Anderson, Richardson Honored at Banquet

The 2009-10 version of the Nebraska men's basketball team met one more time with the public as the Huskers held their end-of-year banquet at the Lincoln Station on Wednesday evening. The Huskers gathered with more than 240 attendees for a meal and a chance to honor their senior class, the first class to work four years alongside head coach Doc Sadler.

Among the highlights of the evening were a talk from Athletic Director Tom Osborne, Sadler's thoughts on the senior class and video tribute to all the Huskers from the 2009-10 season. While it was a difficult year on the court, the Huskers continued to pull together and fight until the end behind the leadership of Ryan Anderson, Sek Henry, Ben Nelson and Chris Balham, making it easy for Sadler to find encouraging words about the senior class Wednesday.

"When you look at this group, it's hard to think they had many bad days," Sadler said. "I know as hard as they worked, they would have liked more wins and they deserved more wins. But their character and the integrity they showed this year will serve them well in the future. Twenty years from now, if you look at these four guys, I'm sure they'll be successful and at the top because they have shown the work ethic and know what it means to persevere. They didn't waste a single day while they were here at Nebraska and that will carry through their lives."

This season, Anderson led the Huskers with 11.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Over his last seven games, Anderson averaged better than 15 points and eight rebounds as he tried to push the Huskers to toward their goals. Anderson led the Big 12 Conference in 3-point percentage for the season (42.9 percent) and in league-only games (48.6 percent), and finished fourth in the conference in steals per game.

While Sadler noted that every player on the team was just as valuable for this squad, for his contributions on the court, Anderson was named the Jack Moore Award winner as the team's most outstanding player. He was one of two honorees on the evening as sophomore guard Brandon Richardson was selected as the winner of the Paul Velander Hustle Award. The award is a new honor selected by the coaching staff and given to the player on the current squad who shows same type of hustle, determination and effort of former Husker walk-on Paul Velander.

A native of Seattle, Anderson left his mark on the Husker program in a variety of areas. The 6-4, 195-pounder played out of position nearly his whole career, competing at the '4' spot where he regularly gave up 5-6 inches and 40-60 pounds during the grind of Big 12 play. Despite his size limitations, Anderson played with great heart and passion. His effort will be remembered as he left his name etched throughout the Husker record books.

In 114 years of Nebraska basketball, Anderson ended his career ranked 23rd all-time in scoring (1,125 points), 16th in rebounding (584), 17th in assists (228) and fifth in games started (101). He also finished in the all-time top five for 3-pointers (3rd, 185) and steals (5th, 166) while becoming only the second player in school history with at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 150 assists, 150 steals and 150 3-pointers, joining Nebraska Basketball Hall of Famer Erick Strickland.

The first recruit to sign with the Huskers under Sadler, Henry played in every game over the past four seasons, finishing his career third all-time at Nebraska in games played (128) and sixth in games started (99). A native of Los Angeles, Henry averaged 6.8 points and 3.0 rebounds per game while finishing 14th in Nebraska history with 256 assists.  

Nelson was a four-year letterman as a walk-on who contributed to the program with his effort and hard work in practices and especially in the weight room where he continually pushed his teammates to strive for more. The Atwater, Minn., native played in 35 career games, including making his only start on Senior Night this season against Colorado.

Balham started 23 games in 2008-09 and played in 85 games during his career, which was cut short this season because of recurring knee problems. Instead of doing his work on the court, Balham assisted the coaching staff including providing guidance to the Huskers' young post players.

Balham received his undergraduate degree in August 2009 and spent this season working in the master's program. He will be joined as UNL graduates by Anderson (August), Nelson (May) and Henry (August), while walk-on senior-to-be Matt Karn is also scheduled to receive his degree in May. Earlier in the evening, Associate Athletic Director Dennis Leblanc noted the Huskers' academic achievements, including the honor of owning the highest graduation rate of any Big 12 school through last season.