Nebraska men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg may owe a debt to a member of Matt Rhule’s Cornhusker football team.
Running back Emmett Johnson and St. Thomas transfer wing Kendall Blue both grew up in Minnesota, and Johnson helped recruit Blue to play for the Huskers once he entered the portal.
“He was always telling me, ‘Just to look at Nebraska,’” Blue said. “The fan base here, the culture here, is really strong; everybody wants to see you succeed. When I entered my name in the portal, he was the first one to tell me, ‘Nebraska, they want you, you’ve got to look at it.’ I took his word for it and so far I’m loving it here. So shout out to my guy Emmett on a good season this upcoming year.”
Blue hails from Woodbury, Minnesota, and chose to stay in-state and play for St. Thomas in St. Paul. He spent three seasons there before transferring to Nebraska in April. The 6-foot-6, 190-pound guard is an excellent shooter with over 1,000 career points with the Tommies. Brice Williams’ departure leaves a big scoring void in the Husker lineup, and Blue shares some similarities to the former Husker when he transferred from Charlotte in 2023.
Hoiberg said that Blue’s height, skill, and adaptability caught the eye of the Husker staff.
“Kendall is someone we targeted because of his combination of length, versatility, and experience,” Hoiberg said in a release after Blue signed. “He’s a high-IQ player who does a lot of things well, whether it is spacing the floor with his shooting or initiating offense. Defensively, he has good instincts and the size to guard multiple positions. Kendall started the past three seasons at St. Thomas and expanded his role each season.”
Before joining the Huskers, Blue played in the Summit league with the Tommies. Now he will compete in the Big Ten. He said that he needs increase his power and speed and build his team’s confidence in him to make the adjustment.
“Definitely my strength,” Blue said. “There are lot of bigger guards, a lot of bigger forwards, just a bigger team in general, bigger conference. The pace of the game for sure, so my agility, my quickness. And being able to guard one through three, one through four, and just being able to shoot the ball and make open shots. I’m hoping in having my teammates trust in me, and having my coaches trust in me as well. It’s a pretty big jump.”
Blue brings a lot to the team including great ball handling skills and the ability to create close relationships with his teammates. He said that he’s adjusted well.
“I just think I pass really well,” Blue said. “I can handle the ball, and I can shoot the ball, but I’m always looking for my teammates to get buckets and score. Just looking for ways to impact winning. I think our offense is really kind of like the Indiana Pacers. Just flowing through it, just a bunch of options out of each set, and just play from there. It’s more so player-led than coach-led.”
According to Blue, the practices have gone well so far, due to the team creating a strong bond and competing every day.
“Our practices are pretty competitive,” he said. “Guys are crashing hard and shooting the ball, just making that extra play. Just to get that camaraderie in practice will go a long way throughout the season, especially end games and scrimmages or whatever we have. So we’re a real competitive group and we just want to win.”
Going into the 2025-26 season, the Huskers look to have a very deep roster, unlike past Nebraska teams. Blue believes that their experience will help them this year.
“Just being able to shoot the ball and having multiple scorers out there and unselfish guys,” Blue said. “Everybody on this team wants to win and do the unthinkable, so I think we’re making progress towards doing that.”
What is the unthinkable? According to Blue, it’s winning more games than the program has ever won before.
“Win every game possible (is the goal),” Blue said. “We don’t know if there’s a fifth year for me, so this is my last season. So I’m approaching this season differently, as if it’s my last season. I want to take advantage of every practice, every drill that we do, every game we play, every possession we have like it’s our last, just hopefully to win every game this season.”
