1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Nebraska Adds Sam Orme (Belmont) from the Transfer Portal: April 10th, 11:00am

Episode Date: April 10, 2026

Nebraska Adds Sam Orme (Belmont) from the Transfer PortalAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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sponsored by the Downtown Lincoln Foundation. Here is your host, Derek Pearson. Boom, you've made it to Friday. We've made it as well. here on one-on-one on 93-7. I'm Jake Bockman, in with Austin Orman for the next hour with you. And we've got plenty of basketball to talk lots of stuff in sports to talk about overall. But specifically, Nebraska basketball, the story so quickly, turning from Bearke's

lead into, whoa, look at some of these guys. Nebraska is bringing in. Nebraska did get a commit yesterday from Sam Orms. We'll talk a little about him. They've got a visit today from another big man that can shoot from beyond the arc. So it looks like Nebraska is definitely targeting some big man shooters to kind of bring along into Lincoln. And that sounds great to me. Very excited about that.

But myself here, Jake Bufkin, here with Austin. How's it going today? Buck, it's great to be back with you as always, my friend. Plenty to get to on a beautiful, beautiful Friday here in the Capitol City. Weekend is just around the corner. and hey, maybe some more three-pointers are around the corner. I know that's not going to make all Nebraska fans happy, but guess what?

There's nothing they can do about it. That's right. And it makes me very happy. I know Nebraska's got, they're apparently looks like an architect they're going after as far as their bigs in the portal. Sam Orms kind of interesting and we can begin with him. After we talk about, of course,

Braden Frager, who officially set to return to Nebraska. You mentioned it during the show yesterday. We didn't quite run with it because Braden Frigger returning was broken by the plain sentinel. And I did not know what to make of that information. So we waited until later in the day it was reported via the Huskers officially that Braden Frager is officially set to return to Nebraska.

So all that online worrying and Instagram posts, this and the other thing, Braden Frager returning, obviously huge news. I've been saying it all along. There's going to be all sorts of movement in the roster. But if you can bring back Sanford and Frager, you should be positioned pretty well for your expectations to be top 20 type going in the next year. Yeah, no, completely agree. Those are probably the two foundational building blocks on the roster in some form or fashion.

Sanford, absolutely. And I think with Frager, some of that's more projection, right? Because you saw it in spurts. But the next step for Brayden Frager, for us to figure out, for him to figure out, and obviously for Nebraska staff to figure out is how much more ceiling is left. Because the Brayden Frager that we saw this season, was good, clearly a valuable enough player on a winning team. If Braden Frager can tighten up the handle,

if he can get a little bit better at creating in the half court, especially late in the shot clock, that goes a long ways in solving some of Nebraska's offensive stagnation. If Braden Frager gets more consistent on the defensive end, you know, I didn't think he did a bad job on that end necessarily, didn't fall asleep and make a whole bunch of freshman mistakes. He seemed pretty locked in. But on ball, he seems like a guy.

that should have the tools to maybe not be a full on stopper, but be able to keep guys in front of him a little bit more consistently. If he's able to do that, then Nebraska's really cooking on the wings. If Braden Frager's just a rotation player and this is the best he's going to get, okay, you can still work with that. That's fine, but it completely changes the calculus and the dynamic

for what we think Nebraska's capable of. Yeah, and certainly, I mean, you're right. The projecting upward of Braden Frager is a big part of this and, of course, would be if he did enter the transfer portal. Average 11.8 points per game this past season. Most people know the whole resume, but some of the highlights, of course, was the sixth man of the year for the Huskers, the layup that sent Nebraska the Sweet 16,

maybe the biggest shot in Nebraska basketball history, at least as far as going the furthest they ever have. And so, you know, it's a pretty good year one way or the other. It opened up with 22 points against West Georgia. Remember to open the season. And so right away, you kind of had a question, okay, what is this role going to be? Is it going to be the leading score? I mean, what's going to come around here?

Remember the zero points put up against Illinois, only one shot put up in that game, in the victory on the road against the Illini. That was, of course, interesting. And so it's just kind of these ups and downs, you know, before we got to the, to the postseason, as far as the NCAA tournament, where he scored double digits in all three of those games, was a little bit struggling there in the final three games. So a lot of it's just going to be about consistency. And I don't think there's going to be any more.

