Nebraska

Potts Looking to Build off Fantastic Freshman Year with Nebraska Women's Basketball | Hurrdat Sports

Published

1 year ago

October 16, 2024

Potts Looking to Build off Fantastic Freshman Year with Nebraska Women's Basketball | Hurrdat Sports

When she first arrived on campus, Natalie Potts didn’t expect to play much during her freshman season with Nebraska women’s basketball. Knowing the kind of challenge that awaited her in Lincoln, she didn’t want to get her hopes up.

Her mom, Sharon Potts, expressed concerns about her daughter’s readiness to compete physically with the other members of the Nebraska frontcourt while Coach Amy Williams was recruiting the 6-foot-2 forward out of O’Fallon, Missouri.

However, Williams and her staff saw something special in Potts. They believed in her ability to make an immediate impact.

“If you watched Natalie play even in the recruiting process, she plays with a motor and she just has that knack for game-winning plays, hustle plays,” Williams said at Big Ten Media Days. “I can remember coming home from watching her and saying, ‘I know she had double-figure deflections.’ I would lose track of how many times she’d get her hands on balls and just make hustle plays. That motor, it translates.

“So we felt very confidently that she would be able to make an impact on our team and we don’t recruit anybody into our program if we don’t believe they have that ability to have a positive impact for us, and she was no different. We believed in her from the moment she signed those papers, and we started to see some really good flashes early in her career that she was gaining confidence as well.”

The motor Williams described showed itself in Potts’ 5.5 rebounds per game, five double-doubles and 1.7 stocks (steals plus blocks) per game. She tied Nebraska’s Big Ten Tournament record with nine blocks in four games as the Huskers made a run to the conference title game. Potts said she loves running and, more importantly, she loves winning.

“I’ve always had a high motor,” said Potts, who represented Nebraska at Big Ten Media Days alongside senior Alexis Markowski. “Growing up, I was top of the press whole games, running with my head chopped off like I was a chicken. It just keeps me going, it brings energy to the team, and I think that’s a big momentum booster.”

Potts started all 35 games and was third on the team in scoring at 10.2 points per game in addition to her work on the glass and on defense. She won Big Ten Freshman of the Week eight times, and at the end of the season the coaches voted her Big Ten Freshman of the Year while the media voted her as an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection.

“She’s just a nonstop go-getter,” Markowski said. “She’s constantly trying to find a way to get another rebound, an offensive rebound. If you need a tough basket, Natalie’s your girl to go finish one. I think where I’ve seen her impact the game the most is defensively. She gets a lot of deflections; she’s really long.”

Isabelle Bourne left some big shoes to fill at the four spot as a three-year starter, captain and honorable mention All-Big Ten selection, and Potts felt the nerves early when Williams put her in the lineup from day one. By the end of the season, however, her production wasn’t far off what Bourne had given the Nebraska women’s basketball team.

“At first I was definitely nervous being thrown into that starting spot, but after a few games I got very comfortable with the system and playing with everybody,” Potts said. “They all have a lot of trust and confidence in me, which makes it super easy to get out there and get after it.”

Potts didn’t have to do much to earn her teammates’ trust; she won them over quickly by being herself. However, Markowski pointed to the Huskers’ 87-81 win over Maryland on Dec. 31 as a turning point for the freshman. She put up 17 points and a career-high 13 points in the victory.

“Natalie, you can just trust her,” Markowski said. “She just has this very calming presence about her. When she came in as a freshman, I just knew right away she would do big, great things … I think she had a lot of sparks in games, but I think the Maryland game was huge … It was a big game for us too; I think that was the second time we’ve ever beat Maryland, and she had such a great game, and I felt like she consistently played like that the rest of the year from that moment.”

Potts said she far exceeded her expectations for herself during her freshman year, and after an offseason focuses on polishing up key areas (most notably her 25.4% 3-point clip), she’s looking to take a step forward in year two as a Husker.

“With Natalie, the things we’ve talked about, the things that she has identified in postseason meetings and offseason that she wants to improve on is just a little extended range and consistency with her range,” Williams said. “She’s been working really hard and looking good from behind the arc.

“Her ball-handling skills have just continued to get better. She’s showing confidence going over either shoulder when her back is to the basket. Just dribbling, right and left hand, and making decisions off the dribble, just some things that as she’s now more comfortable in our system, she’s just able to take the expanded skill set that she’s worked hard to develop this offseason.”

