Nebraska
Matt Rhule comments on handshake controversy in Nebraska-Iowa game
Head coach Matt Rhule met with the media on Wednesday in Lincoln inside the Hawks Championship Center to discuss Nebraska’s 2025 recruiting class that officially became Husker football players on the first day of the early signing period.
But before Rhule talked about the future of his program, he wanted to clear the air about something in the past: handshakes.
Or more more accurately, the lack of handshakes in Iowa City that Hawkeye players said motivated them.
During the coin toss just before kickoff in last week’s Black Friday rivalry game against Iowa, the Husker captains for the tilt — Elliott Brown, Emmett Johnson, DeShon Singleton and MJ Sherman — refused to shake the hands of Iowa’s captains.
“That’s not what we want to do. That’s not the right way to handle it,” said Rhule, who noted he didn’t know the captains didn’t shake the hands of Iowa’s players until well after the game.
When Nebraska’s players entered Kinnick Stadium for the first time a few hours before kickoff, the players made their way to the 50-yard line for their usual pregame prayer. However, there were armed police officers standing on the 50-yard line, keeping them from doing so.
The Nebraska players and coaches instead kept walking and prayed in one of the end zones.
“I do want to say, we showed up at the game and, really, for 12 years now, we show up to an away game and we always kind of go to the 50-yard line,” Rhule said. “Some guys will say a prayer for safety. Some guys will just break it down. Never really had any problems. We had a problem last year at Colorado for a few minutes. We had a problem this year at USC. But for the most part, we kind of go and do it.”
Rhule believes the presence of police officers had something to do with his players not shaking hands.
“When we came out to walk to the end zone, there were seven armed state troopers standing on the logo. And I think our players felt some type of way about police in pregame,” Rhule said. “They felt that. Wasn’t maybe channeled the right way. We’ve got great guys. We’ve got great leadership. Not the right decision, not what we wanted.”
Rivalry week in college football produced multiple fights between teams, including in the contests between Michigan-Ohio State, Florida-Florida State and North Carolina-North Carolina State, among others.
Knowing what happened in other rivalry games, Rhule was proud of how the Huskers and Hawkeyes handled business.
“I think when you watch that game, credit to both teams, it was between the lines,” Rhule said. “No unsportsmanlike fouls, no trash talking, no taunting. And watching college football, even after the game, I think both teams handled themselves in a way that a lot of people, lot of games, didn’t. So we’ll grow from that. We’ll learn from that.”
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Britt Prince scored 20 points and Jessica Petrie added 17 for No. 25 Nebraska in a 78-73 win over Indiana on Thursday night.
Prince, who buried her 700th career point in the fourth quarter, scored 15 of her points in the second half after holding off a late surge from the Hoosiers (11-6, 0-5 Big 10) in the third quarter. Logan Nissley added 11 points.
Indiana went on a 14-1 run in the third to take the lead from Nebraska (14-2, 3-2) for the first time since the beginning of the game, leading briefly at 51-49. Indiana took a 1-point lead with 5:32 to play, but Nebraska scored 16 points over the final 6:14.
Shay Ciezki scored 31 points on 13-of-21 shooting for Indiana, her fourth time this season scoring more than 30 points. Zania Socka-Nguemen added 19 points and 11 rebounds. Maya Makalusky had 12 points. The Hoosiers shot 51% as a team from the field compared to Nebraska’s 42%, but have dropped their fourth straight game.
Up next
Indiana: Hosts No. 14 Iowa on Sunday.
Nebraska: Hosts No. 4 UCLA on Sunday.
___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
Nebraska
33 Nebraska senators urge Board of Regents to delay vote on $800M acquisition of Nebraska Medicine
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Thirty-two Nebraska state senators joined Sen. Brad von Gillern’s letter calling on the Nebraska Board of Regents to delay a vote on the proposed $800 million acquisition of Nebraska Medicine.
The letter, dated Thursday and bearing a total of 33 signatures from state senators, shared concerns about the proposed acquisition, including the lack of transparency to the public and the Legislature.
According to the letter, the regents’ Jan. 9 meeting agenda item summary indicates that the Board has “negotiated the final agreement over a series of meetings in the past 18 months”.
The regents will consider a proposal in which Clarkson Regional Health Services would give up its 50% membership in Nebraska Medicine. The deal would give full control of the health system to the University of Nebraska.
However, the letter said the public and Legislature have had little time to understand the proposal, its impact and any financial implications of the transaction.
“The University of Nebraska and Nebraska Medicine are two institutions of tremendous significance to our state, and any major changes to the existing structures must be carefully considered,” the letter stated.
Senators are asking the Board to delay the vote to “ensure all viable alternatives have been considered and until all stakeholders understand the impact of the proposal for the state” and the two institutions.
The Board of Regents meeting, previously set for Friday, will now be held Thursday, Jan. 15 at 9 a.m.
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