I mean, he's just going to take on a bigger workload. Well, right. And I think when we say consistency, I mean, that's the name of the game. But how do you get more consistent? Right. I think the way that for Frager specifically that he can get more consistent is by adding to his game. Because there were some games last year that Frager was a zero, right? You know, the shot wasn't falling, wasn't contributing on offense,

wasn't necessarily a hugely impactful player on defense sometimes either. So there were times that Nebraska was better off without him. That's true for every player. Sometimes it's your night. Sometimes it's your not. But I think for Braden Frager, the way that he's able to stay on the court and prove that he's a starter, or at least play starter minutes like he did, you know,

for stretches of this season, is prove that even when the shot's not falling, you can make up for it on defense. That even when you might be turning the ball over a little bit, have a loose handle, you're still crashing the glass. Or even if, you know, the defense isn't there, maybe this guy's got a good first step on you,

you can't keep him in front of you. Maybe he's taking you down to the block and posting you up. You have the mismatch that you can take advantage of on the other end as well. Because that's something I think that the Price-Sandfort found ways to do. Pretty well, Sam Hoyberg, I think probably the poster child for that. If the offense is going, great. But I think Price-Sanfort, you know, was a better defender overall than Braden-Frager,

right in terms of impact in terms of hands in terms of on ballability now neither guy was perfect i'm not trying to say price sanford now as a lockdown defender by any means but you know price was so good on offense and good enough on on defense right there were days that it's understandable for a guy coming out of his redshirt year really playing you know college basketball for the first time and then going through the first grind of a big 10 schedule that there would be those those ups and downs but but price sandfort sam hoiburg even kale jacobson at times ring mass certainly Airke Buktengell, all those other guys that were in the starting lineup found ways to contribute when their shots weren't falling.

May I think about DeMarcus Lawrence as well, how many times Fred Hoyberg in postgame pressers gave DeMarcus Lawrence credit for controlling pace, for organizing Nebraska. Yeah, it's how it wasn't falling, but, you know, I think that's the next step for Frager, whereas I think for Sanford getting more consistent, looks like having more options around him.

Right? I think there's just so much defensive attention paid to him because it just felt like sometimes Nebraska, even if they were moving to set screens, they were just kind of standing around. Well, this is Price's play, so I'm just going to do my job and then get out of the way. Or if it didn't work, oh, we got it.

We got to do something now. I think the more skills Nebraska can add on the offensive end, the more other weapons they can add around Price Sandford, the less you're going to see him hampered by the holding off the ball calls, or specifically, the less you'll see Nebraska hampered by this because, yeah, maybe he's still getting held. Maybe maybe you're not getting the whistle, the benefit of the doubt there.

But someone else actually has the ability to go hit a shot as well. And Nebraska was better at that this year, certainly than they were two years ago in the crown season. And probably even better than they were three years ago, even with that three-headed offensive monster of Tominaga masked and in Bryce Williams. I think those two teams were comparable in results,

even if they went about it slightly different ways. But having more guys that feel more empowered and understand the flow of the offense. Hey, this is the first option, but then from there, figuring out what a good shot is, doesn't just have to be Price takes all the shots. You know, and there are other guys that I think coming back on the roster that will have enough offensive talent

that Nebraska doesn't need to just rely on Price Sandford this coming season. Yeah, I think so. And, well, again, we'll talk more about Sam Orham, some of the options that are going to be out there for him. But, you know, again, I think there's so many parts of the game that Braden Frigar can improve on. And that's where the excitement is. I mean, he's got an athleticism that not many held on Nebraska basketball's roster last year,

especially with his kind of being a wing in sorts. And so, you know, he's a guy that could get to his own shot, right? It would be a threat at, you know, the end of the shot clock. And I think that's something that could help out a little bit more. The problem at times, again, was if the defense did kind of stymium, okay, what to do next. Sometimes there were some turnover. Sometimes, you know, you just kind of freeze and make a bad decision. And again, all that part of growing and becoming a big 10 player and a big 10 starter.

Remember, this is a guy that two years ago redshirted. After reclassing. After reclassifying, right? So it was kind of young coming in. Redshirting, though. And people wondered, because there was talks around him, maybe not, you know, was he going to be able to break that redshirt and come in? And I think you could see it, you know, especially again, you open up against West Georgia.

That was the question. It's like, well, where was this guy last year? Then you could see at times like, okay, he probably had some leaps to. make on defense because he still does. You know, and with it again, it's not necessarily that he's a bad defender. Does at times kind of get lost in strategy and stuff like that. It's how much better of a defender he can be given his athleticism than he currently is.

So again, these things can happen. Now, we've talked about it before too. Fred Hoyberg, you know, BetMGM is an official sports betting partner of the National Hockey League and has everything for the action on the ice. Hockey fans. in Canada can place live bets, create same game parlays, take player props on their favorite skaters, and bet on the 26 Stanley Cup champion, including if that team will be from Canada or the

USA. BetMGM also has original bets, which are hockey markets you can't find anywhere else. And it's not just about what you can do on game day. The BetMGM app has improved its lineup this season to include instant withdrawals, data insights and a brand new rewards hub. Download the BetMGM app today and enjoy the NHL like never before.

