Osborne Discusses Two-Year Sadler Extension

Editor's Note: Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne announced on Tuesday that the contract of Nebraska Men's Head Basketball Coach Doc Sadler has been extended two years through the 2015-16 season. Osborne said: "Doc Sadler's contract has been extended through June 30, 2016. We are pleased with the job Doc has done. He does things the right way and operates his program with integrity. We feel that with the facility improvements we are making in basketball, and the players Doc has returning, the future of our men's basketball program looks bright."

Hear Osborne share his thoughts on Sadler's two-year contract extension in a Tuesday night interview with Lane Grindle on Husker Sports Nightly.

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Caleb Walkerhas never been one to wear his heart on his sleeve. Nebraska's 6-foot-4, 205-pound junior guard is considered a "quiet warrior" both on a basketball court and a football field.

But at 6 p.m. Wednesday night on ESPN2, Walker's private Kansas homecoming will be on national public display, so the Huskers' first-round National Invitation Tournament game at Wichita State University takes on extra-special meaning.

"I'll have a lot of family and friends there, but my heart will be focused on trying to get us a win because we had our hearts broken in Kansas City (at the Big 12 Championship), and now we have another chance in another tournament. Everybody has to step up and have the heart to want to do this, and we do."

Walker knows it won't be easy to win in Charles Koch Arena, located 35 miles from his "second hometown" of Hutchinson, Kan., but he intends to "lay everything on the line" in a facility that has produced some of his best games as a national junior college first-team All-American.

"I've played Region VI games there for Butler County Community College," he said. "It's always sold out ... loud ... very bright ... a great atmosphere to play in. It's going to be one of the toughest places to play. It's really tough. It really is."

Sounds just like a place that when the going gets tough, Caleb Walker and point guard Lance Jeter will get going. Both Husker junior college transfer starters seem to thrive on their physical and mental toughness, much of it, no doubt, honed by their football backgrounds.

Both Jeter and Walker Played College Football
Jeter was a scholarship football redshirt wide receiver at Cincinnati before switching sports and leveraging a stellar two-year basketball stint at Polk (Fla.) Community College into his scholarship at Nebraska.

Walker, a linebacker on four straight state championship football teams at Hutchinson (Kan.) High School, moved from Kansas City to Hutchinson when he was 13 to live with his father. He also played both football and basketball in his first year at nearby Butler CC before concentrating on basketball and earning his Husker scholarship. Interestingly, Walker helped lead Butler to a national junior college title on the gridiron before focusing solely on the hardwood as a sophomore.

"We have a lot of guys with a lot of heart at Nebraska," Walker said, repeating a theme that's obviously, well, deep in his heart. "Just because we didn't keep winning or make it to the NCAA Tournament doesn't mean we have to shut it down. We didn't just show up to practice Saturday, Sunday and Monday. We showed how much we want to keep playing. We didn't get what we wanted, but we got another chance, and we have to take advantage of that."

One of the biggest reasons Walker relishes that chance is to give Jeter a better exit to his college career than tripping in the lane while hoping to unleash a winning shot in Nebraska's 53-52 loss to Oklahoma State in Kansas City. The next day, the Cowboys replicated Nebraska's one-point fate in an eerily similar loss to top-seeded Kansas.

"We have multiple leaders on this team, but Lance Jeter is our main leader," Walker said. "This may be a homecoming for me, but it's not as big a deal as stretching the season out for our seniors and especially Lance. He deserves something special, too."

Jeter welcomes the support. "Playing Wichita State gives me another chance to play for my team, and I truly love to do that," he said. "Every chance I get to play with this team is something special."

Will Treat the NIT Challenge Like a Big 12 Game
If you want to know what motivates Jeter, this next sentence says it all. "We all definitely want to win this NIT game," Jeter said, "because we need to use this extra chance to get better, not just for this year, but for next year as well."

Spoken like a true team leader, not only a senior that leads the Huskers in scoring (11.6 ppg), but one who, in his last five games, is averaging 16.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists.

"We're still real hungry," Jeter said. "I know Caleb is excited and pumped up to play in front of his family and friends, but he's a guy who would play his heart out no matter who's in the stands. We've talked among ourselves, and we're going to treat this NIT game like a Big 12 game. We need to come out and be ready to go. We want to win. Nobody's bored. Everyone wants to be here."

Walker, perhaps the most unsung player in the Huskers' starting lineup, is averaging a team-high 4.6 rebounds a game while usually facing the opponent's top perimeter threat on defense. While he only averages 6.2 points a game, he's shooting 51 percent from the field in Big 12 Conference games and has reached double scoring figures eight times this season.

