ROSEMONT, Ill. — Newcomers made a significant impact for the Nebraska women’s basketball team during the 2023-24 season, and although Amy Williams returns a lot, there’s plenty of opportunity to crack the lineup again in 2024-25.
Williams went light in the portal, adding just one newcomer from another college in Florida transfer Alberte Rimdal. The rest of the 2024 signing class consists of in-state phenom Britt Prince, small-town Illinois standout Amiah Hargrove, Croatian forward Petra Bozan and small but scrappy point guard Kennadi Williams, daughter of the head coach.
Prince is the headliner. The 5-foot-11 five-star guard from Elkhorn North received offers from many of the best programs in the country before choosing the Huskers. Prince averaged 27.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.9 steals while shooting 57% from the field, 42% from 3 and 86% from the free-throw line as a senior. She was a two-time Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year who led the Wolves to four straight Class B state championships and finished second all-time in career scoring in Nebraska.
Williams shared her expectations for her star freshman at Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday.
“My expectations for Britt are that she’s going to come in and play hard, she’s going to be a great teammate, she’s going to find a way to impact the game and make everybody else around her better, and we’re already seeing that on a daily basis,” Coach Williams said at Big Ten Media Days. “She’s working really, really hard to improve, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. But offensively, we just see flashes — she’s an outstanding passer, she makes good decisions, she instinctively has a good handle.
“My expectations for her are to just come, work hard every day, keep being one of the hardest-working players on the court, use your IQ, impact the game in a positive way by being competitive. She wants to win, and she’s done a lot of it, so I think she’ll bring that to the table as well.”
Prince has received plenty of hype — for good reason — but Alexis Markowski doesn’t want fans to sleep on Nebraska’s other backcourt addition.
“I think everyone is ready for Britt Prince to come in and have an impact already, and she will, but I think our transfer, Alberte Rimdal, is really good and I think she’s very overlooked right now,” Markowski. “She’s a senior and she played in the SEC, so she has that experience coming in, so she will be a great addition.”
A native of Koge, Denmark, Rimdal spent three seasons at Florida, starting 50 of her 64 games over the past two years. She shot 33.7% on over 300 3-point attempts as a Gator, which included a 38.2% mark her sophomore season. Williams spoke glowingly of the 5-foot-9 guard on Wednesday.
“She’s so good,” Williams said. “We love Bertie. Bertie is kind of what we call her for short. She has three years of playing in the SEC experience, so the game’s not too fast for her. She’s been there, she’s seen it, she’s going to sit down and guard, she plays really hard, and that fits our style of play. She can really shoot it and she’s a pretty high-IQ basketball player, makes good decisions off the dribble.
“But her shooting prowess has been really welcomed in our program and she’s a great teammate. She comes to practice every day with great energy, great focus. She had her wisdom teeth out and was in the gym the same day. She just is really passionate about wanting to be the best player that she can be to help our team be the best team we can be.”
While Prince’s eye-popping stats drew plenty of attention locally, Hargrove also stuffed the stat sheet to an extreme degree at Christopher High School in Illinois. The 6-foot-2 forward put up 28.7 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 1.9 assists as a senior and is already turning heads in practice.
“I just couldn’t wait to be able to talk about her,” Williams said. “She is such an exciting player. She’s strong, really strong and explosive and has great skill, and so in that forward position to really provide kind of a different look. She has not shied away from contact; sometimes she puts that shoulder into our male practice players, and they feel her. I just think that’s a unique thing sometimes for freshmen to come in and already be craving that physicality and not shying away from it.
“What an awesome teammate; she’s already just like ‘What do you need me to do? If you just want me to go get an offensive rebound…’ She’s hungry to learn, there’s a smile on her face every day — the epitome of what we want in a Husker women’s basketball player. She’s it and I’m just so excited to have her for the next four years.”
