Nebraska landed its first commit in the 2018 class on Tuesday as Platteview’s Brady Heiman, the top-ranked center in Nebraska, pulled the trigger two days after receiving an offer from Coach Tim Miles.
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Heiman (6-foot-10, 197 pounds) averaged 15.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 4.8 blocks for a 21-5 Trojans team that qualified for the state tournament in Class B last season. He just wrapped up a strong spring and summer season with the Omaha Sports Academy Crusaders, leading to a flurry of scholarship offers.
He received 10 mid-major offers prior to the Huskers pulling the trigger on Sunday. On Monday, he visited Creighton and was offered a scholarship for 2019, meaning he would have to reclassify and attend a year of prep school if he wanted to accept it.
Heiman will become the first player form Nebraska to play for the Huskers since Grand Island’s Wes Wilkinson and Omaha Burke’s Jason Dourisseau and Roy Enright joined the Huskers for the 2002-03 season. Nebraska got a commitment from Omaha South’s Aguek Arop after his freshman year, but the two sides parted ways before Arop made it to Lincoln.
With the addition of Heiman as well as late 2017 commit Thorir Thorbjarnarson in recent days, the Huskers now have three spots remaining in the 2018 class. Nebraska is set to host 2018 Brewster Academy power forward Nate Roberts Sept. 16-18.
I caught up with Heiman for a quick Q&A to get his thoughts on committing to Nebraska:
HV: How does it feel to be a Husker?
BH: It feels great great to be a Husker! Knowing my hard work paid off is a great feeling.
HV: Why did you decide to make the decision so quickly?
BH: For me Nebraska has everything that I could want in a school so there was no reason to wait any longer.
HV: You’re getting this a lot, but the redshirt question. How do you view a potential redshirt year? As a local kid, do you look at Justin Patton’s success as a sign of what that can do for a player?
BH: I’m not sure I’m gonna be the next Justin Patton after a redshirt. I do know it will help my body become more ready for the physicality of the Big Ten.
HV: How do you think it’s going to feel stepping onto the court all season as a future Husker? Any pressure to that or is it a positive motivating factor?
BH: I think for me it will let me focus on just winning games at Platteview and not having to worry about who is watching. I know I will get everybody’s best shot, so I’ll still have to be ready every game.
