30-Second Basketball Ad an Instant Classic

Randy York's N-Sider

The power of Facebook: Nebraska's digital media team converted a 30-second Connie Yori/Tim Miles television commercial promoting 2014-15 Husker women’s basketball season ticket sales into a YouTube video.  The video was then posted on Huskers.com's Facebook page and 500,000 connections were recorded in a single day. 

The ad became an instant classic.  You can’t help but smile when you see the creation of Lincoln’s Brandon Verzal, who writes, directs and produces videos for Larry the Cable Guy, among other prominent national clients.  Matching Miles, a 2014 Big Ten and 2014 National Coach of the Year, with a promotion for Yori was creative.  She is, after all, a 2014 Big Ten Coach of the Year herself after the Huskers won their first-ever women's conference tournament championship.

Tight-Knit Staffs Respect, Enjoy Each Other

I’ve watched the video 10 times and laughed every time. You have to understand that the Nebraska men’s and women’s basketball staffs are co-tenants in the Hendricks Training Complex.  Both head coaches, as well as several assistants on both staffs, insist that the daily camaraderie between the two staffs is unparalleled to anything they’ve ever seen or heard. 

Miles, of course, is a comedic talent in his own right, so he was more than willing to be the one coveting something Yori had and he didn’t.  That goes with the territory of a guy whose team sells out of its first season in Pinnacle Bank Arena, loses only once on that magical court and ends up being named the National Coach of the Year the day before the NCAA Final Four begins.  Still, Yori, a former National Coach of the Year herself, is the only head basketball coach in the Hendricks Complex who happened to win a Big Ten Championship Trophy last season.  I don’t want to spoil their 30-second highlight reel of running into each other before Miles finally asks the ultimate question in an elevator.

Ad Makes Everyone Smile, Most of Us Laugh

Watch Yori’s answer once, and like everyone else, you will hit the link again and multiply the views.  Let’s not forget the national oomph that Miles commands in social media and don’t discount this video’s popularity among women coaches everywhere at every level.  It makes everyone smile and most of us laugh, and here’s the kicker:  Nebraska fans shouldn’t just laugh when they watch the ad.  They should click this link, buy season tickets and support a women’s program that's on the rise, recruiting-wise and performance-wise.

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