Nebrasketball: Losing Instate Talent

Who likes losing instate talent?

No one that I know.

Talent leaving your boarders means that someone came in and lured away one of your own. A home grown product just left the premises and you are left looking at an empty basketball court.

This week both major in state basketball programs lost out to a PAC-12 team for a kid who averaged 18.3 points per game, 7.7 rebounds per game, and 4.0 blocked shots per game. He’s a solid forward that can also drain the ball. A solid three star and the top prospect from Nebraska in the class of ‘18.

Papillion-LaVista forward Ed Chang picked the Washington Huskies over Creighton, St. John’s, Drake, North Dakota, and of course Nebraska. The Bluejays also lost out in Chang’s talents so the blow isn’t so bad.

The question now arises over why the Huskers lost out on such a hot instate prospect? Many will blame athletic director Shawn Eichorst and his inability to run a department. Others will look towards coach Tim Miles and state that this proves he can not coach or recruit well to make the Huskers a contender.

Both are valid and knee jerk statements.

But sometimes what it really comes down to is the player and what is good for them. Some kids do not want to stay in their home state and need to get away. Ed’s case could have very well been that. The program could have been a bad fit. Players can’t fit into all systems.

No one wants to lose instate players. Especially since there are so few of them in Nebraska. The Huskers haven’t had one since 2014. When will the drought end? I tend to look at instate talent a little less than others. It’s nice to get, but with so few in our state it’s hard to spend too much time on them when you could be getting other and sometimes better talent.

It can be more of a shot to the ego than anything.

Now, if Miles can make a decent run in the Big Ten over the next few years them maybe all can be forgiven. As we’ve stated on here before, this could very well be a make or break year for the staff.

The Huskers are currently looking to fill 5 spots in the ‘18 class and there has yet to be one commit. Hopefully Miles can get in gear over the next few months and start reeling in some talent for a team that will be losing a few major components over the next year.