Who knows? Maybe his familiarity with the Koch Arena will enable a greater burst of offense from Walker, who a year ago was named the NJCAA's Region VI Tournament MVP after posting a season-high 26 points and nine rebounds in the regional final that sent Butler CC into the national tournament in nearby Hutchinson.

"It's a big gym with a nice floor and nice, soft rims," Walker said of Koch Arena

"I've been to Hutch, and I've been to Wichita," Jeter said. "I know why it feels like home to Caleb. I felt the same way when I went there and was treated like family. I can't wait to play a great team in a great arena with a good crowd. We want to play there, and we want to win."

Richardson: Every Possession Will Count
Only two players on this Nebraska team have postseason experience - Toney McCray and Brandon Richardson, both of whom played in the Huskers' 83-71 NIT loss to New Mexico in Albuquerque two seasons ago.

"In a big game with a big crowd and a big-time atmosphere, every possession counts," Richardson said Monday. "You can't take any play off because that particular possession can determine the outcome of game. We have to be sound on offense and execute. We can't rush anything. We have to be patient and let the offense come. We need to get an inside-outside game going where the guards can get some shots and yet still get it inside to the bigs. The main thing is to trust each other. We may be playing in the NIT instead of the NCAA, but we want to keep playing, so we need to keep fighting, keep believing and make sure we don't leave the floor."

Brandon Ubel hopes to do whatever he can to help Walker's homecoming turn out better than his own "homecoming" last Wednesday in the Big 12 Conference Championship.

"Once the ball goes up in the air, all the homecoming thoughts go right out the window because all your focus is on the game," said Ubel, who scored 11 points and had a team-high six rebounds in the loss to Oklahoma State. He even scored seven straight points in the second half to help Nebraska overcome a 14-point first-half deficit.

"I was really motivated to go home and play, and it was probably one of my best games, if not the best," Ubel said. "We're all motivated, but I may have been extra-motivated last week, and I know Caleb will be, too, when he goes back to play in front of so many friends and family."

Ubel, a 51-percent field goal and a 79-percent free throw shooter this season, has been solid in the last four games, averaging 5.4 rebounds and 7.6 points a game. He had seven rebounds in 21 minutes against Kansas State and scored 11 points and snagged a career-high nine rebounds in the win over Missouri.

Win in Wichita Could Produce Interesting Matchup
"Playing at Wichita State will be a fun experience," Ubel said. "My parents will be there, and I have a cousin who goes to school there. It'll be a tough environment because they sell out virtually every game, but we still have something to play for. No one wants this season to end. We all want to go out on a good note, and we still have chance to do that."

Playing Wichita State gives Husker hearts a chance to heal, and a Nebraska win likely would produce a second-round NIT matchup that would send the Huskers to Virginia Tech, one of four No.1 seeds in the 32-team NIT Tournament. The Hokies beat No. 1 Duke, 64-60, in Blacksburg, Va., less than a week after the Huskers upset No. 3-Texas in Lincoln.

If such a matchup would materialize - and IF certainly deserves to be in capital letters here - Nebraska would need every football bone in Walker's and Jeter's bodies in that physical showdown in Blacksburg.

"You never want to end the way we ended the Big 12 Tournament, but I've learned and I've moved on," Jeter said. "It definitely hurt at that moment, but this is a new chapter. I'm moving forward, and I'm expecting everyone else on this team to do the same."

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Voices from Husker Nation

Congratulations to Coach Sadler. I am glad to see him stay at Nebraska. Jerold Wood, Valrico, Florida

I admire Tom Osborne for the way he views college athletics. Win or lose at Wichita State, Doc has this program headed in the right direction. He will get that NCAA Tournament and will win a game in that tournament soon. Steve Harris, Omaha Nebraska

As long as Tom Osborne is the athletic director, this program has my undying support. He knows what's best, when not to panic and how to get the absolute most out of coaches and players. Rod Olson, Overland Park, Kansas

Most of us don't have the patience that our athletic director has. Glad he's the one that makes the decisions because he sees and understands the big picture much better than any of the rest of us do. Also glad we didn't put Doc on the open market. He's a rare breed, and he wants to finish what he came here to do. More power to him. Next season, we're playing in the Big Ten. The year after that, we're in the new arena. Here's hoping our athletic director and our head basketball coach take that journey together. We need the stability of both, and now is not the time to start over. Thanks, Tom Osborne, for having the courage, the patience and the wisdom to complete the process. Mike Reid, Phoenix, Arizona

Sounds like the team wants to keep playing and demonstrate the intensity it takes to win.  Let's see if that's the case, and if so, if it is enough to produce a win. Michael Miller, Lincoln, Nebraska