Potts didn’t arrive at Nebraska expecting to play much, but after a stellar freshman season, whatever doubts she may have had are gone. The Huskers are looking to build off last year’s NCAA Tournament win and make a deeper postseason run in 2025, and to make that happen they’ll need Markowski and Potts to lead the way.

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Nebraska

Nebraska Baseball Weekend Preview: Michigan State

Published

2 hours ago

March 6, 2026

Press Room

Nebraska Baseball Weekend Preview: Michigan State

Series Preview

Michigan State Spartans (3-8) at Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-5)

Location: Hawks Field at Haymarket Park, Lincoln, NE

Dates: March 6th-8th

Times (all CT): Friday @ 2pm, Saturday @ 1pm, Sunday @ 12pm

Head Coaches: Jake Boss Jr. (18th season, 496-450) & Will Bolt (7th season, 177-131-1)

TV/Stream: B1G+

Radio: All Nebraska games on Huskers Radio Network, Huskers.com, Huskers App

Nebraska baseball goes into conference play having won both of its mid-week games since returning home to Haymarket Park. It’s riding the hot bats of Dylan Carey, and Mac Moyer. Carey is fresh off a 5 for 5 game, the first 5 hit game for a Husker since Gunner Hellstrom in 2018. Carey is leading all Big Ten batters in both hits (28) and doubles (8) and is 2nd in avg. (.509). He is piling up the RBIs with Moyer reaching base at a .592 clip. He is tied for the Big Ten lead with 13 walks.

Nebraska should also be getting Will Jesske back after a week off due to feeling a twing in his hamstring Friday night at Auburn. Husker coach Will Bolt said he was going to pinch hit if needed the last inning against South Dakota State, but didn’t want him playing the field yet with the cold weather. Jesske has 3 home runs on the year, but with the amount of hits on the barrel he has had at some giant ballparks, he could be close to the Big Ten lead if he played all his games at a place like Haymarket Park.

The Spartans had the biggest upset of the first week of the season, taking the series from then #8 Louisville by winning the first 2 games 4-3 and 13-4. They have struggled mightily since, going 1-8 against a pretty rough schedule. They went from Louisville to #3 Texas and were swept by a combined score of 15-2 in 3 games.

They have a yearly “residency” as they call it, in Greenville, South Carolina early every year, thanks to a big alumni base in the area. They struggled to put up runs in those 2 weeks, never putting up more than 4. Their lone win was a 4-1 victory over Albany, and they ended the residency on a sour note, with a 7 inning run rule loss to #10 Clemson, 12-1. Husker pitchers will need to limit walks and hit batters, and should be able to manage the lineup if they can.

Pitching Probables

Game 1: RHP Ty Horn (0-0, 4.05 ERA) vs. RHP Aidan Donovan (0-1, 3.95 ERA)

Game 2: RHP Carson Jasa (1-1, 7.71 ERA) vs. RHP Carter Monke (1-1, 2.35 ERA)

Game 3: RHP Gavin Blachowicz (1-1, 2.31 ERA) vs. RHP Logan Pikur (0-2, 7.30 ERA)

It was a rough weekend for Husker starting pitching. In fact, in 2026 no weekend starter has turned in a quality start. Ty Horn started strong, piling up strikeouts in the first couple innings before a couple hits and an error jump started the Tigers’ offense. Still looking for him to work on getting through the order a couple times in a more efficient fashion. It would really behoove Friday starters to go longer so the bullpen is more available the next two days. That is just as big of a deal as being dominant for 5 innings.

Really nothing went right on Saturday for Carson Jasa. Well, he could locate his fastball for strikes, but that was about it, and Auburn quickly realized it. 2 walks and a hit batter went a long way to giving up 4 earned runs in his lone inning of work, but Auburn learned to just sit and hunt his fastball, and when you connect with a 97 mph fastball, it tends to go a long way. Regaining a feel for his cutter/change and slider is really all he can do.

Even the most steady of the starters for the first 2 weeks had a rough go. Gavin Blachowicz seemed to get out of an issue with minimal damage in the 2nd inning against Auburn in which an error led to a run being scored, but a wild pitch and then giving up a no doubter 3 run home run, opened the game up. Rather than let him work out of it, Nebraska had a couple strong options in the bullpen to turn to, so they let Kevin Mannell come out and get some work in to try and regain his confidence. Blachowicz needs to work on not letting a mistake turn into a big inning, and he should regain his form.

