Putting a bow on things as another school year ends
Another school year has come and gone for Nebraska, with graduation taking place this past Saturday. Let's recap.
Another school year has come and gone for Nebraska, with graduation taking place this past Saturday. As we head into summer — and camp season! — there’s no better time than now to put a bow on some of the latest athletics stories.
Let’s get to it.
A renovation of the renovation plans
In late April, new Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen joined Sports Nightly to provide an update on the Memorial Stadium renovation project. At the time, Dannen said the current plan — meaning the $450 million plan that would tear South Stadium down following the 2025 season — was still “on the same trajectory.”
About a month later, that plan changed. Here’s the statement in full that was sent to the media from Dannen on Friday:
"During meetings on Thursday with committees of the Board of Regents, we discussed Memorial Stadium improvements and our intent to modify the original timeline and project plans.
"We are all aligned on the need to modernize our aging stadium. But as we have said, any work we do needs to follow our guiding principles. First, it needs to help us win. Second, it needs to advance our goals for acquisition and retention of talent. Third, and equally importantly, it must preserve our financial stability - one of the greatest assets of Husker Athletics.
"With that in mind, as we shared with the regents, South Stadium will not be torn down following the 2024 season. Instead, we will turn our immediate focus to designing and planning improvements for the East and West Stadiums, with a target to begin work on the East and West no earlier than after the 2025 season. South Stadium renovations will remain within the scope of the overall project, but there is no timeline for when that work would begin.
"We also communicated that we are not seeking Board approval at this time for additional work beyond the Phase I upgrades that were approved last October. No further construction work will occur until we bring detailed plans and funding back to the Board. Our financial stability is a great credit to the work of previous leaders who operated with great fiscal integrity, as well as the generosity and loyalty of Husker fans who have invested in our programs and student-athletes for decades. In this rapidly changing world of college athletics, it's more important than ever that we maintain that distinct competitive advantage."
Some of the updates Nebraska and Dannen hope to make quickly are adding chair backs to all seats in East and West Stadiums and updated in-stadium Wi-Fi.1 By adding chair backs though, Nebraska will have to reseat those sections of the stadiums (which, yes, will affect fans). For those wondering how this might affect them, just know that you’ll have some time. Nebraska is required to notify fans that will be affected a year in advance.
There are plenty of stories out there with more details — Mitch Sherman’s from The Athletic is very comprehensive — but just know there are a lot of unknowns. Amie Just of the Lincoln Journal Star dove into a lot of those questions, particularly surrounding South Stadium and what happens there now.
“I understand the rationalization. It makes sense. It’s a thoughtful approach. Don’t spend money you can’t easily make back. I get it.
But, man, I still think the folks in South Stadium deserve better. And maybe one day, far, far in the future, those in South Stadium will finally get the amenities they deserve. (And are long overdue for.)
But that day — if it comes — is nowhere close to today.”
More to come, of course, as decisions are made and announced.
A much-needed track and field update
During that April appearance on Sports Nightly, Dannen also talked about making Nebraska’s track on Innovation Campus the No. 1 priority. He noted then that there was about a $9 million project that had yet to be finished and bids would go out to get that handled.
As of last week, Dannen reaffirmed that. The track facility will be completed as soon as possible and is expected to have 2,500 permanent seats. This is particularly important to complete because the Huskers will host the Big Ten outdoor track and field meet in 2026.
Speaking of track and field . . .
This past weekend was the Nebraska high school state track and field meet at Burke High School in Omaha, Nebraska. Steve Marik of Rivals has a nice rundown of the Husker football recruit and targets and how they fared over the weekend.
The one I want to call attention here is to tight end Carter Nelson, who opted not to enroll early and instead finish his senior seasons of basketball and track. It paid off. He not only helped lead Ainsworth to state in basketball, he won the Class C boys long jump state title with a leap of 23-2.5 on Saturday.
Nebraska football has May off before returning to campus in early June. Nelson and the remaining members of the 2024 class who didn’t enroll early should arrive for summer conditioning around then. There are always exceptions, of course, but we should get the usual move-in video for those that arrive on campus in a couple of weeks.
Big Ten tourney time
The Big Ten Baseball Tournament is back in Omaha starting Tuesday. The tournament runs May 21-26 at Charles Schwab Field, home of the Creighton Bluejays and the College World Series.
Nebraska — who is the No. 2 seed in the tournament — faces Ohio State on Tuesday at 2 p.m. CT. The winner of Huskers-Buckeyes will face either No. 3 Indiana or No. 6 Purdue on Thursday at 2 p.m.. The losers will face off in an elimination game on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The full schedule for the tournament can be found here.
A super note
The Omaha Supernovas won the Pro Volleyball Federation Championship.2 A very exciting end to the first season for Omaha.
With that said, one thing I’ll be keeping an eye on this offseason is how League One Volleyball (LOVB) changes the game. Omaha already has a LOVB team announced, which will feature three former Huskers: outsider hitters Jordan Larson and Madi Kubik, and libero Justine Wong-Orantes.
ESPN also just secured the media rights agreements to air LOVB matches beginning January 2025.
My curiosity is on whether or not the PVF merges with LOVB, or if they operate independently.3 Should be interesting, but never a bad thing to see more opportunities for the sport of volleyball to grow.
Go Big Grad
Let’s go back to graduation to wrap things up. More specifically, Nebraska volleyball which graduated five athletes on Saturday. One of those athletes is outside hitter Merritt Beason, who made graduation gifts for her teammates.
The video was shared with me, and I’m now sharing it with you. Enjoy.
The Wi-Fi updates are expected to be completed by the start of the season this fall.
Did you know that the winning team receives $1 million? Not too shabby.
If it’s the latter, who plays where and when? Two professional teams in the same town would certainly make things interesting.
I have several thoughts on the changed direction for the renovation of Memorial Stadium. They may conflict with each other. This happens more than I'd care to admit. In no particular order:
1) per usual; the haves get more benefit and the have-nots bear more burden,
2) with the uncertainty about the future of the NCFL°, its probably a fiscally responsible path to choose,
3) I wish that there was as much interest in getting AAU certification back as there is in putting backs on the seats.
4) I'm terribly interested in what happens both with the seat fees, AND how it's handled. There is a LOT of risk of alienating the core fans that kept the sellout streak alive.
5) I have to believe that Southies will receive some modicum of largesse from the administration.
°National Collegiate Football League