Julian Assibey

A long-time NCAA Division I assistant with a track record of success around the country, Julian Assibey (pronounced ah-SEE-bay) completed his third season as an assistant at Nebraska in 2025-26.

Assibey has helped the the Huskers to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances his first three seasons in Lincoln and the Big Red have averaged 21 wins per season with Assibey on staff.

The 2025-26 Huskers recorded their second NCAA Tournament victory in the past three years with a 75-56 win over Richmond in Durham, N.C. (March 18). It was Nebraska's sixth consecutive postseason tournament appearance, including its fourth NCAA bid in the past five years.

Nebraska finished with a 19-13 record that included a 12-0 start to the season. The Big Red was ranked for seven consecutive weeks in The Associated Press Top 25, before a Big Ten schedule that featured 12 NCAA Tournament teams chipped away at the Huskers.  Despite a 7-11 conference record, the Huskers entered the NCAA Tournament with a No. 28 NCAA NET ranking, before recording an NCAA Tournament win over Richmond. The Huskers were moments away from an upset of No. 21 Baylor at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but the No. 6 seed Bears escaped with a 67-62 victory over the No. 11 seed Huskers.

Nebraska was led by first-team All-Big Ten point guard Britt Prince in 2025-26. The Nancy Lieberman Midseason Top 10 candidate averaged team bests of 17.9 points, 4.4 assists and 1.5 steals while adding 4.1 rebounds per game. One of the nation's most versatile and efficient guards, Prince hit 53.5 percent of her shots from the field, including 45.7 percent of her three-point attempts, while ranking among the top free throw shooters in the nation at 91.2 percent.

Over the last five games of the season, Prince averaged 21.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.6 blocked shots. In the two NCAA Tournament games, Prince averaged 24.5 points per game.

Fellow sophomore Amiah Hargrove ranked second among the Huskers with 12.7 points and a team-best 5.5 rebounds per game. The 6-2 forward was also a model of efficiency, hitting 53.2 percent of her shots, including 40.7 percent of her threes, while knocking down 80.3 percent of her free throws.

The Huskers will be looking to build around Prince and Hargrove to continue Nebraska's climb on the conference and national level in 2026-27. 

In the stands, Nebraska continued to rank among the nation's top teams with 5,701 fans per game flocking to Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Big Red ranked 15th nationally entering the postseason, continuing a streak of 16 consecutive years ranked among the nation's top-25 teams in average home attendance.

Off the court, Nebraska continued to feature a 100 percent Graduation Success Rate in women's basketball while 10 Huskers earned Academic All-Big Ten recognition in 2026.

In 2023-24, the Big Red produced its best season in a decade by capturing a first-round NCAA Tournament victory over Texas A&M after claiming a No. 6 seed in March Madness. The victory followed Nebraska's run to its first Big Ten Championship Game appearance since 2014.

The tough Huskers secured a win over Purdue before notching double-digit wins over NCAA Tournament-bound Michigan State and Maryland to set up a third showdown with No. 3 Iowa in the title game. The Huskers controlled the action in much of the contest and took the Hawkeyes to overtime before falling 94-89 in the championship.

Nebraska finished with a 23-12 record that included an 11-7 Big Ten mark to take fifth in the 14-team conference standings. Nebraska's regular season was highlighted by an 82-79 win over then-No. 2 Iowa in front of a sellout crowd of more than 15,000 at Pinnacle Bank Arena (Feb. 11). The victory matched the highest-ranked team the Huskers ever defeated. It was one of NU's five wins over NCAA Tournament teams from Feb. 6 to the end of the season, as Nebraska went 9-4 down the stretch with three losses away from home against top-15 teams (at No. 2 Ohio State, vs. No. 3 Iowa, at No. 12 Oregon State).

During the late surge, Nebraska completed a season sweep of NCAA Tournament-bound Michigan (Feb. 6) and their first-ever sweep of NCAA-bound Maryland (March 9). The Huskers also locked up a season sweep of NCAA qualifier Michigan State (March 8), and a three-game season sweep of WNIT Great Eight participant Purdue (Feb. 17, March 7). The Big Red added a 19-point home win over WNIT semifinalist Minnesota (Feb. 24).

The Huskers finished No. 25 in the regular-season NET rankings with 17 of their 23 victories coming against postseason tournament qualifiers, including eight wins over NCAA Tournament teams, three over WBIT qualifiers and six over WNIT teams.

