The first offseason domino for Nebrasketball fell on Thursday when point guard Cam Mack announced his intention to declare for the NBA Draft. The second toppled on Tuesday when combo-guard Jervay Green entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Verbal Commits was the first to report the news.
Green was at Nebraska for one season after spending his first two years at Western Nebraska Community College. He originally committed to Tim Miles, then Fred Hoiberg re-recruited him after accepting the job, visiting him shortly after his introductory press conference then hosting him on a visit in Lincoln. Green reaffirmed his commitment to Nebraska after that.
Green opened the season as a starter but Hoiberg suspended him for two games for a violation of team rules in mid-December. He returned to action against North Dakota but Hoiberg chose to bench him for a couple of games, seeking to get back to the way the Huskers had played in the two games he was suspended. Hoiberg plugged him back in against Ohio State and he played in each of Nebraska’s last 16 games with six starts.
Overall, Green averaged 8.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.9 turnovers in 24.6 minutes per game. He played in 28 games in total with 15 starts.
Green was a dynamic player at Western Nebraska as a sophomore, putting up 23.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists while shooting 54.7% from the field and 39% from 3. The scoring efficiency didn’t translate to the Division I level, however. He shot just 39.7% from the field including 28.4% from 3 as a Husker. He scored in double figures just 10 times with a high of 22 against Southern in November.
Unless the NCAA passes the new rule granting immediate eligibility to transfers for next season or Green receives a waiver, he would need to sit out the 2020-21 season in order to transfer to another Division I school.
Dachon Burke Jr.’s future with the team is also up in the air. The shooting guard was sent home from Nebraska’s final regular season road trip to Minnesota for violating curfew and was suspended indefinitely. In a message on Twitter, he shared that he would be focusing on completing his degree and graduating. If Burke graduates, he would be able to play right away elsewhere as a graduate transfer, though he has not yet declared it to be his intention.
Nebraska has already picked up the commitments of a pair of transfer guards in Wisconsin’s Kobe King and Western Illinois’ Kobe Webster to go with junior college transfers Teddy Allen, a guard, and Lat Mayen, a forward.
Green’s transfer would drop Nebraska back to the 13-scholarship limit, which includes both Mack (who intends to maintain his college eligibility throughout the pre-draft process) and Burke. Further attrition would give Nebraska more scholarships to work with, and the coaching staff is sill actively recruiting.
