Nebraska announced on Friday that special assistant to the head coach Doc Sadler is departing from the program and his position will be eliminated moving forward.
This move is part of Fred Hoiberg’s ongoing restructuring of his coaching staff. On Thursday, the program announced that assistant coach and lead recruiter Matt Abdelmassih is also moving on.
“Doc has given his heart and soul to the Nebraska basketball program twice in his coaching career, and we appreciate all his contributions to the success of Husker basketball,” Hoiberg said in a release. “Doc has a great basketball mind and has been a valuable resource on our coaching staffs both here and at Iowa State. I wish him nothing but the best in the future.”
When Nebraska hired Hoiberg in 2019, he brought Sadler with him as an assistant coach. He was on the active coaching staff for the first two seasons before moving into the off-court special assistant to the head coach role prior to this past season to make room for new assistant Nate Loenser.
Known for his defensive acumen and quirky personality, Sadler served as the head coach at Nebraska from 2006 to 2012, leading the Huskers to a 101-89 record and three NIT appearances.
Sadler spent the 2013-14 season on Hoiberg’s staff at Iowa State before taking over as the Southern Miss head coach, where he remained until rejoining Hoiberg in Lincoln in 2019.
The Huskers went 24-67 in Hoiberg’s first three seasons including 10-22 this year. After improving from 152nd in adjusted defensive efficiency according to Kenpom in 2019-20 to 40th in 2020-21, the Huskers fell off again to 178th this past season.
Jacob is in his third year with Hail Varsity covering Husker athletics. He has also written extensively for SB Nation’s Bright Side of the Sun and The Creightonian. 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.
