pointers in 2001-02 — including a single-game record eight in the final home game of his career.

For his career, Cochran scored 1,081 points to become the 23rd Husker in history to top the 1,000-point threshold. He also finished his career ranked 15th in program history with 110 steals.

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