While the Nebraska men’s basketball team had a historic 2025-2026 season, Kendall Blue spent his nights questioning himself and his basketball abilities.
Blue transferred to Nebraska in 2025 after spending three seasons at St. Thomas, where he was “the man.”
The senior guard played and started in nearly every game in his Tommies career. A harsh reality hit at Nebraska where he found himself playing limited minutes and eventually practicing with the scout team.
“It was pretty challenging and tough just not being able to play as much as I want, coming from being the man at St. Thomas,” Blue told Hail Varsity. “It was just super hard for me, some nights just questioning myself of if I belong here or not.”
As a junior, Blue played in and started every game for St. Thomas, averaging 12.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting 51% from the field, and 41.7% from deep.
Blue played just 66 minutes for the Huskers as a senior, scoring 13 points in 19 appearances. Nebraska started 20-0 before eventually finishing 28-7, winning its first NCAA Tournament game and advancing to the Sweet 16.
However, the lack of playing time for Blue was affecting him in ways he hadn’t experienced before.
“It was just hard for me playing minimum minutes, just not being used to that,” Blue said. “It was just like ‘How do I get to where I want to be, how do I play the minutes that I want to play even though the team is doing really good?’
“So just trying to think of ways to overcome the situation led to some overthinking, and then some negative thoughts appeared.”
The Huskers stuck with the same rotations for most of the season and Blue asked the coaches about his court time near the end of the year.
“When things were set, I would ask them like, ‘Why am I not playing, or what am I doing wrong?’” Blue said. “They were just telling me it’s nothing I did wrong, like I did all the right things. I was being aggressive in practice, showing up every day, being consistent, working my butt off, but it was just one of those moments where it’s like we just got off to a good start and kept sticking with what works.
“From a coach’s standpoint I understand that, but at the same time, in my head I’m just like ‘OK, why am I here then?’”
Rather than having limited opportunities in practice as well, Blue asked to join the scout team to play against the starters near the end of the season.
Blue wanted to better help the team prepare for the NCAA Tournament as well as get more reps for himself.
“I had a chip on my shoulder because obviously I want to prove to the coaches none of these guys can mess with me,” Blue said. “I’m here for a reason, like you must have forgot who I am. That was kind of my mentality just going on the scout team.
“Not in a selfish way, but just like I’m here too, I can do this too. I feel like that carried over all to the practices, and just practices got more intense and stuff like that. Everybody kind of commended me for it. I just think it helped the team down the stretch late in the season.”
The guard said he leaned on his coaches, teammates, friends and family while using his love of the game as motivation.
“Not once in my mind was I going to give up on the team, because they had my back throughout this whole process,” Blue said. “They understand what I was going through, and not to say they can relate to me — they haven’t been in my shoes — but they were understanding where I’m coming from and how I felt towards it.”
After Nebraska lost to Iowa in the Sweet 16, the team held a players-only meeting. Blue said that his teammates shared their respect for him and respected him for what he sacrificed.
Shortly after in the postgame locker room talk, Fred Hoiberg brought up Blue’s name first when speaking about the senior group.
Heads held high. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/0L8Y9SzegU
— Nebraska Men's Basketball (@HuskerMBB) March 30, 2026
“[Hoiberg] is a great coach, he’s a great person,” Blue said. “Me and him have a close bond, but when he said that in the locker room, all the emotions just broke loose.
“It was just super emotional for me, just being my last college game and not having the season that I wanted personally. I have the utmost respect for Fred, and I’m pretty sure it’s vice versa.”
Blue said he’s learned a lot about himself throughout the season, gaining knowledge that he can use in the future.
“I learned a lot about patience, and I learned a lot about what you have to sacrifice if you want to be great,” Blue said. “At the same time, a closed mouth doesn’t get fed. You have to go get what you want.
“I think I learned that a little bit too late in the season, but I see life a lot differently. I have a different perspective on life now, so my mindset and my mental is straight. I know how the real world works now.”
With his college career complete, Blue plans to move back home to work out with his trainer in Minnesota and work with his agent for opportunities to pursue pro basketball in the U.S. or overseas.
