Nebrasketball Player Profile: Sam Hoiberg

The Nebraska Cornhuskers will feature a familiar last name on the roster this upcoming season as incoming freshman guard Sam Hoiberg joins the roster as a walk on.

Sam Hoiberg joins the roster as a 6-foot and 170-pound guard, and is the son of head coach Fred Hoiberg. Sam Hoiberg moved from Hinsdale, Illinois two years ago after his father accepted the head coaching job at Nebraska. After arriving in Lincoln, he quickly made his mark at Lincoln Pius X High School as a two-sport athlete.

Hoiberg averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game as a junior in the 2019-20 season, helping the Thunderbolts to a 16-8 record while reaching the district finals He earned second-team all-city and first-team Heartland Athletic Conference honors. Then as a senior this past season, Hoiberg averaged 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.0 steals per game as Pius X made a run to the Class A State Tournament while going 18-4 on the season. Once again, Hoiberg earned accolades as he was a first-team all-city pick by the Lincoln Journal Star (LSJ) and an honorable-mention all-state honoree by both the Omaha World-Herald and LSJ.

As a two-sport athlete, Hoiberg also excelled on the golf course. He helped lead the team as a senior to a Class A State Championship runner-up finish in the 2021 season. In the classroom, Hoiberg was also a two-time Academic All-State accolades winner during his time with the Thunderbolts.

While the younger Hoiberg has an impressive high school and AAU career, being both a freshman and a walk-on fans shouldn’t expect to see much of him outside of early non-conference action against some of the lesser opponents. As he continues to develop his game in Lincoln, however, we may see Hoiberg play his way into a scholarship and more minutes down the road. Regardless, plenty of other players at other institutions in the last few years have shown a coach having a son on the roster can be a valuable addition to team chemistry.

His twin brother, Charlie Hoiberg, also played on the basketball team at Pius Lincoln X with Sam, while their older brother Jack Hoiberg played at Michigan State for four seasons, primarily as a walk-on, and was a starter against the Cornhuskers on Feb. 20, 2020. Jack transferred as a graduate student and will be playing at UT-Arlington this upcoming season.