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to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. The guys that have kind of came in as freshmen, generally not sticking around long enough to be developed in the long haul. Certainly there's been plenty of development for guys coming in. You have any concern about a long-term development plan from Fred Hoyberg since you haven't seen too much of it with Prager specifically?

In terms of the long-term development, no. I think Fred Hoyberg and his staff have done a good job with all sorts of players and adding to their game. I think where the staff might be a little overextended is in trying to create a point guard and organizer. They tried it with Bryce Williams. They've tried it with DeMarcus Lawrence, no, a couple seasons ago,

which is why they went out and got, you know, Raleigh Wooster. And Aaron Eulis, a couple seasons ago now, didn't work out the way Nebraska fans wanted to or the way that Nebraska wanted it to. So they continued to mold and shape Bryce Williams into that kind of lead ball handler. but look at all the skills that the Sam Hoyberg added, right? Obviously, when I credit the staff,

it should go without saying, but I need to make sure I note it. A bunch of credit goes to the players, right? Fred Hoyberg would say, no, it's on the players. They're dedicated. They're in the gym. They're working on their skills. But I think about the continued development of Derek Walker, who did not show any of that at Tennessee.

You know, had to sit out a little bit, came in. Nebraska made him better over the course of his couple years. Thing about Kesee Tamunaga, the guy that was just kind of parked in the corner. that Nebraska turned into an on-ball off-hand-off off-screen weapon. You think about how Nebraska empowered, maybe unlocked, but certainly empowered Price-Sand-for it to be the best version of himself, and that was just in one year.

Nebraska's staff pretty consistently has gotten guys better. So you can name pretty much any player on the roster, and I would tell you, no, I'm not really concerned about long-term development. I think the staff has a good roadmap in a lot of different situations for pretty much everyone on the roster. Yeah, I think so, too, and too, you know, to that criticism of scholarship freshman kind of player, Sam Hoyberg is a perfect example of doing it. And maybe he wasn't a scholarship player.

I'll just say, Cal Jacobson bringing him along as well. Very interesting. The other thing that I thought was kind of interesting with Frager is, again, he's got the athleticism. He can shoot, which is why it ended up being this case. But he averaged about 8.3 shots per game last year, 4.9 or 5 of the 8. shots were three-pointers. I would think with his development,

now, again, he can launch. He shot 35%. I don't have a problem with it, but there were certain games where that's all he did. Like, would just shoot threes. And I just think he's got too much athleticism and slash was the only one that could kind of drive and create his shot in the way that he could or at least kind of in that next step again, when you get stuck or when you're driving to kind of find an open teammate, average one assist the game, that certainly could come up as well.

But again, those are some of the things you look at and say where this guy can approve. I think especially, you know, percentages of threes versus field goals taken, if he's going to be aggressive and unlock that part for Nebraska, I think that would be huge for his development. I agree, but I'm going to kind of flip that around a little bit. I'm not so sure Braden Frager had the entire skill set to be able to do that yet. Right. I think the handle was a little bit loose. I think there are also some times that

Braden Frigar didn't necessarily want to be a ball stopper, that he wanted to keep the ball moving because that was the offense. And so when Brayden Frager was best at getting downhill, was when he was the second side player. Nebraska couldn't just isolate Braden Frager on the wing and say, go take your guy off the dribble. That wasn't necessarily in his bag,

you know, as the kids would say. It wasn't in his repertoire. And that's okay. if he can add that, yes, there's something special there. That ability to create your own offense, to put pressure on the rim is something that the guys that are good at it are able to do it often translate to the next level. The ones that aren't, well, they have a tougher time because they're kind of siloed into an offball kind of role.

And, you know, even some of the best offball players in the NBA had some of that juice on the ball in college. So I completely 100% agree that Braden Frager needs to attack the rim for Nebraska to be at its best. But I am more convinced it was a confidence in the handle and ability to handle the basketball issue more so than a, well, he was passive. Or, well, he heard coach wanted to shoot a bunch of threes. So we just wanted to shoot threes. That's why I think it's so important for him to work on that. because I tend to agree that the skill set seems like it should be there for him to be dynamic attacking the rim.

Because when he gets downhill, he's one of the few guys I've seen in our lifetimes, Bach, that actually wants to put someone in the rim. It actually goes up with bad intentions and goes up strong. And Nebraska certainly needs more of that. Well, I think it's also probably notable that he was second on the team after Price Sanford and free throw attempts. So sometimes when you are attacking and going to the rim and you get fouled or, you know, those shots don't count against your count in the column and then therefore don't play out in the kind of what I was doing there compared to two point shots to three point shots.