Nebraska continued to improve throughout the season in large part to the consistency of first-team All-Big Ten center Alexis Markowski and the leadership of second-team All-Big Ten guard Jaz Shelley. Two of the top players in the country, Markowski and Shelley both claimed All-Big Ten honors for the third consecutive seasons before earning spots on the Big Ten All-Tournament Team.

Nebraska's most experienced players also got help from a pair of award-winning freshmen. Natalie Potts emerged as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year while being joined on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team by Logan Nissley.

In addition to the individual awards won by the Huskers, Nebraska's success also came out in the record book, including a school-record 292 threes while ranking second in school history with a plus-7.8 rebound margin. The 2023-24 Huskers also ranked fifth in NU history with 2,533 points, fourth in total rebounds (1,431) and third in assists (580).

The Huskers earned their second straight NCAA trip with Assibey on staff in 2024-25, finishing with a 21-12 record that included a 10-8 Big Ten mark. The Big Red added two wins in the Big Ten Tournament before claiming a No. 10 seed and facing Louisville at Fort Worth, Texas, in March Madness. 

Alexis Markowski earned first-team All-Big Ten honors for the second straight season while setting the Nebraska career double-doubles record (53). The two-time Lisa Leslie Award midseason finalist closed her career ranked No. 2 all-time at Nebraska in rebounds (1,220) and No. 7 in points (1,902).

Prince added a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team by averaging 13.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and team bests of 3.8 assists and 1.7 steals. Nebraska's Female Freshman Athlete of the Year across all sports, Prince added honorable-mention All-Big Ten recognition as a point guard.

Nebraska ranked 16th nationally in an average home attendance (5,638), after ranking 15th in attendance with 6,088 fans per game in 2023-24. 

Every game in the 2024 Big Ten Tournament drew more than 18,000 fans at the Target Center in Minneapolis, while NU's Big Ten Tournament Championship Game appearance attracted 4.77 million viewers on CBS - the network's highest TV ratings for a women's basketball game in more than two decades.

Assibey came to Lincoln after spending three years as an assistant coach at Florida, where he helped the Gators to three consecutive postseason berths. In his first season (2020-21) in Gainesville, Assibey helped the Gators to their first postseason berth since a 2016 NCAA Tournament bid, and their first postseason victory since 2014. In 2021-22, Assibey helped guide the Gators to a 21-11 record and a trip to the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2022-23, Florida finished with a 19-15 overall record that included three wins to advance to the Postseason WNIT Great Eight.

Assibey went to Florida after spending four successful seasons (2016-20) at Montana State, where he helped the Bobcats to a pair of Big Sky regular-season titles and one conference tournament crown. In addition to his assistant coaching duties, Assibey served as the recruiting coordinator for the Bobcats, who produced nine all-conference honorees including a pair of Big Sky players of the year in his four seasons.

In 2019-20, Montana State produced one of the best seasons in school history, finishing with a 25-6 record that included a Big Sky regular-season title with a 19-1 mark. The Bobcats advanced to the Big Sky Tournament title game against Idaho, but the game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fallyn Freije was named the 2020 Big Sky Player of the Year. In Assibey's first year at Montana State (2016-17), the Bobcats rolled to Big Sky regular-season and tournament titles, led by league player of the year Peyton Ferris. The Bobcats earned an automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Tournament and finished the season with a 25-7 record that included a 15-3 Big Sky mark.

Assibey previously served the 2014-15 season as the video coordinator at Colorado, before advancing to a full-time assistant role for the Buffaloes in 2015-16. He returned to the state of Colorado after a pair of previous stops at Western Colorado (2010-11) and two years at Metro State Denver (2007-09).

Following his season at Western Colorado, Assibey traveled to Andover, Mass., where he spent three seasons as an assistant at Merrimack College. The Warriors posted a 12-game improvement in the win column from his first season (5-21) in 2011-12 to his second season (17-12) in 2012-13.

Born and raised in Ghana, West Africa, Assibey grew up in Downey, Calif., before earning four letters in men's basketball while also competing in track and field (long jump, triple jump, 4x100-meter relay) at William Penn in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He earned his bachelor's degree in sports administration and strength and conditioning in 2005. Following his two seasons as an assistant coach at Metro State Denver (2007-09), he spent one season on staff as an assistant coach at William Penn (2009-10). While coaching at Merrimack, Assibey completed his master's degree in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University in 2013.

Julian and his wife, Kaylee, have two sons, Malachi and Elijah.