2018 Nebraska Basketball Player Preview: Johnny Trueblood & The Bench Mob

Johnny Trueblood, you really can’t ask for a better name. If basketball doesn’t work out for him he could write crime novels. It’s a perfect name for an author. It’s also a great name for someone with a little flair to their personality, but we will get to that in a minute.

Johnny is a in state kid from Elkhorn South. There he was the all time leading scorer for the school which has only been open since 2010. He joined the team as a walk on his freshman year at school. Johnny decided not play basketball his sophomore year and that absence counts as his redshirt season. So, this upcoming year he is considered a junior in the eyes of the NCAA. As for last season, he saw little playing time here and there as the season went along but nothing substantial.

While the 6’3” junior guard has not seen a lot of playing time it could change this year depending on how well the Huskers do in games and his development over the summer. This will be one of the more experienced squads we have seen in some time and could possibly put games into enough of a comfort zone for coach Miles to play more of his bench.

Speaking of this years bench...

One area on the team you might have seen Johnny’s influence was in the “Bench Mob” that developed as the season went on for the Huskers last year. In the Bench Mob he and Malcolm Laws along with others such as Jack McVeigh entertained the players and fans with their sideshow antics as the games went on and the Huskers were rolling.

The bench mob has been around a couple of years but really took off last season as the Huskers went on to produce one of their best seasons in years. While some coaches probably shun this type of behavior, coach Tim Miles doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if he encouraged it.

Could the Bench Mob played a part of that success even though it was? It is hard to say but there is no doubt that they were entertaining and kept up the energy on the sidelines. Hopefully Johnny and the squad will be keeping up their antics during this upcoming season.