Fred Hoiberg Discusses Schedule Troubles, New Faces for Nebraska Basketball

The Huskers head coach shared his thoughts on the newest additions and recovery timelines for familiar stars for Nebraska basketball during his Tuesday press conference.

Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg met with the media after concluding the Huskers' off-season moves Tuesday. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Fred Hoiberg had plenty to share about his new-look Nebraska basketball team during his media session on Tuesday.

The Huskers have eight fresh faces joining the program to begin the 2026-27 campaign, including five players from the transfer portal to replace the most productive class in school history. As starters Sam Hoiberg, Jamarques Lawrence, and Rienk Mast left after exhausting their eligibility, coach Fred Hoiberg was left to replace the talent that laid the foundation for a run to the Sweet Sixteen. That search led Nebraska to Kadyn Betts, Taj DeGourville, Boden Kapke, Trevan Leonhardt, Sam Orme, and Damon Wilkinson.

"I'm really excited about the additions we've made in the off-season," Hoiberg said.

Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Fred Hoiberg speaks during a press conference for Coach of the Year | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The biggest concern for Hoiberg in resetting the roster, however, was maintaining the process that got Nebraska to a deep NCAA Tournament run in the first place.

"I think the players that we got - No. 1 is, 'Do they fit the culture?' What I thought was great early in the process with our team a year ago was how bought in those guys were with all our culture meetings [and] with everything we were trying to establish in that regard," Hoiberg said.

Nebraska does return notable stars Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager from the previous campaign. Both were All-Big Ten honorees as Sandfort earned first-team All-Big Ten honors, with Frager garnering Big Ten All-Freshman Team nods along with the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year. The pair have only been in Lincoln for one season so far, as their coach is preparing for them to take the next step in continuing the culture building through leadership.

Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Pryce Sandfort (21) reacts against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the first half during a Sweet Sixteen game of the South Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Toyota Center. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

"We are going to have to make up with some leadership. When you lose Sam and you lose Rienk, that's a big question mark going into this season. Who is going to emerge as the leaders," Hoiberg said. "Obviously, Pryce, Cale [Jacobsen], Braden, getting Connor [Essegian] back on the floor. Those are the really important ones in my mind."

Jacobsen and Essegian each may be searching for bigger roles on the floor as well, with Cale entering as a fifth-year senior, averaging 4.6 points and 2.9 rebounds in all 35 contests a year ago. Essegian is a former All-Big Ten Freshman team honoree but suffered a season-ending injury to his right ankle in the seventh game of the season last year. The sharpshooter has applied for a medical waiver for an additional season.

Hoiberg added that two newcomers, Trevan Leonhardt and Taj DeGourville, could also be expected to take on leadership capabilities early. Leonhardt was a two-year starter at Utah Valley, helping lead the Wolverines to 50 wins and back-to-back Western Athletic Conference regular-season championships. DeGourville was previously at San Diego State, as the guard played in every game for the Aztecs the past two seasons.

Nebraska basketball is aiming to replace the on-court production and leadership of Sam Hoiberg and Rienk Mast. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

"We have really high character when we put this team together and that was important. I know how much fun these last couple teams have been to pull for," Hoiberg said. "[I] talked to a lot of Husker fans who absolutely loved pulling for these guys and we wanted to have a similar type makeup with the group we put together. I think we accomplished that."

Despite the expectation of a return on leadership for Nebraska on the court, there was lingering concern about the availability of Sandfort and Essegian following the end of the NCAA Tournament run in March. Sandfort had suffered a sports hernia that required surgery while Essegian was still rehabbing his ankle injury. Hoiberg and the Huskers feel confident that the two shooters' recovery is on track for a timely return.

"Connor is still in his rehab portion of his recovery. He's in a good place. He's shooting the ball well, he's starting to cut and do some things. I don't think he's going to have restrictions," Hoiberg said.

"[Pryce] is in a good spot. He's going to get four workouts in this week and then not have any restrictions once we get started up on Thursday next week."

Nebraska guard Connor Essegian on crutches during the Creighton game. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Another concern for the Huskers has come from who Nebraska will face for the upcoming season. So far, the Huskers have announced two exhibition contests for October along with two non-conference matchups, but have yet to set any other matchups prior to Big Ten Conference play. The issues have come from Nebraska looking for a high-major opponent to invite to Pinnacle Bank Arena to aid in boosting the Big Red's postseason opportunities.

"We're trying to get a home-and-home with a high major team. We're having a lot of trouble getting those kinds of games set right now," Hoiberg said. "It's just a really difficult thing to do in today's landscape."

Although Hoiberg added that Nebraska feels content with where the schedule is currently, he did share his concerns that Nebraska may not be able to keep up with other high-major programs that choose to seek neutral site opportunities rather than home-and-home series.

Nebraska basketball is struggling to find high-major programs that want to face the Huskers inside of Pinnacle Bank Arena. | @CEssegian on X

"Everybody's playing neutral site games right now just to try to bolster up their budgets. We have some of those in place," Hoiberg said. "Those neutral-site games are important for a team like us. We have to do everything we can to compete against teams that spend a lot more... Scheduling is a lot different than it used to be."

So far, Nebraska's non-conference slate includes a neutral site tilt with Providence in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off in Connecticut and a visit to Sioux Falls, S.D., to meet Boise State in the Sanford Pentagon. Hoiberg added that Nebraska "is doing everything it can" to give the Huskers a competitive schedule so the program can prepare for the daunting Big Ten slate. The Huskers host Minnesota, Ohio State, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, Indiana, and Michigan this season while visiting the Hawkeyes, Northwestern, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Maryland. Nebraska will face home-and-home conference series with Iowa, Penn State, and Michigan State as well.

Nebraska's newest roster will report back to campus in August and begin its fall practices in preparation for the exhibition slate starting on Oct. 9 as Nebraska hosts Saint Louis, then travels to BYU on Oct. 16.