Friday Five: A quiet week, sort of
Tom Osborne makes Nebraska history, Husker volleyball commits keep showing up for USA Volleyball and baseball adds a future tournament trip.
We have reached the final quiet stretch before football fully takes over the calendar again. Nebraska football will be in Chicago next week, volleyball follows soon after and then the preseason starts to feel very real, very quickly.
For now, though, it was a quieter week across Nebraska Athletics. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a week without news, of course.
Tom Osborne received a historic honor, a former Husker announced his medical retirement from the NFL, Nebraska volleyball’s future continues to show up with USA Volleyball, track and field added another multi-event athlete and baseball has a 2027 trip to San Antonio on the schedule.
Let’s get to it.
Tom Osborne selected for Nebraska Hall of Fame
Tom Osborne is officially set to become the first living inductee into the Nebraska Hall of Fame.
The Nebraska Hall of Fame Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to select Osborne, a historic step made possible after the state legislature passed a law in April changing the previous requirement that a person had to be deceased at least 35 years before being considered.
Osborne, now 89, is already one of the most significant figures in Nebraska history. That is true because of football, of course, but not only because of football.
He coached Nebraska for 25 seasons, finishing with a 255-49-3 record and one of the best winning percentages in college football history. His 1994 and 1995 teams were consensus national champions, while his 1997 team shared the title with Michigan. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.
Osborne’s coaching career is still the starting point for so much of how Nebraska football is discussed, but his connection to the state did not end when he retired after the 1997 season. He later served three terms in Congress representing Nebraska’s 3rd District from 2001-07. He and his wife, Nancy, also founded the Teammates youth mentoring program in 1991.
Gov. Jim Pillen summed up the moment.
“His love of Nebraska and the people in Nebraska, what he’s done for Nebraska, is just absolutely second to none,” Pillen said. “That we’re able to recognize him is a really, really special day.”
Travis Vokolek announces medical retirement from NFL
Former Nebraska tight end Travis Vokolek announced this week that he is medically retiring from the NFL because of a neck injury he suffered last season.
Vokolek, who played for the Arizona Cardinals, shared the news Wednesday night.
“After numerous visits with doctors and neurologists over the past couple of months, I have been advised to medically retire from the NFL due to a serious neck injury that I suffered this past season,” he wrote on Instagram. “I am extremely grateful and blessed to have been able to live out my childhood dream of playing football at the highest level for the past three years. Football has taught me many life lessons and given me unforgettable memories.”
Vokolek suffered the injury last October on a kickoff return against the Indianapolis Colts. He was immobilized on a stretcher and carted off the field after the play.
At the time, Vokolek had carved out a role with Arizona as the Cardinals’ third-string tight end and as a special teams contributor. He appeared in four of Arizona’s first five games last season.
Vokolek entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Ravens in 2023 before later signing to Arizona’s active roster that December. His NFL career was not long, but getting there at all was still significant.
Vokolek’s college path was not exactly linear either. He began his career at Rutgers before transferring to Nebraska, where he became a reliable piece of the offense and eventually earned his shot at the next level.
While the ending is difficult—especially because it came from an injury—Vokolek still reached the NFL, played in regular-season games and lived out the thing so many players spend their entire careers chasing.
Nebraska volleyball commits selected for USA Volleyball rosters
Nebraska volleyball’s future continues to be well represented with USA Volleyball.
Four Husker commits were selected for the U19 Continental Championship roster, while four were picked for the U23 Pan American Cup team.
All three of Nebraska’s 2028 commits are competing with the U19 team at the Continental Championship in San José, Costa Rica. Setter Josalyn Samuels, middle/opposite Megan Hodges and middle blocker Shayla Rautenberg all made the roster. Nebraska’s 2027 libero commit Hua Laikona is also one of the two liberos on the team.
The U23 roster includes Hodges and Rautenberg as well, along with 2027 middle blocker Kendall Omoruyi and 2027 libero commit Mallory Johnson. That event will be held in Managua, Nicaragua, from Aug. 30-Sept. 7.
The U19 team opened the Continental Championship with a sweep of Cuba on July 19, winning 25-16, 26-16, 25-10. The Husker commits were involved early too, combining for 11 points in the match.
Hodges finished with four kills, Rautenberg added two kills and Samuels had one. Samuels also recorded three aces, while Laikona added another ace.
It never guaranteed anything, but international experience matters. So does being selected for these rosters in the first place. Nebraska’s 2028 class has already received plenty of attention, and this is another reminder of why.
Nebraska track and field adds Kentucky transfer Julia Gunnell
Nebraska track and field added former Kentucky athlete Julia Gunnell to its 2026-27 roster this week.
Gunnell is a multi-event athlete from Fayetteville, Arkansas, and will have one year of eligibility remaining. She brings a strong résumé with her, especially in the heptathlon.
Her career-best heptathlon score of 5,646 points ranks second in Kentucky history. She also ranks sixth on Kentucky’s all-time performance list in the pentathlon with a score of 3,678, though her personal best in the event is 4,155 points.
Gunnell was an honorable mention USTFCCCA All-American and an Academic All-American in 2025. This past season, she scored 5,626 points in the heptathlon at the 2026 Outdoor SEC Championships to finish fifth. She followed that by setting her lifetime best with 5,646 points at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where she placed 18th.
That gives Nebraska another experienced addition in the combined events, and one who has already competed in the SEC and at the NCAA Championships.
Nebraska baseball headed to 2027 Battle at the Ballpark
Nebraska baseball has a 2027 trip to San Antonio on the schedule.
The Huskers will be one of four teams in the Battle at the Ballpark at Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium from Feb. 26-28, 2027. Nebraska will be joined by Air Force, Army West Point and Notre Dame for the three-day event.
The tournament will be played at the home of the San Antonio Missions, the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. There will be two games per day, with each team playing the other three in a round-robin format.
It is still a long way off, obviously, but it gives Nebraska another early-season tournament setting in a warmer-weather location.
The opponent list is interesting too. Notre Dame is the headliner from a name-recognition standpoint, while Air Force and Army add something a little different to the weekend.
We do not need to overdo the analysis of a tournament—yet—but it’s still worth noting on the calendar.