Week two of the June visit schedule brought a pair of prospects to Lincoln including an in-state target in Millard North senior Jasen Green.
The Huskers offered the 6-foot-7 forward in June of 2019 and he’s attended a couple basketball games and a football game in Lincoln, but this weekend was the first time Green got an opportunity to really spend time with the coaching staff.
“Probably the highlight of the visit was getting to talk to the coaching staff a lot more because each night we went out for dinner and we went for breakfast and we were able to just talk for a couple hours and just share stories and stuff,” Green told Hail Varsity. “I got a little better relationship with them, a better understanding of the type of people that they are.”
In addition to the meals, Green also got a chance to tour the facilities and check out the campus, watch the coaches out the team through a workout, meet with an academic counselor, study Nebraska’s offense in Fred Hoiberg’s offense and eat breakfast at Hoiberg’s house.
The coaches have stayed in touch with Green virtually over the past year during the dead period, but he said he really enjoyed the in-person conversations.
“It was really enjoyable for me because it’s just not the same if you’re talking online or talking over the phone or texting,” Green said. “It’s just not the same as being in person, being able to talk to them face-to-face because it’s kind of a different feel and you can trust them a little bit more. I don’t really know why I feel that way, but I just think being able to talk face-to-face is a lot better for building relationships and things like that. So it meant a lot to me to be able to do that.”
Green averaged 12.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals as a junior at Millard North, winning a state title alongside three other Division I prospects in Hunter Sallis, Saint Thomas and Jadin Johnson. The kind of do-it-all versatility that Green has displayed is why Nebraska views him as a good fit.
“What they told me is I’d be able to play all five spots because they’re interchangeable in their type of offense,” Green said. “The main types of shots they want to get are either layups or 3s because those are the highest-scoring shots in college and the NBA right now. Basically their playing style is running. They’re the fastest-paced offense in the Big Ten, so that’s probably one of the best things about them. They said I’d be able to fit into any of the spots because I’m tall, I can handle the ball, I can make good decisions, I can make good passes and I can shoot. That’s another main thing they like from me is my ability to shoot the ball.”
Green is one of many 2022 prospects who has had their recruitments impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the recruited dead period it brought about. He was set to play on the EYBL circuit last summer with MOKAN Elite, but with coaches barred from watching tournaments in person, MOKAN didn’t compete. Instead, Green played closer to home with Team Factory in a few tournaments to keep himself fresh while also working hard on his game at home.
“Obviously it was pretty negative for the most part because the summer season was basically canceled,” Green said. “There wasn’t much we could do, wasn’t much coaches could do in terms of coming to watch us. I tried to make the best of it by doing my workouts at home because obviously at the start of the pandemic we weren’t allowed to go anywhere, so I would just work out with my dad in the garage and do agility stuff and box jumps, stuff like that, strength training stuff. I made the best of it, but in terms of recruiting I think it did slow down a little bit just because coaches weren’t able to watch me as much that summer as they would have been able to if nothing had happened.”
With things opening back up, however, Green is diving back into the recruiting process and summer basketball scene. Last week, he attended the Pangos All-American camp in Las Vegas.
“It was great,” Green said. “In terms of competition, they had top players from my class, 2023 and 2024. Just the main thing there was the amount of competition because there aren’t as many of the top players in the midwest region, but if you go down there you have players from all across the country flying in and stuff like that. I got to test my skills, see how good I was against them, see if what I’ve been working on is paying off and basically just see how I measure up to them.”
Green unofficially visited Colorado on his way to the Pangos camp and he also has an unofficial scheduled with Minnesota for June 23. He’s talking to a few other schools but is still building a relationship with the coaches before setting any visits in stone.
In addition to Nebraska, Green has received offers from Kansas State, TCU, Stanford, Wake Forest and Iowa State.
“The main thing I’m looking for is just the right coaching staff,” Green said. “I’m looking at everything involved with them, like character, how they coach, how they treat each other and stuff like that because obviously as a player, the coaches are the most important thing and they’re going to be the ones deciding how much you play, if you’re even going to play at all, and what position you’ll be playing.”
Green said if he feels confident in his decision by that point, he wants to sign during the early signing period, but if he doesn’t have everything figured out in time he is willing t push his decision back to the late signing period.
Green made the decision in the spring to leave MOKAN Elite and return home to play with Nebraska Supreme, citing more comfort and a better chance to showcase what he’s capable of during his last season of summer basketball. He’s playing alongside fellow Nebraska target Isaac Traudt, though the two have tried not to talk too much about their respective recruitments.
“We don’t really talk about it too much,” Green said. “Before June, at our last tournament, we were talking about the visits we would go on and what we were hoping to see there and things like that. But we mostly keep the schools out of conversation because we don’t really want to sway each other’s opinion too much.”
After not getting to play last summer, Green said he’s looking forward to the upcoming live period tournaments in July. Nebraska Supreme will play on the Under Armor Association circuit.
“I’m super excited,” Green said. “I’m really excited to just show people what I’ve been working on and what I’ve been doing in the gym during the offseason.”