MSU had 2 starting pitcher and kinda filled in the Sunday position last season. They lost Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Joseph Dzierwa, and their Saturday guy was moved to a long relief role. Aidan Donovan was mostly a mid-week starter last season, but has moved into the Friday role. He showed a lot of promise as a freshman in 2025, with a 2-3 record and 4.70 ERA. He pitched well against Louisville and Texas, but struggled in his last outing against Illinois. Don’t look for him to pile up strike outs or go deep into the game, his season high is 5 innings and he has 10 strikeouts in his 13.2 innings so far.

Carter Monke is a grad transfer from Illinois State. He started 14 games in his 2 years at ISU, and had a 6.16 ERA, striking out 67 in 83 innings of work. Despite those numbers, he has pitched very well to start 2026. He started 2 of their 3 wins, and in his loss only gave up 1 earned run in 6.1 innings against Texas. Logan Pikur led the team in appearances the past 2 seasons, but has really struggled moving into the starting rotation. He has a career ERA over 7.00 and career batting average against of .315. Nebraska’s offense should be ready to roll Sunday.

Scouting Report

The Spartans returned a lot of position players, but from an offense that really struggled in 2025. They have far and away the fewest hits of any Big Ten team currently, a combo of their offensive struggles and their incredible strength of schedule. They have only 62 hits on the year. The next lowest is 83, and Nebraska by contrast, has 132. They have scored only 33 runs on the season. Nebraska is below average in the B1G, but still has scored 78 runs.

Everything starts with returning 2nd Team All-Big Ten second baseman Ryan McKay. Like everyone, he’s had a rough start to the year. A .250 average and only 1 double from a guy that hit .306 with 20 home runs a season ago. He epitomizes the team’s philosophy of working deep into counts, but not striking out. He has as many walks in his career as strikeouts. He also likes to run, already with 4 stolen bases despite the limited opportunities.

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Nebraska

The Coffee Bin selected as Nebraska Passport program stop

Published

14 hours ago

March 6, 2026

Press Room

The Coffee Bin selected as Nebraska Passport program stop

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) – The Coffee Bin has been selected as one of 70 stops on this year’s Nebraska Passport program, an annual challenge that highlights attractions and promotes local businesses across the state.

An incredible Honor

The owner of The Coffee Bin said the selection was meaningful for her team.

“It’s a huge honor. I mean, to be selected, I don’t know how many applications they get every year for this, but it’s like, so, it’s a big honor. It’s just, you know, we’re just really, really excited to be a part of it,” Penny Billingsley, said.

Tourism and local growth

The owner said participation in the Nebraska Passport program plays a role in helping businesses like hers grow.

“Tourism is a big, big part of, I think, for any city, tourism is important. North Platte has a lot of really unique places to go, and we’re also just in the middle of the state. So there’s, you know, you can get to a lot of different, different destinations from here. So I think it’s very important,” she added.

The Coffee Bin is one of two Lincoln County stops on this year’s Nebraska Passport program. Crystal Cave & Falls Adventure Mini Golf is the other Lincoln County location included in the program.

A full list of attractions is available on the KNOP News 2 app and website.

Click here to subscribe to our KNOP News 2 daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.

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Nebraska’s Running Backs Have an Strong Role Model in Emmett Johnson

Published

1 day ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Nebraska’s Running Backs Have an Strong Role Model in Emmett Johnson

Nebraska All-American running back Emmett Johnson is waiting for the NFL Draft next month. In his wake, his legacy in Lincoln influences the Huskers’ running back room.

The current guys wouldn’t mind being like Emmett.

And why not?

Johnson ran for 1,451 yards in 2025, and is expected to be drafted. Johnson played four years at Nebraska and his development across that time became a textbook for younger players to follow.

“It’s interesting,” Huskers running backs coach E.J. Barthel told reporters after practice Wednesday. “It’s one thing to talk about development and one thing as a coach you want to say here’s what we believe and here’s the opportunities that are on the horizon if you do this, do that. All the kids watched him {Emmett] do it. It makes my job a lot easier.

“Emmett’s just been an example … talking about where he needs to improve to the next spring [practice] and he’s continued to battle and fight and compete. Emmett’s second year as a full-time player he had to compete with Rahmir [Johnson] and Dante [Dowdell] …

“That turned him into the player you saw last season. Learning to compete brings out the best out of everybody … And then for Emmett to compete with him [Rahmir] in camp and throughout the season, that’s going to make you the player you’re going to be.

“That’s what’s most impressive about Emmett, that the ability to compete and want to compete. If you look at him at the [NFL] Combine, I think he’s one of the only running backs to do all the drills. I think it’s been told to me by some NFL people that they’re impressed that he’s not afraid of competition. I think that makes you a great player.”

