Honors & Awards
• Sam Foltz 27 Hero Leadership Award (2023)
• Big Ten Sportsmanship Award (2023)
• Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2023)
• Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall, 2022)
2022-23 (Senior)
Sam Griesel (pronounced GREE-sull) made 30 starts at point guard after transferring from North Dakota State. The 6-foot-7 guard averaged 12.0 points, 3.8 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game, while ranking ninth in the Big Ten in assists and in the top 20 of the conference rebounds, steals, minutes and assist-to-turnover margin. Griesel totaled 19 double-digit performances, including a pair of 20-point games, and led NU with four double-doubles.
He nearly posted a double-double in his Husker debut against Maine, finishing with a season-high 22 points and nine rebounds. Griesel had 18 points against Omaha and 13 points and nine assists against Florida State. His best performance in non-conference play came in a win over No. 7 Creighton, when he tallied 18 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in a 63-53 win. He picked up his second double-double in the home win over Iowa with 12 points, 10 rebounds and five rebounds, highlighting a stretch of seven straight double-figure games. He also had 21 points and six rebounds in a loss at NCAA qualifier Illinois.
Griesel closed the season with seven straight double-figure games, as he averaged 14.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest in that span. The stretch began with 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the overtime win against Wisconsin and also included double-doubles at Rutgers (12 points and 11 rebounds) and against Minnesota (16 points, 12 rebounds) in the Big Ten Tournament.
Before Nebraska
Griesel spent the last four seasons at North Dakota State University, helping the school to a pair of Summit League Tournament titles (2018-19 and 2019-20), including an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019.
In 2021-22, he was a first-team All-Summit League selection after leading North Dakota State to a 23-10 record and a runner-up finish in both the regular season and conference tournament. He averaged 14.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, while shooting 48 percent from the field, including 38 percent from 3-point range. He ranked among the conference leaders in scoring (13th), rebounding (fifth), assists (fifth), assist-to-turnover rate (1.7-to-1, third) and minutes played (33.4, fourth). He totaled 20-or-more points 10 times, including six of the final eight games of the season. He had 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the Bison’s loss to South Dakota State in the Summit League Tournament title game.
He earned second-team all-conference honors as a junior, taking over the point guard role and averaging 11.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He had 16 double-figure games, highlighted by a season-high 26 points against South Dakota, and five games with at least 10 rebounds. He totaled nine points and 12 rebounds in a loss to Nebraska in Lincoln during the 2020-21 season. He played in 22 games as a sophomore, including 13 starts, and averaged 6.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game despite missing significant time with a knee injury. Griesel earned a spot on the Summit League All-Tournament team as he averaged 9.0 points and 7.7 rebounds in helping the Bison win the Summit League crown. As a freshman, he started 22 games for a team that won 19 games before falling to Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
He earned Super-State honors from the Lincoln Journal Star at Lincoln East High School, averaging 17.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game as Lincoln East won a school-record 24 games and reached the Class A (largest class) state tournament in 2018. In all, he played three years of basketball and a year of soccer at Lincoln East. He played his AAU basketball with the Omaha Sports Association.
Personal
The son of Achim and Kathy Griesel, Sam was born on March 22, 2000, in Lincoln. He has one sister (Jena). He graduated with a degree in business administration from North Dakota State in May of 2022. He is currently working on his master's degree in applied science. Griesel played for the Germany U20 team at the 2019 European Championships, averaging 5.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game to help Germany to a third-place finish. Griesel ran a blood drive in Lincoln community in February of 2023.