But he did get to the rim at a pretty good rate considering the minutes that he played. Again, you know, that's with Braden Frager returning, again, I think the most exciting part about him for a guy that's already hit the biggest shot in Nebraska basketball. It's cool to say the most exciting part is where he can grow all the different ways. and that's why people were so excited to see him return. But adding now, Belmont forward, Sam, orm, very exciting for Nebraska basketball fans, maybe the replacement right away for Bear Cay Bukin.

Just certainly a different type of player, more of a shooter. Six foot nine, 220 pound forward, two seasons left of eligibility, played his high school ball at Carmel, a Carmel in Indiana, in Carmel, Indiana. So we're getting used to,

we're getting to know Carmel, Indiana a little bit more. I do like Carmel. Yeah. second leading score and started 28 of 29 games this past season for Belmont, averaging 25.7 points per game, shot 40%. I'm running up 39.7, what it was, 40% from 3.5% this past season, and 55.9, 56% from the floor, amazingly meaning he shot 70% from inside the arc, and more than 50% of his shots came from inside the arc.

So he's not just a kind of deep threat. He can do a little bit more there. also added five rebounds per game. Belmont, for what it's worth, was 26 and 6. So you get the second leading score of a pretty good team that had the number one seed in the Missouri Valley Conference, did not win in the tournament, then opted out of the postseason after head coach Casey Alexander went to Kansas State. So, you know, there's always going to be those that, and maybe you shouldn't at this point, considering who Nebraska's used and where they've got them for that are going to look at the Belmont part and say, well, you know, but I mean, hit this guy's numbers are impressive.

and to what we're saying earlier, I mean, they just look like, especially with another guy, they're hosting today and Drew Fielder, which we can talk about in the next segment, they look like they're very much going to try to, their best to kind of get five guys out on the floor that can shoot and be a threat.

And, you know, this guy certainly fits that billing. He really does. And that's going to get all the headlines, deservedly so. Doesn't get to the rim a whole lot on his own. I mean, he shot 34 free throw.

in 27 games as a freshman. He shot 44 free throws in 29 games. So it's like Nebraska, right? Not necessarily a downhill type of player. Belmont system, I don't know the intricacies, the inner workings of it, but broad brush strokes, 30,000 foot view, a lot of similarities to what Nebraska wants to do

in player movement, in sharing the ball in a lot of backcuts in how they get to the rim. And for, I mean, to average those almost 13 points per game, for him to put up 121 3s and 29 games. Yeah, that's pretty dang good. And for him to be as efficient as he was,

absolutely incredible. The thing that really, though, stands out to me, Bach, is kind of twofold and then they work together. Number one, he strikes me as a pretty true four man, not just a four, but a four, right?

I don't think that he's going to cut into minutes from Sanford and Frager when they play the three. You know, I think there might be some, some small ball lineups where he's at the five for very short stretches of time. But I think he's a pretty traditional power forward by size and by role as a stretch four. And I think importantly for Nebraska, he has the rebound rates to match.

Not an elite rebounder, but an above average one, right? About a 5% offensive rebound rate, a 17% defensive rebounding rate, which is pretty darn good, takes good care of the ball, 12.3% turnover rate for a guy with his usage and volume is pretty good. The other part that stands out, though, a three and a half percent block rate and a 2.1 percent steel rate. Again, not elite jump off the page at you numbers,

but capable, at least at the mid-major level. And in Nebraska's scheme where they ask guys to buy into team defense, he'll be put in those positions, I think, to use what seemed to be quick hands in good timing defensively. So the high-level offense and efficiency, absolutely what Nebraska is going for.

absolutely going to be what steals the headlines. But I do think that this guy is going to compete on defense. They'll be good at being in the right place at the right time. It has some of that just kind of knows for the basketball stuff that's hard to teach. Yeah, yeah, I agree with much of what you said there. And it's exciting too. Again, when you get these transfer portal additions, sometimes you try to kind of figure it out.

Of course, there's not a big enough roster yet to kind of decide. But, I mean, this looks like a starter, right? I mean, this is what you need to go out there and get some of these guys. some of them can be you know hey we'll see kind of what role they fill but specifically you know in the front court um Nebraska is going to need some to bring in some starters you have that question there with uge obviously can Leo curtis take a step forward um you know those those sorts of questions are there so maybe a little bit of depth but you're not you're not confident with either of them as a starter so to go out and get sam orm and then on the other side we can talk about

drew feeler Nebraska does not have him but has a visit with him today um certainly exciting for we're Nebraska basketball fans. Let's take quick break. We'll be back with more Nebraska basketball talk here on 93-7 the ticket. Download our app by searching 93.7 the ticket in your app store. You're listening to one-on-one with DP on 93-7 the ticket and the ticket FM.com.