Friday Five: Nebraska’s NIL fight, softball honors and a big basketball home slate

This week’s Friday Five starts with the topic that is going to keep shaping college athletics whether anyone likes it or not: NIL, enforcement and who gets to decide what counts as a valid deal.

Photo courtesy Nebraska Athletics

This week’s Friday Five starts with the topic that is going to keep shaping college athletics whether anyone likes it or not: NIL, enforcement and who gets to decide what counts as a valid deal.

Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen addressed the Huskers’ recent arbitration case during an appearance on Sports Nightly this week, and while the details are complicated, the larger question is not. Nebraska believes its athletes should have access to the same NIL pathways as athletes elsewhere. The College Sports Commission disagreed with how some of those deals were structured.

Elsewhere, Nebraska softball added more national recognition before opening NCAA Tournament play, men’s basketball learned its Big Ten opponents for next season, Nicole Jones added another key piece to her first women’s gymnastics staff and two former Huskers are expected to reunite in Australia.

Let’s get into it.

Nebraska’s NIL case is not just about Nebraska

The easiest way to explain Nebraska’s NIL arbitration case is this: the Huskers thought they had a pathway for 18 football players to complete potential NIL deals. The College Sports Commission disagreed. Nebraska challenged that decision. The arbiter sided with the CSC.

Dannen made it clear during his Sports Nightly appearance that Nebraska’s case became such a national talking point, in part, because the Huskers were early. Nebraska submitted some deals for review shortly after the bowl game against Utah in January, which put the school near the front of the line when questions started moving through the new system.

This is also not a Nebraska-only issue. Dannen said there are “literally tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars of deals” that have also been rejected and are still waiting for arbitration.

The central disagreement is whether a multimedia rights partner counts as an “associated entity.” Nebraska says PlayFly Sports should not be classified that way. The CSC says it should. The arbiter agreed with the CSC.

But even that may not be the final answer.

Jeffrey Kessler, lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the House v. NCAA settlement, is challenging the CSC in federal court over that same issue. That hearing is scheduled for June 10.

In the meantime, Nebraska is trying to work within the system as it currently stands. Dannen said the school is resubmitting the rejected deals in different forms, with some already back in the review process.

There is also a Nebraska-specific wrinkle here. Dannen said state law says athletes cannot be penalized for accepting a valid NIL deal, which could eventually bring Attorney General Mike Hilgers into the conversation, but Nebraska has to exhaust the current options first before that route becomes realistic.

At the end of the day, Nebraska expects the players to get their money one way or another, but it also wants to compete without pretending the rules do not exist.

“I see a lot of roster numbers floating around out there. I don’t believe a lot of them,” Dannen said. “Nonetheless, if School A touts that they’re going to be able to provide their athletes X, then Nebraska wants to be able to, whether it does or doesn’t, but wants to have the same pathway to provide the same to our athletes.

“I think we all have to take a big grain of salt in the things we read and hear. A lot of deals schools are saying they’ve done have not passed through the system yet. And I’m not being pollyannaish, there are some people who, frankly, aren’t paying attention to the rules. And we’re not going to do that, we’re going to follow the rules. There is a federal antitrust settlement that prescribed rules to follow, and we’re going to follow those, as are the schools in the Big Ten. But there are others that, let’s not pretend that everything is on the up-and-up.”

Jordy Frahm keeps adding to the résumé

Nebraska softball opens NCAA Tournament play at Bowlin Stadium on Friday and the Huskers have received plenty of recognition on the way there.

Jordy Frahm was named a top 10 candidate for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year this week, giving Nebraska’s two-way star another national marker in a season full of them.

This is not new territory for Frahm. She was a top-three finalist for the award last year and a top-10 finalist in 2022 and 2023 at Oklahoma. In 2026, she helped lift Nebraska to a Big Ten regular-season title, a Big Ten Tournament title and the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Frahm leads Nebraska with a .426 batting average and has added 19 home runs, 10 doubles, four triples, 50 RBIs and 55 runs scored. In the circle, she is 18-4 with a 1.24 ERA, 10 saves and seven shutouts. Nationally, she ranks in the top 10 in ERA, saves, shutouts, strikeout-to-walk ratio and WHIP.

Nebraska also landed eight players on the NFCA All-Mountain Region teams, the most in program history. Frahm, Jesse Farrell, Ava Kuszak and Hannah Camenzind were first-team selections. Kacie Hoffmann, Hannah Coor and Alexis Jensen made the second team, while Samantha Bland earned third-team honors.

