Honors & Awards

  • Academic All-Big Ten (2023)
  • Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2021, 2022; Spring 2022)
  • Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2023)

2022-23 (Sophomore)
C.J. Wilcher (pronounced WILL-chur) was a mainstay in the Husker rotation as a sophomore, as he was one of three Huskers to appear in all 32 games, including 24 starts. He averaged 8.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, ranking second on the team with 42 3-pointers. Wilcher totaled 10 double-figure games, highlighted by a career-high 22 points at No. 14 Indiana on Dec. 7. It was one of two 20-point games for Wilcher, as he also had 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting against Omaha on Nov. 10. 

Wilcher provided a spark during the early portion of the season with five double-figure efforts in his first 11 contests, including a pair of 20-point efforts and a 15-point effort in a win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Wilcher started NU’s first 18 contests before moving back to the bench, a spot he thrived in during the 2021-22 season, in mid-January. Wilcher came off the bench for eight games, including an 11-point effort on 4-of-6 shooting at Penn State on Jan. 21. 

He returned to the lineup on Feb. 14, as he put on a show in the Huskers’ 82-72 win at Rutgers. The Plainfield, N.J., native hit a career-best five 3-pointers as part of a 17-point outburst while adding a season high four assists and four rebounds. He totaled three double-figure efforts, including 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and five rebounds in the Huskers’ win at Iowa City on March 5.

2021-22 (COVID Freshman)
Wilcher became one of the Big Ten's top scoring reserves, averaging 8.1 points and 2.3 rebounds per game as the Huskers' sixth man. He paced NU in 3-pointers (52) and 3-point percentage (.406), while he also shot 43 percent from long range in Big Ten play.  Wilcher appeared in all 32 games, including a pair of starts, as he saw action on the wing and in the frontcourt when NU was forced to go to a four-guard lineup.

On the season, he totaled 13 double-figure efforts, while five of his top seven scoring games came against NCAA Tournament teams. He had a career-high 17 points against No. 18 Auburn, a contest where he had a season-high four 3-pointers. He closed the year by playing some of his best basketball, shooting 60 percent from the floor, including 56 percent from 3-point range over his final five games when he averaged nearly 10 points per outing. That surge started with a 14-point effort on 5-of-7 shooting against No. 25 Iowa on Feb. 25 and included 10 points in a one-point victory at No. 10 Wisconsin on March 6 and 15 markers, highlighted by 13 first-half points, in a win over No. 23 Ohio State on March 1.  Wilcher got off to a strong start, matching his then-career high with 15 points and four rebounds against Creighton on Nov. 16, starting a four-game stretch where he totaled three double-figure contests. After a four-game stretch where he went 2-of-19 from long-distance, he broke out against Auburn on Dec. 11, hitting 4-of-6 from 3-point range.

Once NU returned to conference play, he posted double-figure efforts in three straight games, including 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting in an overtime loss to No. 13 Ohio State on Jan. 2 while chipping in 10 and 11 points, respectively, in road losses at No. 13 Michigan State and at Rutgers. Wilcher provided one of the highlights in the loss to Northwestern on Feb. 5 with a team-high 15 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, and had nine points in the win over Minnesota on Feb. 9 before his strong finish.

Before Nebraska
Wilcher came to Nebraska after playing at Xavier University during the 2020-21 season.  Wilcher played in 15 games for the Musketeers, averaging 3.3 points and 1.1 rebounds per game. Wilcher saw more action down the stretch, playing double-figure minutes in seven of his last nine contests, including more than 20 minutes per game over the Musketeers’ final four games. He closed the 2020-21 campaign with seven points in 20 minutes against Butler in the Big East Tournament. His best performance of the year came in his first collegiate start at Marquette, where he set season highs in points (10) and minutes (32).  

A four-star recruit coming out of high school by ESPN, 247Sports and Rivals, Wilcher was ranked No. 81 by ESPN in the class of 2020 and was a top-150 recruit by all three major recruiting sites. He spent his senior season playing for Dave Boff at Roselle Catholic, averaging 18.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game to earn first-team all-state honors despite missing nine games because of injury. Wilcher had 50 3-pointers as a senior, highlighted by hitting six 3-pointers in a 59-58 win over Gill St. Bernard’s in the sectional championship in what would be his final high school appearance. He starred for St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark during his sophomore and junior campaigns, averaging 18 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 2018-19 en route to a state runner-up finish. As a sophomore, he had 28 points, including five 3-pointers, in a 59-58 win over Blair Academy in the state championship game. Wilcher played AAU ball for both Team Rio and City Rocks on the EYBL Circuit. In the classroom, he was a member of the honor roll at Roselle Catholic.

Personal
Caleb Jefferson Wilcher is the son of Sergio and Kimberly Wilcher and was born on July 14, 2001, in Manhattan, N.Y. Wilcher has three brothers (Sergio, Malik and Simeon) and one sister (Zoe). CJ.’s father played basketball at Morgan State, while Simeon signed to play basketball at North Carolina in 2023-24. C.J. is a child, youth and family studies major at Nebraska.