Fred Hoiberg made his first transfer addition of the spring on March 26 as former Xavier guard C.J. Wilcher announced his commitment to the Huskers on Instagram and Twitter.
Here’s the commitment announcement to #Nebrasketball for Xavier transfer CJ Wilcher on Instagram. pic.twitter.com/Axk5bp35Te
— Jacob Padilla (@JacobPadilla_) March 26, 2021
Nebraska announced Wilcher’s addition on April 14 with a release.
“You can never have enough shooting, and C.J. is an elite-level shooter,” Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg said. “He was one of the best shooters nationally in the class of 2020, but his game is much more than that. He has good size on the perimeter and uses it to create space and has an aggressive mindset. He played significant minutes at Xavier and that experience will help him in the transition to the Big Ten.”
Wilcher is a 6-foot-5, 195-pound shooting guard from Plainfield, New Jersey, who has four years of eligibility remaining. He played in 15 games this year with one start as a freshman, averaging 3.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 10 minutes per game. He shot 10-of-29 (34.5%) from 3, 8-of-16 inside the arc and 4-of-4 at the free-throw line.
“C.J. is the best shooter that I saw in the class of 2020 in the entire country,” Xavier Coach Travis Steele said, per his bio page on the Xavier website. “C.J. can make shots from all over the floor, whether in the post, off the catch or off the dribble. He also really knows how to play and he knows how to use his body. He sees things on the floor and can make his teammates better. He is a great shooter, but he is a lot more than that. He’s a scorer and he brings a different dimension on the offensive end.”
Wilcher was a 4-star recruit in the 2020 class coming out of Roselle Catholic in New Jersey. Nebraska offered him back in April of 2019, but he chose the Musketeers over the Huskers, Minnesota, St. John’s, Cincinnati, Seton Hall and others.
“C.J. is an elite level shot maker,” Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff said, according the GoXavier.com. “He is as good a shot maker at this level as I have ever seen. He has the ability to hit difficult shots on a regular basis. One thing he doesn’t get as much credit for is that he is a very good passer. He can feed the post and find the open guys in other spots on the court. He works hard on all aspects of his game and is a great leader for us on and off the court … In our last game of the season (state title game that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic) we were down 11 points in the state semifinal with about four minutes to play and C.J. hit three consecutive 25-to-30-foot 3s in a row to cut the lead to two and we wound up winning by one point.”
“C.J.” is short for Caleb Jefferson, and his younger brother, Simeon Wilcher, is a 5-star recruit in the 2023 class.
Wilcher’s addition gives Nebraska 12 scholarship players on its 2021-22 roster, though neither Kobe Webster nor Trevor Lakes, as returning seniors, will count towards the Huskers’ 13-man scholarship limit. The Huskers could still add up to three more players, barring further attrition, though having 15 scholarship players seems unlikely.
I would like to thank my coaches at Xavier for welcoming me w/open arms & my teammates for taking me in as a brother! This was a hard decision but with that being said I will be committing to The University of Nebraska! Go Huskers!!!🌽 @HuskerHoops
— CJ Wilcher (@CJWilcher) March 26, 2021
