Will Cooper is ready for the next step in his college basketball career.
The redshirt sophomore spoke with the media for the first time as a Husker on Thursday after transferring to Lincoln from Air Force a season ago. The Omaha native was relegated to assisting the Huskers’ historic 2025-26 season behind the scenes, using a redshirt season to participate solely on the scout team. Cooper noted that he’s ready to apply what he learned from his time on the bench to his next steps as a Husker.
Advertisement
“I think on scout team it is a more selfless mindset. You kind of have to step back and look at it as, I’m doing a role for a team,” Cooper said during his media session on Thursday. “I wasn’t necessarily super thrilled about it, but obviously as a baller I want to ball… it’s go time now.”
Cooper arrived in Lincoln in April 2025 after spending his first season of college basketball at Air Force. The freshman Falcon would come off the bench to average 5.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per game, while playing 15.1 minutes. After appearing in 21 contests, mainly in Mountain West Conference action, including four games in double figures, the 6-foot-7 Nebraska native elected to return closer to home after spending his prep days playing for Millard South.
Advertisement
Despite accepting a role to help prepare Nebraska’s starters for the ins and outs of a Sweet Sixteen season, Cooper maintained that he continued to adjust to his new environment at Nebraska and in the Big Ten Conference.
“When you get to be on a Big Ten team for the first time and get in the locker room, you learn so much from everything. From the scouting report to how guys like Sam [Hoiberg] and Rienk [Mast] carry themselves as leaders to just what travel days look like,” Cooper said. “You get your routines down, and it was huge for me to just get that experience of seeing the games, getting my routine, and having a whole year to kind of practice everything.”
Despite earning significant playing time in his first season of college basketball, Cooper was limited during his final high school years with injuries. He played in just 13 games during his final two seasons at Millard South. The different transitions in his basketball tenure so far have the redshirt sophomore itching for a new opportunity to showcase his skills on the floor in front of Husker fans.
Advertisement
“I think transferring from the redshirt mindset of getting the starters ready and going in to practice every day knowing you’re not going to play, compared to going in this summer… it’s just a flip that you have to switch,” Cooper said. “You’re going to practice every day to compete for minutes now.”
There are plenty of new openings for minutes on Nebraska basketball’s current new-look roster following the best finish in school history a season ago.
After graduating Hoiberg, Mast, and Jamarques Lawrence and losing other notable players such as Berke Büyüktuncel to the transfer portal, more minutes are up for grabs for fresh faces such as Cooper. Regardless of the internal competition for playing time in the upcoming season, the forward has kept his confidence in what he can provide for the next version of Husker basketball.
Advertisement
“That’s kind of what you sign up for at this level. You try to do your best every day, and coach [Hoiberg] is going to make his choice at the end of the day. You have to deal with those… this team’s super talented. Just knowing that [this is] a really talented team and the guys who earn those minutes are going to be out there,” Cooper said.
While the redshirt sophomore has been in a supportive role during his first year at Nebraska, Cooper has relied on a Cornhusker who has faced a similar experience to what the Omaha native is facing. Cale Jacobsen, the redshirt senior from Ashland, redshirted during his first season in Lincoln after joining the program as a walk-on. The following season, Jacobsen would play in 20 contests before growing his role into a key utility piece for Fred Hoiberg’s lineup. As a junior last season, Jacobsen played in all 35 contests while coming off the bench, playing double-figure minutes in 34 of the 35 games.
Although Nebraska basketball may be looking for more leadership to replace its 2026 stars, Jacobsen appears to be stepping into that role with ease for Cooper.
Advertisement
“Cale’s been huge for me. He’s right by me every day. Having his voice in my ear all year is huge for me. He got me through the tough days on scout team. He can relate to it as best as anybody. He’s just a great leader,” Cooper said.
Jacobsen returns as one of the key pieces of the Nebraska basketball roster that aims to repeat the Huskers’ successes from the 2025-26 season, which finished with two NCAA Tournament wins and a Sweet Sixteen finish. The redshirt senior returns with stars Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager to lead the team, but has eight newcomers to the roster that are still in the early stages of coming together.
“I love the group,” coach Fred Hoiberg said during his media appearance earlier this week. “I love how they come in and work … Already you can see the chemistry that they’re developing. And now, as we transition into live play, now it’s about cleaning things up and learning and taking steps in the right direction and growing as a group.”
