Huskers Preparing for Professional Careers

Former Huskers Andrew Drevo and Nate Johnson are getting ready to move forward with their basketball careers, as each has plans to play professionally beginning in October. While Johnson announced last month that he has signed a contract to join the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers for their training camp, Drevo recently announced that he has signed a contract to play professionally in Sweden.

"It's fun to know that I'll be able to keep playing," Drevo said. "It's nice to know that last season was not the end of my career, and it will be fun to keep going.

"This will be a good experience and is a good fit for my wife and I, and it will be nice to get paid to play. It's a nice place and hopefully I will be able to do well and then we'll see where it takes us."

Drevo signed Monday to play with the Sodertalje Kings in Sodertalje, Sweden. The Kings went 17-11 last year before reaching the semifinals of the Swedish League playoffs. Drevo said he will leave for Sweden in early October with the season beginning Oct. 17.

Drevo finished his career averaging 12.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game over two seasons with the Huskers. He earned all-conference honorable-mention accolades and was named the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team as a junior. Drevo finished his career as the second-highest scoring transfer in school history, behind only Johnson.

Johnson will also leave in early October for Los Angeles where he will attempt to make the Lakers' opening day roster. He played with the Lakers' Summer League squad in July and averaged 14.5 points per game for the Kansas Cagerz of the United States Basketball League (USBL) last spring. If he makes the final cut, Johnson will join Eric Piatkowski (Houston Rockets), Tyronn Lue (Houston Rockets), Erick Strickland (Milwaukee Bucks) and Mikki Moore (Los Angeles Clippers) on NBA rosters.

"This is exciting, it's what I've dreamed of my whole life," Johnson said after his signing. "I'm looking forward to going out there and doing what I've been doing. They liked what I was able to do in the summer league, and I'll do anything I can to make it work."

Johnson finished his career in grand style, averaging a team-high 13.0 points with 4.6 rebounds per game for the Huskers in 2003-04. He had two game-winning shots in the Huskers' final seven contests, including a postseason victory over Creighton in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament. For his career, Johnson recorded 762 points (13.1 ppg) to set the school record for points scored by a transfer.

Johnson and Drevo are not the only former Huskers who are signed to play professionally this season. Other Huskers currently set to play overseas in 2004-05 include Cookie Belcher, Kimani Ffriend, Venson Hamilton and Richard van Poelgeest.

Belcher has played the past three years for Pallacanestro Biella in Italy and averaged 14.7 points per game last year. Ffriend has played in Yugoslavia, Russia and China over the past three seasons while also having summer camp tryouts with the NBA's Miami Heat, New York Knicks and Sacramento Kings. Ffriend has signed with Hapoel Jerusalem for the 2004-05 season in the Israeli Premier League. Hamilton has played several seasons in Europe and will spend the upcoming year with DKV Joventut Badalona in Spain, while van Poelgeest will play his third season with Solskin Weert in The Netherlands.