Men?s Basketball Team Signs Four for 2009-10

Third-year coach Doc Sadler announced Friday that a strong lineup of four talented athletes, including three standing 6-8 or taller, have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Nebraska basketball squad for the 2009-10 season. Among the signees are two international players along with one from the Midwest and one from the West.

“I’m excited about this class and what they can bring to the University of Nebraska,” Sadler said. “When we go out on the road, something that we look for in addition to talent is character, and that has been a continued priority this year. I feel good about these four and the way they will represent Nebraska. On the court, I do feel they will help us continue to improve and compete for a Big 12 championship.”

Sadler and his staff scoured the United States and around the globe in looking for additional help for Nebraska starting next season. The four future Huskers to sign with Nebraska Friday are: 6-10 center Vander Joaquim from Luanda, Angola; 6-8 forward Christian Standhardinger from Munich, Germany; 6-9 forward Brandon Ubel from Overland Park, Kan.; and 6-2 point/shooting guard Rayes Gallegos from Jordan, Utah.

 

Joaquim, whose full name is Valdelicio Maianga Maia Joaquim, was considered an intriguing prospect by several recruiting services because of his length and potential to become a dominant defensive force.

The 6-10, 220-pounder has made a name for himself since coming to the United States before the 2007-08 season, when he played his junior year of high school at Christian High School in El Cajon, Calif. While still learning the game, Joaquim led the team to a 19-9 record, including a 7-3 mark and second-place finish in the Central League. He averaged 21.1 points per game over 28 contests while hitting 54.3 percent (241-of-444) from the floor and 69.5 percent (57-of-82) from the free throw line. He added a league-best 16.8 rebounds per contest and posted 89 blocked shots (3.2 bpg).  During the summer he played with Pump N Run Elite during AAU competition.

 

Ranked the No. 12 high school center in the country by Scout.com (71st nationally overall) and No. 15 center by Rivals.com (115th nationally overall), Joaquim was tabbed the No. 2 power forward on the West Coast by Scout.com before moving to West Virginia where he is attending Mountain State Academy in Beckley, W.Va., for 2008-09. Joaquim helped MSA to a No. 33 national team ranking to open the season. MSA is 2-1 after falling to No. 5 Oak Hill Academy on Tuesday, Nov.  11. Joaquim posted 10 points with 10 rebounds in the loss. 

Joaquim was noticed early on for his potential in basketball. He was selected to the Basketball Without Borders Africa camp in both 2006 and 2007, where the top 100 players from 28 countries on the continent were selected to participate by FIBA and NBA personnel based on skills, leadership ability and dedication to the sport. He also played in the Lusophony Games as a member of the Angolan National Team in 2006. 

 

Christian Standhardinger is relatively unknown to college basketball fans in the United States but has earned a reputation of being a tough-nosed competitor with an ability to score from anywhere on the court in his native Germany. Considered a crafty scorer, Standhardinger has good size to play small forward and a solid basketball IQ. He comes from the same school in Germany as current Nebraska freshman Christopher Niemann.

Standhardinger was named the MVP of the NBBL in 2008 and came to the United States with the same squad as Niemann that played in the Arby’s Classic in Bristol, Tenn., last winter. Standhardinger led the team to a fourth-place finish in the tournament and was the only player from his team named to the all-tournament squad.  In the final of the 2008 U19 German Championship, the 6-8, 210-pounder scored 37 points and posted 12 rebounds. He also earned top scorer honors at the Europe’s Best Junior Tournament in 2007 and was the MVP of the German Top 4 in 2007. 

 

Standhardinger also was a member of the German Junior National Team in 2007, averaging 8.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game at the U18 European Championships. He posted his best games with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting against Israel and added 15 points with five rebounds (four offensive) against Russia in back-to-back games.

This season, Standhardinger has averaged 19.1 points in 21.9 minutes per contest through seven games with Urspringschule. He has hit 57.5 percent (42-of-73) from the floor and averaged 8.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.1 assists per game. He has topped 20 points in five of seven games, including a season-best 28 points on 7-of-10 shooting with 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists in 37 minutes against Landshut. 

 

Joaquim and Standhardinger will be the third and fourth international signees with the Huskers since Sadler took over the program before the 2006-07 campaign.

From closer to the Heartland, Brandon Ubel will be the second player from the state of Kansas to sign with the Huskers in the past four years. Current junior Chris Balham is from Kansas City, Kan., and played at Shawnee Mission West. 

 

The 6-9, 220-pound Ubel is a skilled forward with a nice touch from outside who also possesses the ability to score off a number of post moves and mid-range jumpers. Last year as a junior, he helped Blue Valley West to the first round of the state tournament and a 15-8 record while posting nearly 10 points and four rebounds per game. His team also won the Class 6A state title during his sophomore season, posting an 18-7 record.

During the summer AAU circuit, Ubel began to come into his own, averaging close to 20 points and eight rebounds per game for the Wedman Pumas. 

 

Ubel drew interest from Marquette and Stanford and was offered scholarships from Drake, Illinois State and Utah State before choosing the Huskers. He owns a 4.1 grade-point average in high school and already has a connection to Nebraska, as his sister, Kayla Ubel, is a sophomore who runs middle distance on the Husker track team.

Nebraska’s last signee ? Rayes Gallegos -- is its sixth from west of the Rockies in three years, along with Huskers from California (Ade Dagunduro, Sek Henry, Brandon Richardson), Oregon (Alex Chapman) and Washington (Ryan Anderson). Gallegos is the first Husker men’s basketball signee from the state of Utah since Jaron Boone (Salt Lake City, Skyline High School), who went on to become one of the top 10 scorers of all-time at Nebraska. 

 

Like Ubel, Gallegos really came on during the summer AAU circuit when he was playing for the Utah Pump-N-Run White. Gallegos averaged about 25 points per game, according to coach Brad Blanchfield. Active at both ends of the court, Gallegos was rated the No. 53 shooting guard in the country by Scouts.com and was tabbed the No. 7 shooting guard on the West Coast.

The 6-2, 175-pound Gallegos helped West Jordan High School to the state tournament as a junior, when the team went 16-7. Gallegos was the team’s third-leading scorer at 10.5 points per game over 21 contests while helping West Jordan to an 11-game win streak at one point. 

 

Using his impressive quickness and ball-handling skills, Gallegos can get to the basket in a variety of ways, including a solid mid-range game. His scoring ability helped him top 20 points in three contests last year, including a season-best 22 points vs. Kearns and 20 points in a 59-49 victory over Jordan.