The basketball talent in Nebraska is on the rise, and all season long, Hail Varsity will be tracking the in-state players with Division I offers, including those Nebraska is recruiting.
2021 Millard North Guard Hunter Sallis (Nebraska Target)
The Mustangs only had one game last week, but Sallis put on a show. The 6-foot-4 junior put up a career-high 34 points, shooting 12-of-19 from the field, 2-of-3 from 3-point range and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. He added seven steals, three rebounds (two offensive), three assists, and a block to his stat line and turned the ball over three times in an 81-62 win against Omaha Burke on Friday.
Sallis has scored 26, 22 and 34 points in his first three games and is shooting nearly 60% from the field so far this season.
2022 Millard North Forward Jasen Green (Nebraska Target)
Green tied his career-high against Burke with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting including 1-of-3 from deep, and he split a pair of free-throw attempts. He showed off his defensive potential by blocking five shots and nabbing one steal, and he also grabbed four boards (one offensive).
Green has been Millard North’s third-leading scorer through three games with two double-digit outings, and he’s only scratching the surface of what he could be.
2020 Millard North Forward Max Murrell (Stanford Commit)
With Sallis and junior wing Saint Thomas shouldering the majority of the scoring load, Murrell has gotten off to a slow start offensively this season. He finished with four points on 2-of-8 shooting (0-of-2 from 3). He grabbed six rebounds (one offensive) and a steal and blocked two shots while turning it over once.
Burrell has yet to crack double figures and is 1-of-5 from 3 to start the season but he does have seven blocks and seven steals in three games.
Millard North will play at Omaha North on Friday and will host Lincoln East on Saturday.
2021 Bellevue West Point Guard Chucky Hepburn (Wisconsin Commit)
The Thunderbirds went 2-0 last week, beating Omaha Benson 72-56 on Friday and Bellevue East 60-48 on Saturday, and they did it without Hepburn. He sat out both games with an injury.
2021 Bellevue West Wing Frankie Fidler
The younger Fidler brother, who holds a scholarship offer from Omaha, nearly put up a double-double in Bellevue West’s win over Benson. He finished with a career-high 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting (0-of-2 from 3), eight rebounds (one offensive), four assists and a steal.
However, he dealt with foul trouble against Bellevue East and was held to just two shot attempts, splitting a pair of 3-pointers. He added five rebounds, two assists and a steal.
His older brother, Louis, carried the offensive load with Hepburn on the bench, exploding for 28 points against the Bunnies and following it up with 14 against the Chieftains.
Bellevue West has a big week ahead as it hosts Omaha South on Friday and Kearney on Saturday.
2020 Omaha Westside Guard Jadin Booth (Omaha Commit)
The senior guard shot the lights out in a pair of wins for the Warriors last week. He had 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting (4-of-5 from 3) and 1-of-1 from the line with two assists, two steals, one rebound and three turnovers in an 87-63 win against Omaha Northwest on Friday.
He stepped it up a bit on Saturday, totaling 21 points in a 65-58 win at Papillion-La Vista South. He shot 7-of-16 from the field including 5-of-10 from 3 and 2-of-4 from the foul line with five assists, two rebounds (one offensive) and one steal.
Booth is now 16-of-33 (48.5%) from 3 on the season.
The Warriors will play at Gretna on Thursday and at Lincoln Pius X on Saturday.
2020 Omaha Central Guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr.
The Eagles went 3-0 last week, though they haven’t posted the box score from their 88-57 win at Lincoln High on Saturday.
On Monday, Wrightsell led Central to the OPS Jamboree championship with a 78-55 win against Omaha North at Gretna. He finished with 17 points on 6-of-12 from the field, 1-of-3 from 3, and 4-of-7 from the free-throw, seven rebounds (two offensive), two steals, one assist and two turnovers.
He followed that up with 15 points on 6-of-11 from the field, 2-of-4 from 3 and 1-of-3 from the one, three steals and two rebounds in a 55-50 win against Gretna.
The Eagles will play at Bellevue East on Friday and at Grand Island on Saturday.
Jacob Padilla has been writing for Hail Varsity since 2015. He covers football, volleyball men’s basketball and prep sports. He also co-hosts the Nebraska Preps Postgame and Nebraska Shootaround podcasts for the Hurrdat Media and Hail Varsity podcast networks. His love of basketball can best be described as an obsession and if you need to find him, he’s probably in a gym somewhere watching, coaching or playing hoops.