That feels like the right snapshot of this team entering the postseason. Frahm is the obvious headline, but Nebraska has not built a 46-6 record because of one player. The Huskers have been too balanced for that. Now they get to see how far that balance travels in the NCAA Tournament.

Michigan is coming to PBA

Nebraska men’s basketball got its Big Ten opponent list this week and one home game jumps off the page immediately: Michigan is coming to Pinnacle Bank Arena.

The defending national champion Wolverines will be the first reigning national champion to play at PBA since the building opened in 2013. It will also be Nebraska’s first time hosting a defending national champion since Kansas came to Lincoln in 2009.

Nebraska will also host Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, UCLA and USC. The Huskers’ double-play opponents are Iowa, Michigan State and Penn State.

The road side is not exactly gentle either: Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Northwestern, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Washington and Wisconsin.

In all, Nebraska will have 10 matchups against NCAA Tournament teams. The Huskers will host Iowa, Michigan State, UCLA and Ohio State, plus College Basketball Crown participants Rutgers and Minnesota. Indiana and USC are also showing up in early top-25 conversations.

For Nebraska, this schedule is both the challenge and the reward after the 2025-26 season ended in a Sweet 16 run.

By the way, student tickets are already sold out for 2026-27. That says plenty.

Nicole Jones adds more technical credibility

Nicole Jones continued building her first Nebraska women’s gymnastics staff this week with the addition of Brett Wargo.

Wargo comes to Nebraska from Ascend Gymnastics in Auburn, Washington, one of the top club programs in the country. Ascend was named the USAG National Program of the Year in 2022 and earned Region 2 Program of the Year honors in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

“Brett has established himself as one of the premier club coaches in the industry,” Jones said in a statement. “He is known for his elite technical knowledge, innovative approach and consistent ability to develop high-level athletes. His outside-the-box thinking and contagious energy will be a tremendous asset to our staff, and he will bring a unique perspective and proven expertise that will immediately elevate our program. We are thrilled to welcome him to Lincoln and can’t wait for him to get started!”

Wargo has nearly 20 years of club coaching experience, has worked as a USA National Team coach and Canadian National Team clinician and helped Shilese Jones win world championship medals in 2022 and 2023. He has also coached more than 30 national champion athletes in the Level 9 and 10 Junior Olympic Development Program.

After already bringing Lincoln native and NCAA all-around champion Jordan Gamboa back home, Jones has now added another staff member with a clear high-performance background. The picture is starting to come into focus.

“I am humbled, honored and excited to join the University of Nebraska Women’s Gymnastics Program, and I am grateful to Nicole and Devin (Wright) for their trust and confidence in me,” Wargo said. “Nebraska Women’s Gymnastics has a proud tradition of excellence at the highest level, and we are committed to building a program that reflects and exceeds those championship standards. Central to that vision is a strong emphasis on the student-athlete experience, creating an environment rooted in care, support and personal growth, while empowering each individual to reach their full potential. The University of Nebraska provides one of the premier athletic environments in the country, and I look forward to contributing to a culture defined by passion, pride and excellence. GBR!”

Jaz Shelley and Issie Bourne reunite in Sydney

Jaz Shelley and Issie Bourne are expected to be teammates again, this time with the Sydney Flames. Shelley signed with Sydney earlier this week, and Bourne announced she is making the move from Southside Melbourne to Sydney as well, pending league approval.

For Nebraska fans, this is a fun duo to see reunite. Shelley and Bourne helped define an important stretch for Nebraska women’s basketball under coach Amy Williams. They were teammates on the 2021-22 team that reached the NCAA Tournament, and both left Lincoln with careers that still hold up well over time.

Bourne finished with 1,221 points and 648 rebounds in four seasons at Nebraska. Shelley, who transferred in from Oregon, became one of the most complete guards in program history with 1,364 points, 512 rebounds, 565 assists, 170 steals and 250 made 3-pointers.

Now both are continuing their professional careers in Australia.

Shelley averaged 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and a league-leading 2.5 steals per game last season with the Geelong Wodonga Giants. She was also a finalist for WNBL Defensive Player of the Year.

Bourne averaged 16 points and 5.4 rebounds for Southside Melbourne and was part of Australia’s gold-medal team at the 2025 Asia Cup.

Their reunion also fits into a longer Nebraska-Australia connection. Shelley and Bourne are part of a line that includes Ruby Porter, Jessica Petrie and Kelsey Griffin, whose WNBL career has become its own standard.

Not every Husker story ends when a player leaves Lincoln. Some just pick up in a new time zone.