Doc Sadler added another commitment to next year's recruiting class with 6-2 Guard Rayes Gallegos from West Jordan, UT.  Doc & the staff saw Gallegos at the AAU Super 64 Tournament in Vegas in July, where he had games of 41 and 35 points.

Thus far, the 2009-10 Hoops Class includes 6-10 Top-100 prospect Vander Joquim, KC-Area forward Brandon Ubel, and Gallegos, with Doc still actively recruiting players.  Two Huskers are due to graduate this year (Steve Harley and Ade Dagunduro), and two scholarships remain open with the potential for Jorge Diaz to join the squad (and take one of those scholarships) in December.  If Diaz winds up a Husker, then it looks like the 2009 class is fairly well complete.

If you're going to be in Lincoln anyway this afternoon, you can check out the first public workout for the Husker basketball team from 1-3:30 PM at the Devaney Center.

Also, if you've got tickets already, you can check out the finals of the Americas Players' Challenge between the No. 2 Husker Volleyball team and New Mexico at 3 PM at the NU Coliseum.  The Huskers swept LSU Friday night, 25-19, 25-15, 25-10 in front of an NCAA regular season record crowd of 13,412 at the Devaney Center.

Thanks to the folks over on the boards at Husker Hoops Central for this one, but the Chicago Sun-Times had a profile of Michael Jordan's son, Marcus, a few weeks back.  In the article, the Sun-Times notes:

Right now, Jordan’s list contains Toledo, Nebraska, Iowa State, Miami (Fla.) and a few others.

While Jordan may be another guard in the glut of guards we have right now, if he's half the player his dad was, he'll be a difference maker for the Huskers, should he come here.

Though not surprising, considering the lack of news on Tuesday, but 7-foot NU Hoops Recruit Jorge Diaz was not admitted in time to be eligible for games in the fall.

Tom Shatel has an interesting take on this, and I have to say I agree with him.  If Diaz ends up at Kentucky (which may happen) because we couldn't get him admitted in time, it's another blow to our chances of keeping our coach long-term.  The plus side is that, should Diaz decide that the prospect of having less competition for playing time at Nebraska is worth the wait, he could easily be eligible for the spring.

Also, the schedule has been finalized.  There's three non-conference road games -- at Arizona State, at Oregon State, and at TCU, and some solid (but not spectacular) home opponents with Creighton & Saint Louis, plus some representatives from one-bid leagues that could end up in the tournament.  Right now, I'd have to say that a 12-1 non-league mark is essential with this schedule for Nebraska's NCAA hopes, and the game against ASU in Tempe is, though not "must-win," is the Husker's best chance in the non-conference to show they belong (or not) in the postseason.

Edit: 11:40 AM, 9/5/08:  Apparently, the administration offered Diaz an opportunity to take an English proficiency exam in Lincoln as part of an official visit, but the athletic department (for reasons undisclosed) declined.  However, HuskerExtra blogger & Journal-Star Basketball beat writer Brian Rosenthal still believes that Diaz will likely join the Huskers in December, which would be good news for conference play.

Doc Sadler had a lot to say at his preseason press conference today.  The Huskers are still trying to fill their last non-conference game, which is unsettling.  Two years ago, I remember getting my student tickets with "TBA" as one of the games, which ended up as NAIA Dallas Baptist.  Last Friday, the World-Herald published a tentative schedule, which showed the tentative game as Florida A&M.  If this schedule turns out to be correct, it would mean that Nebraska's road games at Arizona State and TCU, and the home game with Creighton, will be make-or-break for NU's NCAA hopes.

The big news over the weekend was that the NCAA had ruled on Christopher Niemann's eligibility.  The German big man, who played on a club team that included some paid players, will lose a year of eligibility, but will be able to play next season as a sophomore.  The Jorge Diaz situation is a little dicier: The NU Admissions office is questioning his English proficiency, apparently, since he's from Puerto Rico.  He needed to be admitted today to be in fall classes and play fall semester, but there has been no word on his status as of 7:00 PM today.  If he is unable to be admitted for the fall, it is possible he could still enroll in January for the spring semester (whether he would be available for Big XII games in that situation is unknown, since he would not be able to practice until he's enrolled).

Doc said to expect a five-guard lineup during the season, because he wants to get the five best players on the floor at any given time.  Of course, if Diaz is able to play, that will change, but expect to see a smaller team this season than last.

Edit: 11:00 AM, 9/3/08: The Journal-Star is reporting that Diaz is still in limbo, but if he is not admitted for the fall but is for the spring, he would be able to join the team December 19, which would give him plenty of prep time before the Big XII season.  Personally, I'm still not sure why an American citizen who speaks fluent English needs to take an English proficiency exam...

It looks like Doc Sadler has found his last recruit for this fall -- just in time, with classes starting Monday.  Jorge Diaz, a 6-11 center on the Puerto Rican Junior National team, has committed to Nebraska.  DIaz has cleared the NCAA clearinghouse, but has not yet been admitted to the University.  Hopefully, that can be remedy quickly so Jorge can be eligible for the non-league slate.  Diaz's size is necessary in an undersized frontcourt that will be missing Aleks Maric, and likely will be without 6-10 German recruit Christopher Niemann, whose status still remains in doubt. 

Also, ESPN.com has their Big 12 Shootaround now up.  Fran Fraschilla, who regularly covers Big XII hoops, ranks Nebraska 8th in the early preseason (I don't know how Diaz would affect his ranking).  Fraschilla had this to say about Nebraska:

 8. Nebraska: Coach Doc Sadler has a bunch of relatively unknown players, but nobody plays harder and defends like the Huskers. Ade Dagunduro is a senior shooting guard who could make a name for himself.

