Friday Five: Nebraska adds another loaded Hall of Fame class
Nebraska announced its 2026 Athletics Hall of Fame class this week, while women’s basketball officially set its nonconference slate and much more.
Nebraska football will host Red Sea Rising on Saturday, which includes the second annual Battle of the Boneyard 7-on-7 Tournament and a special announcement to close the evening. The championship rounds begin inside Memorial Stadium around 7 p.m., with gates opening at 6. Tickets are free, the first 500 fans get an Adidas t-shirt and, for mid-June, it is not a bad reason to be back around the stadium.1
That is not the only thing happening though. Nebraska announced its 2026 Athletics Hall of Fame class, women’s basketball released a nonconference schedule with some real tests, Jillian Martin won another major bowling title, Axelina Johansson landed as a Honda Award finalist and the track and field teams closed the NCAA Outdoor Championships with two top-10 finishes.
Let’s get to it.
Nebraska announces its 2026 Hall of Fame class
Nebraska’s 2026 Athletics Hall of Fame class has a little bit of everything. The group includes Matt Hopper from baseball, Cassandra Leuthold from bowling, Dean Steinkuhler from football, Taylor Edwards from softball, Amber Holmquist from volleyball, Ineta Radevica from women’s track and field and former volleyball coach John Cook.
That is six former student-athletes and one coach, with Cook becoming the seventh head coach selected for the Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame.
The numbers are pretty strong across the board. The six student-athletes combined for 21 All-America honors, three individual NCAA titles and seven team national championships. Cook, of course, led Nebraska volleyball from 2000 to 2024 and finished his Husker coaching career with a 722-103 record, 14 conference titles and four national championships.
“When you look at the list of accomplishments for the members of this year’s Hall of Fame class, it is a reminder of how extraordinary it is to be selected for the Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame,” Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen said in a statement. “The individual accolades and team success the class achieved not only added to the rich history of Husker athletics, but these distinguished individuals serve as an inspiration for our current student-athletes and coaches. We look forward to welcoming each of them back to Lincoln and celebrating their legendary careers.”
The class will be inducted Friday, Oct. 2, then recognized the next day during Nebraska’s football game against Maryland.
Nebraska women’s basketball builds a challenging nonconference schedule
Nebraska women’s basketball’s nonconference schedule is officially set and it should give the Huskers a pretty good sense of where they stand before Big Ten play settles in.
The home highlight is Texas A&M on Dec. 12 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Aggies last saw Nebraska in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, when the Huskers won 61-59 in Corvallis. Texas A&M will be making its first trip to Lincoln since 2010, when No. 4 Nebraska beat No. 12 A&M.
Nebraska opens the regular season Nov. 2 against San Jose State in a mid-day game tied to the annual Sizemore Life Skills Sportsmanship Pep Rally. Western Illinois follows on Nov. 7 after winning the Ohio Valley Conference and reaching the NCAA Tournament last season. North Carolina A&T closes the opening three-game home stretch.
The first road test is technically a neutral-site one, but it will still have some regional weight. Nebraska will face Kansas at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls on Nov. 14. That will be the 87th meeting between the old conference rivals, and it gives the Huskers another game in South Dakota as Ashlyn Koupal begins her Nebraska career.
Nebraska also has a first-time matchup with Mount Saint Mary’s, its annual road game at Creighton, home dates with Kansas City, Omaha and North Dakota, and a Dec. 20 game against Cal at Chase Center in San Francisco.
There is enough balance here to like. Nebraska gets manageable home games, a rivalry game with Creighton, a former Big 12 opponent in Kansas, an SEC opponent in Texas A&M and an ACC opponent in Cal. It won’t be easy, but it has a lot of potential to set the Huskers up for success.
Jillian Martin wins the U.S. Women’s Open
Nebraska bowling has another major professional moment to celebrate. Jillian Martin won the 2026 Go Bowling U.S. Women’s Open on Tuesday, climbing the stepladder from the No. 4 seed and winning four straight matches to claim the title.
Martin entered the finals with a 12-12 record, then beat Jordan Snodgrass, Diana Zavjalova, Dasha Kovalova and Li Jane Sin to finish 16-12. Over 60 games, she totaled 12,773 pins and averaged 206.87.
The win came with the eagle trophy, the green jacket and a $60,000 prize.
It is Martin’s fourth Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour title and her second major, joining her 2024 United States Bowling Congress Queens championship.
Nebraska bowling has never exactly lacked high-end talent, but Martin continues to build a résumé that is becoming harder and harder to gloss over. Winning four matches in one night at a major is not just about talent. It takes stamina, accuracy and the ability to handle pressure as every round gets a little bigger. Martin had all of it Tuesday.
Axelina Johansson is a Honda Award finalist
Axelina Johansson’s Nebraska career already had a pretty strong closing statement, but she added another national honor this week. Johansson was named one of four finalists for the 2026 Honda Sport Award for track and field, joining Georgia’s Adaejah Hodge and Dejanea Oakley and Arkansas’ Sanu Jallow-Lockhart.
The honor comes after Johansson capped her senior season with the 2026 NCAA outdoor shot put title. She won it with a meet-record throw, after already producing the second-best mark in NCAA history to win the Big Ten title. That is a pretty good postseason.
Johansson finishes her Nebraska career as a four-time NCAA champion, eight-time All-American and six-time Big Ten champion. She was also a two-time Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year and three-time USTFCCCA Midwest Region Field Athlete of the Year.
The Honda Sport Award winner for track and field will be announced this week. The winner becomes a finalist for Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the 2026 Honda Cup, which will be presented July 27.
Nebraska already saw Jordy Frahm win the Honda Award for softball this year. Johansson now has a chance to add another Husker name to the list.
Nebraska track and field finishes strong in Eugene
Nebraska track and field wrapped up the NCAA Outdoor Championships with both teams in the top 10.
The women tied for eighth with 27 points, a major jump from last year’s 26th-place finish. The men finished ninth with 28 points, their best outdoor finish since 2003.
On the women’s side, Karsyn Leeling and Ela Velepec both cleared lifetime bests in the high jump, tying for fourth at 1.90 meters. That mark is tied for second in school history. Velepec cleared two personal bests along the way, while Leeling improved on the mark she had set earlier this season.
Kelsie Belquist added a fifth-place finish in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, earning first-team All-America honors in her first year competing in the event. She had already set the school record earlier this season at the NCAA West First Rounds.
For the men, Aleksandr Gerasimov cleared 2.16 meters in the high jump and finished 12th in his first outdoor nationals appearance, earning second-team All-America honors. Amelia Flynt closed her career with honorable mention All-America recognition in the discus after finishing 21st.
Nebraska had individual stars but the team finishes are the larger point. Top-10 national finishes on both sides are not small things, especially with the women making that kind of year-over-year jump and the men reaching their best finish in more than two decades.
And, hey, maybe you went to Savannah Bananas too. Double the Memorial Stadium visits in June!