By Jeff Griesch
Nebraska Athletic Communications
Sam Haiby's first two seasons at Nebraska have been filled with thrilling games, moments of growth, challenges faced and lessons learned.
The 5-9 guard from Moorhead, Minnesota, expects to join senior-to-be Kate Cain as the only returning starters for the Nebraska women's basketball team in 2020-21. Haiby, who averaged 10.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.4 steals, feels good about her ability to face challenges and get a better understanding of herself after her first season as a starter. However, she is far from satisfied.
"It has been a privilege to be able to compete at such a high level for the past two years," Haiby said. "It definitely has shown me my strengths and weaknesses. Players are a lot bigger and a lot more physical than what you see in high school, and maybe other (college) conferences. I still would like to pride myself in getting to the rim, but I think these past couple of seasons have showed me the importance of being not just a one-dimensional player, but to be able to score at different areas of the floor."
Nebraska Coach Amy Williams said Haiby showed improvement in several areas on the court in 2019-20.
"Sam showed growth in a lot of areas this past season, particularly increasing her three-point percentage, her rebounds per game and her total steals," Williams said. "She worked hard in the offseason to be more consistent from behind the arc and it showed. Our staff also wanted Sam to become a more consistent rebounder, and she was the leading rebounder among the guards on our team this past year. She is proving that she is capable of accomplishing the goals she sets for herself, and that will lead to good things in her continued development."
Haiby earned a starting job as a sophomore after making an immediate impact for the Huskers as a freshman. She averaged 10.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists off the bench for the Big Red in 2018-19. She put in a solid offseason of work in the gym, but her progress was slowed at the end of the summer and start of the fall of 2019 by shin splints. Any athlete who has ever faced the pain of dealing with shin splints, knows that the mental fatigue of overcoming the throbbing and screaming inflammation in their legs may be greater than the physical pain itself.
"During the season the pain would fluctuate, kind of depending on the work load of that given day," Haiby said. "It was usually the worst right after games."
Despite shin splints, Haiby erupted for a career-high 28 points in an early season road win at Missouri (Nov. 10). She sent the game to overtime with her third three-pointer of the game with three seconds left. Then powered the Huskers to victory with the game's last field goal and a pair of free throws to seal the win in the final 13.3 seconds of OT.
With dozens of family and friends from Missouri on hand at Mizzou Arena, the long-time St. Louis Blues hockey fan had a memorable day in Columbia. She also earned a spot on the Big Ten Women's Basketball Weekly Honor Roll for her performance. She added a second spot on the weekly conference honor roll after putting up 20 points in a home win over Oral Roberts (Dec. 14).
Early in the Big Ten regular season, Haiby enjoyed several big games, including 19 points at Michigan State (Dec. 31), 17 points and a career-high eight rebounds in a win over then-nationally ranked Minnesota (Jan. 4) and 18 points and a career-high-tying three threes in a win over Michigan (Jan. 19).
She also scored 11 points in both games of a season sweep of Wisconsin that included a season-high seven assists in Lincoln (Jan. 9) and a career-high five steals at Madison (Jan. 25).
However, as the season hit February and her shin splints wore on her, Haiby's production suffered. She knows that healthy legs and a strong offseason of conditioning will be keys for her in 2020-21.
"Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out."
– Jack Buck
The only way to successfully put the pain of shin splints completely behind an athlete is rest, and the sudden outbreak of the coronavirus provided some long-term rest for Haiby's aching legs.
"I haven't been doing very high impact exercises, mainly because of the limited access to equipment, but not doing that has certainly helped my shins recover," Haiby said. "I have been able to get shots up at an outdoor court, but other than that I have mostly been doing cardio and bodyweight exercises."
While the time away from competition has benefited Haiby's legs, the challenges she faced on the court as a sophomore should help her in the seasons to come.
"Dealing with pain helped me become stronger and tougher, both mentally and physically," Haiby said. "The love of the game, and wanting to compete has driven me to be a basketball player. I think becoming more consistent at scoring at multiple levels, and being able to defend at a high level will help improve my game."
While rest at home in Minnesota has been good for Haiby over the past month, she knows her offseason focus will shift very soon.
"I know I need to improve my overall conditioning and foot speed," Haiby said. "For me being able to defend consistently at a high level is important to me, and will really benefit our team. Also, just getting in the gym and putting up extra shots."
"Don't let what you can't do stop you from doing what you can do."
– John Wooden
While Haiby is finishing up spring semester classes remotely at home in Minnesota, she is already mentally preparing to take on a much greater leadership role for Nebraska as a junior in 2020-21.
An Academic All-Big Ten selection and a member of the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team off the court, Haiby knows the importance of leadership in life and in sports.
The Huskers, who must replace four seniors while adding six newcomers to their roster for the coming season, will look to Haiby, Cain and the return of fourth-year junior Taylor Kissinger as cornerstones of leadership moving forward.
"After losing four great seniors (Nicea Eliely, Hannah Whitish, Grace Mitchell, Kristian Hudson), we are definitely going to have to step up," Haiby said. "I think we will become more prepared and ready to take on the roles as the season progresses, and once we can start meeting and getting to work together as a team."
Two-time Big Ten All-Defensive selection Kate Cain said Haiby is prepared to take another step forward to help the Huskers in 2020-21.
"Sammi is going to bring a lot of experience from the guard position, which will be really important after the loss of a talented senior class," Cain said. "It's going to be so important to have someone who can lead from more of a point guard or off-guard position, so having someone like Sam who has experience with our program and sets is going to be very important when integrating the newer and younger guards into our system."
"Create unselfishness as the most important team attribute."
– Bill Russell
Haiby is especially looking forward to the healthy return of Kissinger. The 6-1 shooter from Minden, Nebraska, led the Big Ten and ranked among the top five players in the nation in three-point percentage (.456) as a sophomore in 2018-19, but missed nearly all of 2019-20 with a hip injury.
"Obviously, injury is the last thing you want for a teammate, but getting the opportunity to extend my time with Taylor is exciting," Haiby said. "I think we will complement each other well by her ability to shoot the ball from deep and my ability to get to the rim."
Haiby is also eager to get back to Lincoln to continue her basketball career, once the world returns to some semblance of normalcy following the initial coronavirus outbreak.
"I am excited to get back to work with my teammates. I think we can be a special team this year."