The next generation

Barthel, who is in his fourth season at Nebraska, has enormous numbers on the stat sheet to fill without Johnson. His running back room is well stocked but inexperienced. The Huskers are coming off back-to-back 7-6 seasons.

Kwinten Ives, Isaiah Mozee and Mekhi Nelson each have limited experience. Each wants to be the main ball carrier in 2026. Combined, these three carried the ball 73 times for 295 yards. Johnson had 251 carries last season

Nebraska running back Kwinten Ives runs for a 28-yard touchdown against Akron. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

“The one thing we pride ourselves here is honesty and transparency with our players,” Barthel said about Ives, a junior from Beverly, N.J. “And letting guys know exactly where they stand. And we challenge Kwinten.

“He’s going to have to maximize his role and show myself, show himself, show the staff that there’s a void here. And can you fill that void?

“That’s the reality. Not only did he do it in practice, he stepped up and he did it in the game [34 yards vs. Akron; 85 yards vs. Houston Christian; 14 yards on four carries in the Las Vegas Bowl].

“That’s a huge jump for him. His question had never been about ability. Last year it was the soft tissue injuries. So, he’s going to be challenged this spring to continue to focus on his body, keeping himself healthy, but he’s accelerating.

“He’s having his best spring that I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”

Nebraska running back Mekhi Nelson is hoisted by tight end Carter Nelson after scoring a touchdown against Akron. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Barthel on Mekhi Nelson

“Off the field, he’s really maturing,” Barthel said about the sophomore from Wilkes-Barre, Pa. “When we’re on the road recruiting this cycle, he did a great job of getting the group together, making sure guys were meeting on their own voluntarily and coordinating all the things that we talk about during the season, as far as what we should be covering during their workouts.

“He did a great job as far as being a leader of that group in that sense. Right now, the challenge for him is going to see if he can take his body to the next level just like Emmett had to do.

“There’s no doubt he has breakaway speed and he has a competitive edge when he plays. The big challenge for him is focusing on his body. That’s going to be the big factor for him.

“As far as his skill set, as far as route efficiency, as far as his protection, as far as his rush skills, his ability to outrun the defense, his toughness, he’s very impressive.

“He’s going to continue to climb that ladder.”

Nelson was the Huskers’ second-leading rusher with 147 yards on 27 carries. He had 88 yards on 12 carries in the Las Vegas Bowl loss to Utah.

Nebraska running back Isaiah Mozee gains yards against Michigan State last season at Memorial Stadium. | Kylie Graham-Imagn Images

Barthel on Isaiah Mozee

“I look at him now as a real running back,” Barthel said about Mozee, a sophomore from Kansas City. “Last year, he was really transitioning and now his movements pre-snap, how he gets aligned, his eyes, all those things, he’s really truly bought into the position.

“The big thing for him right now will continue to be staying on that path and running the ball inside. That’s going to be the thing he needs to do to really grasp. Everyone knows what he can do in space. We know what he can do on the perimeter.

“His focus this spring is running behind his weight and becoming a really dynamic inside runner.”

The wild card freshman

The unknown factor is true freshman Jamal Rule from Salisbury, N.C. Rule was considered a three-star player who Barthel said was not recruited out of Charlotte Christian High.

“One of the reasons why we loved Jamal coming out of high school was because of his physicality and competitive edge, the way he ran the football in high school,” Barthel said. “It was evident in tape. It was evident when I went to go watch him play.

“The kid has a chip on his shoulder. He was the leading rusher at North Carolina his junior year … and then to run over 200 yards against Providence Day [School] in a championship game and to really not get recruited was a slap in the face to that kid. And so an opportunity for us to believe in him and everyone on the staff, everyone on our team seeing why we believed in him …

“That’s part of his attitude. Right now he needs to learn football. It’s one thing he’s got to transition from being a high school football player to really learning the cycle of the snap, development of his eyes in the run game and in the protection game.

“Those are the big things for him right now is just the details of football, is what he needs to learn.

“I think you could probably spot-play a young freshman, as far as their ability, but in order for us to rely on him, he’s got to be really diving into the details. And so that just takes repetition and experience … He’s going to gradually grow and so it’s really the meeting rooms, it’s the quizzing, it’s all the things off the field that are going to help him mentally play faster.”

Barthel has a challenging job this offseason — as do all of the Huskers.

“I’ve been their coach. I know where they need to improve,” Barthel said about his running back room.

With Emmett Johnson gone, there is a void to be filled, an opportunity for someone to step up.

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.

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