May 22, 2012

Omaha basketball star Boozer dead at 75

Bob Boozer, an Omaha native and college basketball star at Kansas State, an Olympic gold medalist and an 11-year pro, died Saturday afternoon of a brain aneurysm as the age of 75. According to his wife of 46 years, Ella, he became ill Friday evening.

Boozer was the No. 1 pick in the 1959 NBA draft after he earned All-America honors at Kansas State. Boozer played on the dominating 1960 Olympic team and played 11 years after that in the NBA where he retired after winning the 1971 NBA title with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Born and raised in Omaha, Boozer became one of the greatest players at Kansas State where he averaged 21.9 points per game. His 25.2 points a game his senior second is only behind Michael Beasley’s 26.2 points in 2007-08. Boozer led the Wildcats to the NCAA Final Four as a junior, and as a senior he helped K-State to a No. 1 ranking in the final regular-season poll.

NU women’s basketball hires former SLU coach

Nebraska Coach Connie Yori hired Shimmy Gray-Miller to the Husker coaching staff. Gray-Miller comes to Nebraska after spending the past seven seasons as the head coach at Saint Louis. Gray-Miller replaces Kellie Lewis-Jay on the NU staff, after Lewis-Jay was named the head coach at Florida Atlantic.

“We’re really excited that Shimmy has decided to join our Nebraska coaching staff,” Yori said. “We’re confident her experience as a head coach and her previous work at other BCS programs will benefit us in a big way. She is a high-energy person with great character, and we believe she’ll be a great fit for our staff and players.”

Gray-Miller’s first day on the job at Nebraska is expected to be Wednesday, May 23. She joins a Nebraska team that returns four starters and 10 of its top 12 players that went 24-9 overall and 10-6 in the Big Ten. The Huskers earned their fourth NCAA Tournament berth in the past six years and advanced to the Big Ten Tournament title game in their first season in the conference.

Gray-Miller has experience of her own in making a transition to a new conference, along with experience in helping teams win major conference titles. She also has close ties to the Big Ten.  Gray-Miller was named head coach at Saint Louis in April of 2005 and led the Billikens in their transition to the Atlantic-10 Conference in 2005-06. In her time at Saint Louis, the native of Flint, Mich., led players who earned seven All-A-10 awards, including one A-10 Most Improved Player. One Billiken was also named the A-10 Freshman of the Year under Gray-Miller.

Husker basketball picks up another transfer

University of Nebraska basketball coach Tim Miles announced Tuesday that Terran Petteway  has transferred to the University of Nebraska and joined the Husker basketball program. Petteway, who hails from Galveston, Texas, spent the 2011-12 season at Texas Tech University and will have three years of eligibility beginning with the 2013-14 season. 

“We are thrilled to add Terran to our program,” Nebraska Coach Tim Miles said. “He can be a very dynamic player for us. Terran is a slashing wing player who is very athletic for his size and very good in transition. He has been well coached throughout his career and his parents are great people. I think he will be a great addition for our program.” 

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Nebraska set for rematch with Wake Forest in ACC/Big Ten Challenge

The Nebraska basketball team will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C. to take on Wake Forest in the 2012 edition of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Huskers will face the Demon Deacons on Tuesday, Nov. 27, in a rematch of last year’s contest in Lincoln, as Wake Forest edged the Huskers, 55-53, on C.J. Harris’ basket in the final seconds.

2012 ACC/Big Ten Challenge schedule (times and networks are to be determined):

Tue, Nov 27
North Carolina at Indiana
NC State at Michigan
Minnesota at Florida State
Maryland at Northwestern
Iowa at Virginia Tech
Nebraska at Wake Forest

Wed, Nov 28
Ohio State at Duke
Virginia at Wisconsin
Michigan State at Miami
Purdue at Clemson
Georgia Tech at Illinois
Boston College at Penn State

NU basketball signs 7-footer

University of Nebraska basketball coach Tim Miles announced Wednesday that Sergej Vucetic (pronounced sir-gay vu-che-tich) has signed a National Letter-of-Intent with the Husker men’s basketball program to play for NU in the 2012-13 season.  “Sergej is a great addition to our program,” Nebraska Coach Tim Miles said. “I like his competitiveness, and that he has a purpose of what he wants to accomplish here. I love his skill level, and he will continue to develop as he gains strength. I think he can be an excellent player for us at Nebraska.”

Vucetic, a 7-0, 235-pound center, spent last season at AIM Prep in Northville, Mich., where he averaged 19.5 points and 12 rebounds per game. He was a member of the CAPS All-Stars AAU team under Chris Sparks and recently played with an international all-star team at the Northwest Indiana All-Star Classic last month.

A native of Serbia, he played in the Nike International Junior Tournament in Paris earlier this month and has played for the FMP Belgrade program, considered one of the top youth programs in Europe. Vucetic selected Nebraska over a host of schools, including Providence, SMU, Illinois and Vanderbilt among others. Vucetic is the first 7-footer in the Husker program since the 1990-91 season.