with all respect, I believe that we Husker fans have an unnecessary negative viewpoint about Nebraska basketball. We have the facilities, the fan base
for sure and since other programs in our vicinity do quite well (recruiting base, huh), with a superior coach (which we can get, IMO, no doubt), basketball
can be consistently excellent. Everything is in place except for our negative outlook which WE can change with everything else in place. Football school,
yeah, but so is Oklahoma, Michigan, Wisconsin, Notre Dame: Those universities as well as NU, seem to present both and football programs that do well:
there is no reason whatsoever that Huskerland can't do so as well...Andale, AD Moos !
Facilities. Whoop de do. So do other schools. What exactly have these facilities got us since 2013, but 0-1 in the dance. That is what counts. How many big name legit non-conference games have been played in PBA??
Fan Base. Whoop de do. Lincoln is a city of 260,000 people and manages to fill a 15,000 seat arena. Congrats. The Stars have decent attendance too don't they? All the states you listed have much better high school basketball throughout their entire state than Nebraska does. Look at the top 30 in attendance in 2018, and we are the school that pretty much doesn't belong in that group.
Oklahoma:
41-31 in NCAA tournament (most recent record I can find)
Oklahoma City- 1.3 Million people
Tulsa- 960,000 metro (slightly larger than Omaha)
State population- 3.9 million
3 hours from Dallas
Bordering States Population- 47.8 million
Program has been on NCAA probation
Michigan:
54-26 in NCAA tournament history (1 NC, 3 runner ups since 89)
Detroit Metro Population- 4.3 million
Grand Rapids Metro- 1 million
State population- 9.9 million
Bordering States- 18.4 million (oh but there is Canada/Brazdeikis)
Program has been on NCAA probation.
Wisconsin:
38-22 in NCAA tournament history (runner up in 2015)
Milwaukee Metro Population- 1.6 million
Madison Metro Population- 660,000
State Population- 5.8 million
2.5 hours from Chicago
Bordering States Population- 31.6
Notre Dame:
38-40 in NCAA tournament history
In a basketball crazy state with almost 7 million people
Recruits nationally
Less than 2 hours from Chicago
Nebraska:
MCAA tournament history 0-7
Omaha Metro Population- 975,000
Lincoln Metro Population- 331,000
Nebraska population- 1.92
Nearest 'major metro'- Kansas City- 2.2 million
Bordering states population- 19 million
Lincoln the 2nd largest city/metro in the state. Compare that to Tulsa, Grand Rapids, and Madison. How often exactly does Lincoln produce a P5 level D1 recruit? Donovan Williams will be the first since what, Nick Bahe and Matt Hill????
Omaha has done better, but currently doesn't produce enough that even if Nebraska got all the good ones instead of Creighton, they'd still have to go further than other schools quality players.
Have you been to summer AAU tournaments in the region? I've been to quite a few. Omaha is having some decent regional ones, but the big ones are still in much larger cities. You think Lincoln's location isn't a big hurdle when a lot of these talent laden summer AAU teams have parents who can't afford to travel with their sons over the summer?
We have everything here? Like a trophy case that shows a sustained level of success that sells recruits and coaches that they could win here?
Our nearest major metro is a relatively small one in KC, which is in Kansas' back yard, and other more sustained programs just as close with a history of winning to sell recruits and coaches on, also recruit there.
So sorry, you statement that everything is in place here makes me laugh. Much more of the things needed to succeed are at other places, not here. That is not a negative attitude, those are facts. To win in Lincoln Nebraska will take a lot more just about every other P5 (and a lot of other conference jobs).
Don't get me wrong, I hope Nebraska finally tries to get "A Name", but I'm realistic enough to realize that it will cost and cost plenty, and there is ZERO guarantee of success even if we get one. I sure as hell hope that if we get "A Name" here after Miles, that he does succeed. If we pony up the bucks, and he fails, we may never get another person to take this job.