Assistant Coach Matt Abdelmassih parts ways with Nebraska Huskers

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are sitting at home for yet another post season in the men’s basketball world this March (out of 125 seasons, the Huskers have only made 33 total postseason appearances between the NCAA (7) and NIT (22)).However, things are still happening with the program as evidenced by late this morning. Assistant coach Matt Abdelmassih has agreed to mutually part ways with the Huskers.

Abdelmassih came to Nebraska from St. John’s, but has worked as an assistant coach for Hoiberg before his three seasons at Nebraska. He’s a graduate of St. John’s and worked as a student manager for the Red Storm basketball team during his time in undergrad there. After graduating, he assisted the director of basketball operations until moving to the Minnesota Timeberwolves staff in 2008 as an operations intern. He was promoted to operations assistant in 2009, and worked with Coach Hoiberg there. Abdelmassih then worked on Hoiberg’s Iowa State staff for five seasons.

While at St. John’s following his time with Iowa State, Abdelmassih was named the top transfer recruiter in the country by ESPN. He helped lead the Red Storm to their 21 win season in his last season with them (2018-19), and their first NCAA tournament bid in five seasons. All five starters for the Red Storm during that second season were recruited by Abdelmassih, including such talent as Mustapha Heron (Auburn), Justin Simon (Arizona), and Marvin Clark Jr. (Michigan State), as well as junior college transfer LJ Figueroa. He also helped the Red Storm land a consensus top-25 recruiting class in 2016.

While with Nebraska, Abdelmassih has been an important recruiter for the Huskers. He has played a role in recruiting Bryce McGowens, Jr. and Wilhelm Breidenbach, among others. McGowens was the first five-start recruit to commit to Nebraska out of high school in program history and the highest rated recruit in the modern era for the Huskers.

Abdelmassih recently took a leave of absence from the Huskers for medical reasons back in December for a brief period before returning to finish the season. He was also named a Top-40 Coach under 40 by ESPN back in May 2020.

Coach Hoiberg offered the following on the announcement news:

“Matt and I have a close relationship dating back to our time in the front office with the Timberwolves,” Hoiberg said. “He was a big part of our success at Iowa State and played a leading role in building our roster at Nebraska. I wish Matt and his family nothing but the best.”