Sadler, Huskers Honor Seniors at Postseason Banquet

Lincoln –The Nebraska men's basketball team celebrated an exciting first season of the Doc Sadler era along with the end of two fine careers as it met one last time for its postseason awards banquet at the Lincoln Station Tuesday night.

In front of a crowd that included the Husker players and staff along with more than 200 family, friends and boosters, the program included a team highlight video and senior tribute along with a season review by Sadler. The evening culminated with Husker seniors Charles Richardson Jr. and Marcus Perry being honored as the 2007 Jack Moore Award winners as the team’s Most Outstanding Players.

In his first season as head coach, Sadler led the Huskers to a respectable 17-14 record (6-10 in Big 12 action) despite taking over the program less than three months before the team’s first game. Sadler, who quickly won over players and fans with his intensity, wit and easy-going personality, instilled a tremendous work ethic in his first Husker squad, an attribute that helped the Huskers to wins over five postseason squads including nationally ranked Creighton (NCAA), North Texas (NCAA), Texas Tech (NCAA), Kansas State (NIT) and Oklahoma State (NIT).

The 17 wins by the Huskers made Sadler the third-winningest first-year coach in Nebraska history. His 5-0 record to open the season was the longest unbeaten streak to open a coaching tenure at Nebraska in more than 80 years. Sadler now boasts a 185-71 (.722, 23 wins per year) record in eight years as a head coach, including a 65-32 mark (.670, 22 wins per year) at Division I.

On the season, Sadler helped the Huskers rank in the top 75 nationally in 3-pointers per game (No. 50, 7.9/g), 3-point field-goal percentage (No. 58, 37.5), scoring defense (No. 64, 64.2 ppg) and assists per game (No. 72, 14.9/g). Both Perry and Richardson, the Huskers’ two seniors, flourished under Sadler and his staff, aiding NU’s offensive and defensive effort that placed three marks in the team single-season record book and 13 marks on the individual single-season charts.  

Perry finished the campaign ranked sixth in the NU single-season record book with 67 3-pointers, and ended his two-year career just outside the Husker top 10 with 98 treys. He finished the year ranked sixth in the Big 12 Conference in 3-pointers per game (2.48) and 3-point percentage (41.8). Perry also completed his career ranked sixth all-time in the NU record book for 3-point percentage by hitting 39.4 percent from beyond the arc over the past two seasons. His seven 3-pointers at Miami and against Oklahoma State tied for the second-highest total in the NU single-game record book.

Richardson deftly guided the Husker offense in 2006-07 as he posted 5.8 assists per game, an average that ranked second in the Big 12 and 14th nationally. His 179 assists were the third-highest total in the NU single-season record book as he became only the second player in Nebraska history to record more than 170 assists in a season. Richardson, who also played 36.3 minutes per game and ranked in the top 100 nationally with 1.8 steals per game, also became only the second player in school history to average at least 5.0 assists per game for an entire season. His career-high 15 assists at Rutgers were the most by a Husker in nearly 20 years and the third-highest total by a Big 12 player since the formation of the conferece.

Richardson and Perry became the third consecutive set of teammates to win the award. Last year Jason Dourisseau and Wes Wilkinson were honored as the team’s most outstanding players while Dourisseau and Joe McCray shared the award in 2005. The honor was first presented in 1985 to NU’s all-time scoring leader Dave Hoppen. Since then, the award had been given to multiple players only two times prior to the current three-year stretch.

The award is named for late-Husker guard Jack Moore, a 5-9 playmaker who set 17 school records in a career that ended in 1982. Moore was presented with the 1982 Francis Pomeroy-Naismith Award as the best collegiate player in the nation under six feet tall. A consensus All-Big Eight performer in 1982, Moore was killed in a plane crash in March of 1984.

2007 Jack Moore Award Winners (Co-Most Outstanding Players)
Charles Richardson Jr., Sr., G
Marcus Perry, Sr., G