Former Husker Ubel Grateful For First Year as GA at Utah State

Brandon Ubel didn't fully know what to expect in his role as a graduate manager for the Utah State men's basketball team.
 
Suffice it to say, the good far outweighed the bad in 2019-20 for Ubel, the former Nebraska forward who was dipping his toes into the coaching world for the first time.
 
"It was awesome," Ubel said. "You can't do much better than winning your conference championship."
 
Ubel was referring to the Mountain West Conference Tournament, where Utah State upset No. 6 San Diego State in the finals. That secured the Aggies' second straight conference tourney title and automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament under second-year coach Craig Smith, the former Nebraska assistant.
 
What this means is that Ubel shouldn't be spending the rest of his March sitting at home, dissecting film and looking under stones for overlooked recruits. At least, not solely.
 
Yet, here we are, at the mercy of the CONVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that's brought the sports world to a screeching halt.
 
Like for many of us, these recent events have given Ubel an opportunity to reflect and be grateful.
 
"It was good," Ubel said of his first year with Utah State. "I didn't know exactly what my duties were going to be. I didn't know exactly what I was going to be doing day to day. But I learned a ton."
 
Ubel experienced everything from administrative duties of scheduling and arranging meals to helping coach on court.
 
"You kind of get a feel for how a program runs from every aspect," he said.
 
And from what better person to learn than a coach Ubel clicked with in college, a rising star in the profession?
 
"He's awesome. He brings it every day," Ubel said of Smith, who left Nebraska after two seasons as an assistant to become head coach at South Dakota, then Utah State.
 
"He's still the same coach I remember I played for when he was an assistant," Ubel said. "He gives you a lot of responsibility and trusts you with it. He doesn't micromanage at all, but he does hold you accountable. You've got to do your job, but he's not going to hover over your shoulder.
 
"Whatever way you're most efficient, whatever stuff you like to do, or whatever makes you get your job done the best, he's going to let you, as long as you communicate it and do a good job and do it on time."
 
Ubel, a native of Overland Park, Kansas, came to Nebraska as a recruit of Doc Sadler. He played his first three seasons under Sadler, then the Huskers' head coach who's since returned to Lincoln as an assistant coach.
 
"Doc was awesome. I loved him," Ubel said. "Obviously, he's one of the best dudes around. Not only that, but he just knows his stuff. I learned a lot from him as a player … the energy he brought to every practice, what he expected of the team.
 
"I definitely owe a lot to him. He took a chance on me and gave me an opportunity."
 
Ubel played in 125 games at Nebraska, and during his senior year, he averaged 16 points, 7.5 rebounds and three assists.
 
Looking back at Ubel and his Husker career, Sadler said he's not surprised Ubel's path led to coaching, considering his high basketball IQ and high character.
 
"From the time I started recruiting him, I knew he was a kid with high character that would be a good addition to your team, regardless of how soon he played," Sadler said. "Obviously, he played a lot earlier than I thought.
 
"The thing about him is he's so tough, and he has that classic characteristic that the team is first. That's very uncommon."
 
Ubel, who majored in broadcasting communications at Nebraska, embarked on a career playing basketball professionally overseas after graduating.
 
Ubel spent most of his professional career in Belgium, playing for Brussels from 2013-14, the Antwerp Giants from 2014-15, and then returning to Brussels from 2015-17. His final stop was with Boulazac Basket Dordogne, a team in Boulazac, France that he helped to a runner-up finish in the French Cup during the 2017-18 season.
 
"One of the best things about playing overseas was you kind of bounce around almost every year, so from a coaching aspect, I've had five years with four different coaches," Ubel said. "From that, and also in college, I had a lot of opportunities to see some stuff that I like what we did, or didn't like what we did.
 
"All those little things you remember as a player, 'That really shut us down, that was hard to play against.' You take little bits and pieces of everybody."
 
After his fifth season playing professionally, Ubel suffered a torn ACL, meniscus and fractured leg. He first returned home in the summer of 2018, then to Lincoln to begin rehabilitation.
 
While Ubel knew all along he wanted to try coaching someday, he'd never set a timeline or plan. But this injury, and his return to Lincoln, where he would spend the 2018-19 season around the Nebraska team, helping out, provided a sign.
 
"I just felt if there was ever a time, it would be now," Ubel said. "It just felt like it was kind of meant to be at that point."
 
He'd always kept in contact with Smith, who knew Ubel wanted to embark on a coaching career someday.
 
"January, February (of 2019), it felt like I wanted to dig into coaching, and that was something I was wanting to do. I told (Smith) that," Ubel said. "Maybe two or three months later, he called me, and was just, 'Hey, was that still your plan? There might be an opportunity, but just wanted to know if you would be interested.'
 
"Obviously, I jumped at that and told him I would be all-in if he was."
 
Ubel understood he would be signing up for long hours and no days off, but the type of team of which he became a part countered those negatives.
 
"We had an awesome group of guys," Ubel said. "It's probably pretty rare in terms of the quality of kids in the program we have. Really high-IQ players, mature guys who you really don't have to worry about off the court, so we could really just focus on basketball."

Sound familiar?
 
"That was unique," Ubel said, "and probably one of the more unexpected things coming in."
 
Sadler said he remembers the last time he spoke with Ubel, sometime during the January-February grind of the season.
 
"They'd gone through a tough stretch there, but as Ubes can do, he was still positive," Sadler said. "He thought they had good opportunities to do something. And they got on a roll, man. God, they played really well."
 
Said Ubel: "Losing is never fun, but there never really was a point in the season where anybody was super frustrated. That was pretty good."
 
Ubel will stay at Utah State next season to complete his two years while earning his master's degree in health and physical education. Coaching remains his main goal thereafter, although he's not entirely nixed broadcasting.

"I still love doing that stuff," Ubel said. "If I hate coaching, or it's not what I wanted it to be, or if I don't have any opportunities, I always know that I love broadcasting, and I can fall back on that and get into that if I wanted to.
 
"But for now, coaching is the way I want to go."
 
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.