Hargrove played her grassroots basketball for Bradley Beal Elite out of St Louis, about 100 miles to the southeast of her hometown of Christopher, which boasts a population of under 2,700. Williams said she’s still learning how to play proper defense because she was athletic enough to let her opponent go by and still block the shot from behind at the 1A level in Illinois.
“I think what’s so great about Amiah is she’s from such a small town and she’s used to just doing everything,” Markowski said. “She was president of student council, she did all the sports, just involved with everything, and adding that to your program just makes everyone around you so much better. Having a player like that who’s very involved and very social and really can connect with people has been great.”
One member of the program who hasn’t been surprised by what Hargrove brings to the table is sophomore forward Natalie Potts, who hails from St. Louis herself.
“She’s been killing it this preseason,” Potts said. “She brings rebounding to the table; her rebounding is unreal. But she also finishes tough shots as well. I think she’ll be a really good, versatile player, and I grew up playing against her, so we kind of had a little rivalry between our two clubs. It’s good being on the same side as her.”
Bozan was the final piece of recruiting class. Nebraska announced her signing on the first day of classes (Aug. 26), one day after her arrival in Lincoln. The 6-foot-3 post player from Split, Croatia, averaged 16.1 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 assists in leading Croatia at the FIBA U18 Women’s Eurobasket in Portugal a couple weeks prior to joining the Husker program.
Williams said she’s been going through a huge transition, acclimating to life in another country in addition to all the typical challenges a freshman in college faces, but she’s progressing rapidly.
“The recruiting process was late, so she didn’t get the summer training that the rest of our team did,” Williams said. “But for someone who arrived on campus the day before school started, her transition has been really remarkable. Her English is remarkably good and just for her to be able to pick up the terminology and she’s learning very quickly. Her teammates have done a good job of saying ‘Hey, I’ll meet you before practice tomorrow and we can run through some of the actions that she wasn’t here for this summer.’ She’s just learning and picking things up. I think as she’s translating in her mind, we’re asking a little more communication from her.”
Fans won’t see Kennedi Williams on the court this season as she plans to redshirt while recovering from an injury, but players and coaches alike are thrilled to have her officially become part of the team after the 5-foot-4 Lincoln Southwest alumna grew up around her mother’s program.
“She hasn’t been active in practice with these guys, but she’s there every day, she’s standing on the sideline,” Amy Williams said. “I feel like I can hear her voice saying things that are just what was about to come out of my mouth. When Kennadi was 7 years old, I was watching film and she’s like ‘Huh, why’d they switch to zone defense?’ And I knew that she was a little unique and she looks at the game differently than most 7-year-olds did, but also just most young women.
“It’s just nice to have that IQ over there on the sideline and I’m going to really enjoy this experience with her. She’s always played for my husband and he’s always helped coach her teams, and I think he’s going through a little bit of withdrawals, but I’m really looking forward to it.”
Though the younger Williams hasn’t hit the court yet, Markowski said she’s handled the transition to college well.
“She fits in so well with everyone and has known everyone for so long,” Markowski said. “She’s just a really sweet soul and has a lot of energy, just like her mom … She’s always kind of felt like our team’s little sister, and now that she’s part of the program, it’s been a different dynamic, but she does it so well. I feel like most people wouldn’t be able to handle it as well as her, but she balances it really well with her mom being the coach and being part of the team.”
The good news for Ronda Revelle is Williams is expected to be at full health for the spring and plans to play softball during the 2025 season as she committed to Nebraska as a dual-sport athlete.
Markowski and Potts both played significant roles during their freshman years at Nebraska. Off the court, Potts said her biggest challenge was time management as a student-athlete. On the court, Markowski said learning to play defense can be difficult for young players as they try to hang with bigger, stronger, more athletic and more experienced competition. The All-Big Ten center’s advice for the freshmen was simple: lean on your teammates.
“I think it’s OK to ask for help,” Markowski said. “I think as a freshman, you want to figure it all out on your own., but if it’s school or basketball, you always have a team that has your back. It’s OK to make mistakes and learning from them, I think, is the best advice I can give for an incoming freshman.”
