14 Huskers to Earn Degrees at Summer Commencement

Lincoln - A total of 14 current and former Husker student-athletes across all sports will receive their degrees during University of Nebraska-Lincoln Summer Commencement ceremonies at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Saturday, Aug. 16 at 9 a.m. 

A trio of Nebraska football players will earn their degrees, led by current Husker defensive lineman Elijah Jeudy. The 6-3, 300-pounder from Philadelphia, Pa., played in all 13 games for the Big Red last season and earned Academic All-Big Ten honors. He will be joined by former Huskers Koby Bretz (Omaha, Neb.) and Taveon Thompson (Lincoln, Neb.).

A trio of All-Americans highlight the Husker class. Two-time All-America wrestler Caleb Smith (High Point, N.C.), who helped Nebraska to an NCAA runner-up team finish, will claim his master’s degree in business. Smith captured back-to-back All-America honors for the Big Red at 125 pounds in 2024 and 2025.

Rhianna Phipps (St. Thomas, Jamaica) and Velecia Williams (Bybrook, Jamaica) both earned their degrees after capturing All-America honors for the Husker women’s track and field team in their careers. Phipps was a five-time All-America triple jumper for the Huskers, earning first-team honors during the indoor season in 2024. She was also the 2024 Big Ten outdoor champion. Williams added a pair of All-America honors as a long jumper for the Big Red, including first-team All-America accolades during the 2024 outdoor campaign. Williams was also a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar in 2025. Both Phipps and Williams were psychology majors at Nebraska.

Men’s basketball big men Josiah Allick (Lincoln, Neb.) and Andrew Morgan (Waseca, Minn.) added degrees, with Allick earning his master’s degree in business while Morgan earned his bachelor’s degree as an agricultural economics major.

Pitcher Casey Daiss (Webster, Fla.) will represent the Husker baseball team at commencement after helping Nebraska to its second consecutive Big Ten Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance during the spring. Daiss, who made 21 appearances on the mound in both 2024 and 2025 for the conference champion Huskers, was a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selection and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar as a senior.

NFCA All-Mountain Region softball player Kacie Hoffmann (Elkhorn, Neb.) also claimed her bachelor’s degree. The outfielder helped the Huskers to an NCAA Super Regional berth as a junior and expects to return as a graduate student for the Big Red in 2026.

The men’s golf and men’s tennis teams each contributed a pair of graduates to round out Nebraska’s graduating class. Grant Jabenis (Omaha, Neb.) and Hamish Murray (Sydney, Australia) were both strong contributors on the course, in the classroom and in the community as Huskers, while Henry Bilicic (San Diego, Calif.) and Anton Shepp (Hamilton, New Zealand) helped the Nebraska tennis team earn a trip to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Overall, the 14 Husker graduates in August came to Nebraska from six states and three foreign countries. Over the last three graduations (December 2024, May 2025, August 2025), a total of 137 Husker student-athletes from 30 states and 14 foreign countries have earned their degrees from the University of Nebraska.

Nebraska continues to feature one of the highest graduation rates in the nation, while leading the nation with 18 NCAA Impact Awards (formerly known as Today’s Top 10) across all sports. Nebraska also leads the Big Ten and ranks second in NCAA Division I with 373 College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans across all sports. More than 100 Nebraska student-athletes all time have earned prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships.

August 2025 Nebraska Student-Athlete Graduates (14)
Student-Athlete, Sport (Hometown), Major
Josiah Allick, Men’s Basketball (Lincoln, Nebraska), Business-Master’s
Henry Bilicic, Men’s Tennis (San Diego, California), Ethnic Studies/Sociology
Koby Bretz, Football (Omaha, Nebraska), Child, Youth & Family Studies
Casey Daiss, Baseball (Webster, Florida), Child, Youth & Family Studies
Kacie Hoffmann, Softball (Elkhorn, Nebraska), Child, Youth & Family Studies
Grant Jabenis, Men’s Golf (Omaha, Nebraska), Child, Youth & Family Studies
Elijah Jeudy, Football (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Child, Youth & Family Studies
Andrew Morgan, Men’s Basketball (Waseca, Minnesota), Agricultural Economics
Hamish Murray, Men’s Golf (Sydney, Australia), Finance
Rhianna Phipps, Women’s Track & Field (St. Thomas, Jamaica), Psychology
Anton Shepp, Men’s Tennis (Hamilton, New Zealand), Psychology
Caleb Smith, Wrestling (High Point, North Carolina), Business-Master’s
Taveon Thompson, Football (Lincoln, Nebraska), Child, Youth & Family Studies
Velecia Williams, Women’s Track & Field (Bybrook, Jamaica), Psychology