I think 8th is fair for Nebraska going into this season.  The Huskers are going to be a wild card, and hasn't had a .500 or better conference record in a decade, so I understand putting them in that spot.  The part about hard play and defense is what I want to hear, and as the talent level continues to grow, that's going to translate into success.

Before I rattle off today's hoops news, I realize that we have not been properly introduced.  My name is Josh Pluta, aka huskerlibrarian, and I will be covering Basketball here on Corn Nation starting this season.  I'm an Omaha native, and I have two degrees from the University of Nebraska (BA '02, JD '07).  I've been following pretty much all Husker athletics for as long as I can remember, and I've been a student of college basketball (and basketball in general) since high school).  In addition to covering hoops, I also will be continuing the "Corn Kernels" column each week during the seasons, covering the various lower-profile Husker teams.

Anyway, we now continue with today's hoops report...

• Coach Sadler added another big forward to the 2009 recruiting class when Brandon Ubel, a 6-9, 220 lb. forward from Overland Park, KS, committed today.  There's not a lot on Ubel -- he hasn't been evaluated by any of the major recruiting services yet -- but he's from a championship high school team, and says that he averaged about 20 points and 8 rebounds a game for his AAU team.  A big reason he chose NU?  Brandon's sister Kayla throws discus for Husker Track & Field.
• Marquette will be coming to Lincoln on or around November 1 for a closed scrimmage, replacing one of Nebraska's exhibition games.  The NCAA rules on scrimmages prevent members of the public from attending the game, and scores & stats from being released.
• Some scheduling tidbits: there's still one home game left to fill for this fall's schedule, and it looks like there is an effort to get a BCS-conference opponent for a home-and-home.  Also good scheduling news is that it sounds like Minnesota is open to a 4-year series starting in 2009.
• Eshaunte "Bear" Jones, the late get, 6-4 guard who replaced the once-again-departed Roburt Sallie in the 2008 class, has cleared the NCAA Clearinghouse.  No word on 6-10 German Christopher Niemann -- Niemann played on a German club team that paid some of its other players; 2 of his teammates lost a year of eligibility last season.
• In a side note, Teeng Akol, the 6-10 would-be 2008 freshman who cancelled his visit to Nebraska last week, committed to Oklahoma State on Monday.

Fall practice starts October 17.  A full season preview will begin in mid-October.

Did you think that the giant wave of spread offenses was the crazy, wacky fad of the month, or that it may spell the end of all life as we know it?  If so, then Michael Weinreb on ESPN.com's Page 2 has discovered the surest sign of the Apocalypse yet:

The A-11 Offense

The idea is that you have 2 QBs and three "pods" of 3 people.  Everyone wears a number that makes them an eligible receiver.  The center and 6 other "receivers" line up at the line of scrimmage (who is on the line depends on the read and play), and you run the offense out of it.  The principle underlying the formation is "the ball is faster than the man," meaning that laterals between the 2 QBs are used to counteract the inevitable holes in the line.

Essentially, it's what lays at the bottom of the slippery slope of the Spread.  Weinreb describes it as follows: "On film, the A-11 often resembles a hybrid of the spread and an elementary-school fire drill gone wrong."

Apparently, NCAA rules would allow the formation in situations where a kick could be attempted, and its creator is expecting to see up to 70 colleges implement some form of A-11 this year.

The Olympics are now a full day old, and Huskers.com has a section open for tracking the progress of the 17 current & former Huskers competing in the Olympic games in Beijing.

Bios of the 17 Huskers can be found there also.

Current Huskers Robin Mackin (Softball, Team Canada) and Pieter Smith (Track & Field, South Africa), as well as 2008 graduate Dusty Jonas (USA, Track & Field) are amongst the field.  Associate Softball Head Coach and former Husker player Lori Sippel is also the Head Coach of Team Canada softball.

On behalf of Corn Nation, I'd like to wish all the Huskers well at the Olympic Games.  Keep your eyes on this space for updates.

Did you know: United States Olympic Committee CEO Jim Scherr was a National Champion wrestler for the Huskers in 1984 at 177 lbs.

Update: Results so far plus upcoming schedule

Amber Neben placed 33rd in the Road Cycling event this morning, with a time of 3:33:17, 53 seconds behind the gold medalist.

Husker-heavy Canada Women's Soccer is at 1-0-1, with 4 points, to lead Group E.  They beat Argentina 2-1 and tied China 1-1.  They next play Sweden at 6:45 AM Tuesday morning central time.

Baseball kicks off late Tuesday night when former Husker Adam Stern & Team Canada play China at 10:30 Central Time.  Brian Duensing and Team USA have their first outing against Korea at 5 AM Wednesday.

Husker-heavy Team Canada softball starts tomorrow night at 8:30 PM central time against Taiwan.

Former Husker Swimmer Adam Pine swims in the 100m Butterfly for Team Australia, which starts on th 14th (Thursday) at 6:40 AM central time.

Brad Vering is competing in Greco-Roman Wrestling at the 84 kg weight class, which starts at 8:30 PM on Wednesday, 8/13.

Former Husker Peggy Liddick is the head coach of Australia's Women's Gymnastics team, which begins competition on Tuesday night.

Track and Field events begin next Sunday night and continue throughout the week; Huskers.com has a complete schedule of when current & former Huskers are scheduled to compete in those events.