Nebraska season preview: Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager return

Where last season ended

Nebraska finished 2025-26 at 28-7 overall, a school record for wins, and 15-5 in the Big Ten, tied for second, according to Sports-Reference. The Huskers beat Troy 76-47 and Vanderbilt 74-72 in the NCAA Tournament, their first NCAA wins. They lost 77-71 to Iowa in the Sweet 16 on March 26, 2026. Fred Hoiberg is in his eighth season as head coach, and the Big Ten named him Coach of the Year.

Who is gone

Sam Hoiberg and Kendall Blue have exhausted their eligibility, according to a March tracker from SI. The same tracker lists four transfers out: Berke Büyüktuncel to Vanderbilt, Ugnius Jaruševičius to Arizona, Quentin Rhymes to Fresno State and Justin Bolis to Omaha. None of the four appears on the 2026-27 roster page.

Who is back

Pryce Sandfort, a senior forward, earned All-Big Ten first-team honors for 2025-26, according to the Big Ten. Braden Frager, a junior forward, won Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year and made the All-Freshman Team. SI lists Sandfort, Frager, Connor Essegian, Cale Jacobsen and Henry Burt as confirmed returners. Will Cooper, a junior forward, and Leo Curtis, a sophomore listed at 7-2, are also on the roster.

Who is new

Six transfers join. Kadyn Betts, a fifth-year forward, comes from Montana. Taj DeGourville, a junior guard, comes from San Diego State. Trevan Leonhardt, a fifth-year guard, comes from Utah Valley. Sam Orme, a senior forward, comes from Belmont. Boden Kapke, a senior forward, comes from Boston College. Damon Wilkinson, a senior forward, comes from South Dakota State.

The freshman class is listed below.

Incoming freshmen

Nebraska adds two freshmen, both four-star prospects according to the school's signing release. The pair adds the shooting and positional size that Fred Hoiberg said the roster needed.

• Colin Rice, guard/forward, 6-9, Waukee Northwest High School, Waukee, Iowa (No. 76 in the 247Sports rankings)
• Jacob Lanier, guard, 6-6, Parkview Magnet School, Little Rock, Ark. (top 100 recruit, per the school's release)

The number to know

The number to know is scoring margin per game, which is points scored minus points allowed, averaged over games. In 2025-26, Nebraska averaged 77.0 points and allowed 66.1, a margin of +10.9, according to Sports-Reference. The average covers all 35 games on the season record, including the NCAA Tournament. It shows the average gap in a season. It does not show pace, the quality of opponents, or how close the losses were, so treat it as a summary, not a verdict.

Questions for this season

Who fills Rhymes's guard minutes? The returning guards are Essegian and Jacobsen, with Leonhardt and DeGourville added. That group is the open question for the backcourt.

Can the frontcourt depth hold? Büyüktuncel and Jaruševičius are gone, but the roster lists ten players as forwards or guard and forwards, including Sandfort, Frager, Curtis and six newcomers.

How fast do six transfers and two freshmen fit in? Nebraska has eight new players, and the rotation will show how quickly they adjust.

Our early read

Our tier is Contender (top 4). This is our opinion, not a sourced ranking. Nebraska had the most wins in school history, tied for second in the Big Ten, and returns Sandfort, an All-Big Ten first-team pick, and Frager, the league's Sixth Man of the Year. Losing four transfers and two players with no eligibility left is a real cost, and eight new players need time. We project the Huskers fourth.