Our fine recruiting analyst Greg Smith has already highlighted a few of the top football reruits Nebraska is bringing in this weekend in Will Putnam and David Alston, but the Nebraska basketball program is set for a big recruiting weekend as well with a pair of Tim Miles' top 2018 targets coming to town.
Nebrasketball will play host to Bishop O'Connell point guard Xavier Johnson and Brewster Academy forward Nate Roberts for official visits this weekend.
Johnson is a 6-foot-3 3-star point guard who averaged about 10 points, four rebounds and four assists for a 20-11 Bishop O'Connell (Arlington, Virginia) squad as a junior. On the EYBAL Circuit this summer, Johnson averaged 8.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists for a Team Takeiver squad that went 11-5.
He's listed by some outlets as a combo-guard but Nebraska sees him as a point guard and he has decent size for that position. He is very quick and has the ability to break down defenses and get in the paint to make plays for himself and others. Johnson would be a great fit for Miles' offense that provides plenty of opportunities for dynamic guards to get to the rack.
On Thursday, Johnson released his top three schools on Twitter, including Nebraska.
https://twitter.com/TheXavierJ0/status/908122686609657857
In addition to his final three, Johnson received offers from Creighton, Washington, North Carolina State, Providence and others. He is planning to take an official visit to Georgia Tech starting on Sept. 22.
Nebraska has three scholarships left to give in 2018 and already has one commit in Platteview (Nebraska) center Brady Heiman. Glynn Watson Jr. will be a senior next year and Thomas Allen will be a sophomore, which is why Nebraska has been hitting the recruiting trail hard looking for a point guard of the future.
Along with Johnson, Nebraska will host Nate Roberts, a 6-foot-9, 210-pound power forward from Bel Air, Maryland. Roberts included Nebraska in his final five back in July along with Connecticut, Syracuse, Wake Forest and Washington.
Roberts also received offers from Cincinnati, Georgia and St. John's. He is a long, athletic face-up four who can run the floor like a gazelle and finish at the rim. Roberts fits the profile of some of the recent forwards Miles has brought into the program in Isaiah Roby and Isaac Copeland.
Roberts officially visited Washington during the first weekend of September, and he will visit Syracuse and Wake Forest after he makes a stop in Lincoln. Roberts has set Oct. 17 as the date for his decision. Brewster Academy is the same prep school that Allen came from, but Roberts is also teammates with Buddy Boeheim, the son of Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. Boeheim stopped by Brewster on Wednesday to see Roberts and the Orange are likely the favorites to land his services at this point.
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.
