B.J. Day to Join Nebraska Basketball Program

Lincoln – University of Nebraska basketball coach Tim Miles announced Friday that B.J. Day will join the Husker program as a walk-on for the 2014-15 season.  Day, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound forward, is the son of Bernard Day, who was a two-year starter for the Huskers in the mid-1980s.

“I am very happy to add B.J. to our program,” Nebraska Coach Tim Miles said. “I look forward to helping him develop into the player he wants to become.  B.J. has been well coached and competed well in high school and the summer circuit.  My goal for him is to be on the floor helping the Huskers win games. B.J. realizes that challenge and is ready for the work it will take to get there.”

B.J. played his basketball at Lincoln Southeast under former Nebraska basketball assistant Jeff Smith, helping the Knights to three straight Class A (largest class) state tournament appearances during his four-year high school career. As a senior, he earned second-team Super-State (all classes) honors from the Lincoln Journal Star, averaging 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. A second-team All-Class A selection by the Journal Star, Omaha World-Herald and the Associated Press, Day and the Knights went 20-6 in 2013-14. He had a pair of double-doubles as a senior, including a 24-point, 12-rebound effort against Creighton Prep and 19 points and 11 rebounds against Omaha Central.

Day averaged 9.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game during his junior season, as Lincoln Southeast went 16-9 and reached the state tournament. In his four-year career at Lincoln Southeast, he totaled 943 points and 456 rebounds while shooting 51 percent from the field and 38 percent from 3-point range. In addition to playing basketball, Day also played two years of varsity football for the Knights, which reached the Class A state playoffs in 2013.

B.J. is the son of Michelle and Bernard Day.  His father was a two-year performer for the Huskers in 1985-86 and 1986-87, starting every game at Nebraska after coming from Moberly (Mo.) Junior College. The elder Day earned honorable-mention All-Big Eight honors in 1985-86, averaging 13.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game to help Nebraska to its first NCAA Tournament in school history. He shared the Jack Moore Team MVP Award with Dave Hoppen that season. During his senior year, he paced the Huskers in scoring at 12.6 points per game, as Nebraska won 21 games and reached the NIT semifinals. 

B.J. Day joins a Nebraska squad that went 19-13 last year and made its first NCAA appearance since 1998. The Huskers return all five starters from a team that finished fourth in the Big Ten with an 11-7 Big Ten mark, the most conference wins by Nebraska since 1965-66. Nebraska returns All-American candidate Terran Petteway, who averaged a Big Ten high 18.1 points per game while adding 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Junior wing Shavon Shields also earned honorable-mention All-Big Ten honors after averaging 12.8 points and a team-high 5.8 rebounds per contest. The Huskers return over 80 percent of their scoring, including seven of their top eight scorers, and top-five rebounders from a year ago.