The Nebraska basketball program received a big boost on Tuesday Morning as Georgetown transfer forward Isaac Copeland has been granted his waiver for immediate eligibility according to a report by Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.
Nebraska's Isaac Copeland has received a waiver from the NCAA and will be eligible for the entire 17-18 season, per a source.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) September 12, 2017
Nebraska has yet to confirm the news, but junior forward Jack McVeigh took to Twitter to share his excitement about the news.
Let's get it!! @Isaac_CurlJuice #GBR
— Jack McVeigh (@JackMctrey1) September 12, 2017
Copeland played in the first seven games of the 2016-17 season before shutting it down for the year with a back injury. Soon after, he announced he was transferring from Georgetown and ultimately chose Nebraska as his next home.
Copeland, a 5-star recruit coming out of high school, averaged 8.9 points and 4.6 rebounds during his first two seasons with the Hoyas before struggling mightilty to start his junior season. As a mid-year transfer, Copeland was set to become eligible after the first semester of 2017-18 after sitting out a full year. However, Nebraska and Copeland applied for a waiver for immediate eligibility claiming that Copeland played through his back injury when he shouldn't have.
On August 16, Coach Tim Miles said the matter was out of their hands and they were waiting to hear back from the NCAA. After a lengthy process, it appears as if the committee found Nebraska's argument compelling. Copeland will have two full seasons of eligbility remaining.
**UPDATE**
Nebraska made the news official on Tuesday afternoon.
It's official.@Isaac_CurlJuice will be eligible for the entire 2017-18 season!
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— Nebraska Basketball (@HuskerHoops) September 12, 2017
At 6-foot-9 and 221 pounds, Copeland will provide some much-needed frontcourt depth. Without Copeland, Nebraska woud have had to rely on McVeigh and sophomore Isaiah Roby to handle all of the minutes at power forward. Copeland's presence means Nebraska has seven guards, three forwards and two centers on scholarship, giving Miles more line-up flexibility to play both small and big lineups depending on the situation. If Copeland can rediscover his 3-point shooting touch from his freshman year (38.9 percent) he will provide some much-needed floor spacing from the frontcourt.
Nebraska is set to tip off the season with an exhibition game against Divsion II Northwood on Nov. 7.
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.
