NU Notes: Cheatham 'Made Best Decision Ever'

Wins have been sparse. The lone path to postseason play is daunting, to say the least. Yet to hear Haanif Cheatham talk about his only season with the Nebraska men's basketball team, you'd think the Huskers were in year four of the Fred Hoiberg era, not laying the foundation for his rebuilding project.
 
Yes, the end is near for Cheatham, a senior graduate transfer who will play his final two home games Thursday and Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The first player to commit to Hoiberg's initial team said he's given much thought to the past nine months, a period that seems much longer to Cheatham, and in a good way.
 
"Honestly, I made the best decision ever, playing with this team, playing with the coaching staff, playing in front of the fans at PBA," Cheatham said. "It's been an amazing time, an amazing experience. I know I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
 
"Honestly, I wish I could be here for all four or five years. I think it's been a great time. I loved it here. Like I said, I made the best decision I ever made. I've enjoyed it."
 
Cheatham, a native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has provided a young, overturned roster with much needed leadership and experience after having previously played at both Marquette and Florida Gulf Coast. He remembers arriving on campus last spring, joining an initial roster of 14 newcomers.
 
"It was really different," Cheatham said. "At first, guys, we probably weren't really talking in the locker room. We were probably were bumping heads a little bit. But now, everybody's together, everybody's laughing. We're always together. It's been a big change. It's crazy, how you can see the big changes."
 
Cheatham has been among Nebraska's most consistent offensive threats, as he leads the Huskers in scoring (12.5 points per game) and field goal percentage (.484) and ranks third in assists. He has been in double figures a team-high 20 times, with three 20-point contests.
 
More recently, Cheatham has been averaging 13.9 points per game on 50 percent shooting, including 37 percent from 3-point range, over the Huskers' last seven games.
 
"I'm really happy for Haanif," Hoiberg said. "I think he's playing his best basketball of the season right now. He's been the rock for this team, as far as his leadership. He's taken pride in that role, trying to show the younger guys the right way to work.
 
"When you come, especially with one year left to play as a grad transfer, a lot of times you worry about what is going to happen to your future. That's human nature to do that. But Haanif has really taken pride in a leadership role, and I think he's helped our young guys along early in their careers."
 
Cheatham has encouraged his teammates to continue to fight and work hard, no matter the obstacle. That's played out on the court several times throughout the season, as the Huskers have battled back from deficits of at least 13 points to either close within one possession or take the lead in games at Northwestern, at Rutgers and at Maryland. They also whittled a 17-point Wisconsin lead to five in the second half, and fell to Indiana in overtime, with both of those games on the road.
 
"We got a little more tough, had a lot of adversity, but we overcame it and continued to fight through it," Cheatham said, "and I think that's going to be the foundation for years to come with this team."
 
And yes, Cheatham intends to keep tabs on the Huskers over the next few seasons, knowing he and fellow senior graduate transfer Matej Kavas, whose season was cut short because of a hand injury, helped set the tone.
 
"Seeing this team grow for next year and years on, it's going to be a great thing to see, from the worst end of it, just to see it grow and just see it get better," Cheatham said. "It's going to be a great feeling. I know I can call any of the coaches here and just say, 'Man, I told you guys, I knew you guys were going to be this good.' Just see it grow and grow and get better and better."


 
Ouedraogo Making Strides
 
As the calendar flips to March and the final month of the season, Nebraska can say it still has a 17-year-old freshman. Yvan Ouedraogo, who belies his age with his physique, will turn 18 on March 22.
 
He's not waiting until then to show improvement in his game, though. After enduring a rough stretch for any freshman center in the Big Ten Conference, let alone one who's 17, Ouedraogo has recently been showing more confidence while holding his own down low and finishing better at the rim.
 
"The thing he's doing a much better job of is gathering himself going up off balance and finishing at a much higher clip," Hoiberg said. "You can see the growth in him. His free-throw stroke is looking better. And he's battling some of the biggest players in the country.
 
"The thing I've really liked about Yvan with his growth is how much more confidence he's playing with. He's got himself in very good shape as well, and I think he's got a very bright future."
 
Over his last four games, Ouedraogo has been averaging nine points, on 62 percent shooting, and 7.7 rebounds. Before that stretch, he'd been averaging 5.4 points, on 40 percent shooting, and six rebounds. He's also only the fourth freshman in school history with multiple double-double performances as a freshman, joining Ron Taylor, Andre Smith and Aleks Maric.
 
"He's got the size and physicality to be able to battle those guys and push them out to where they can't get deep post position on us and go up and score before the double team gets there," Hoiberg said. "We're challenging him to play more one-on-one in the post, and I think he's done a good job with it.
 
"He's continuing to work on his perimeter skills. He hasn't shown that much, but he's gotten a lot better in that area with his shooting touch and that type of thing. I just think as time goes on, because of the amount of time he likes to spend in the gym and the work ethic that he has, I think he'll continue to grow as a player."
 
Hoiberg commended Ouedraogo for weathering a difficult stretch personally on the court. He's also eager for the freshman to spend his first offseason with the program, after he'd played for his native country France last summer on an 18-under team. Continuing to work on finishes and touch around the rim, finishing with his left hand and setting better screens are on the summer to-do list.
 
"It's going to be a big summer for Yvan," Hoiberg said, "in taking his game to that next level."


 
Huskers Staying Even Keel
 
The Nebraska baseball team has not only held the lead in each of the six games it's played this young season, the Huskers have scored first in every game. More often than not, that spells victory.
 
Yet first-year coach Will Bolt is left explaining his teams' 1-5 start heading into a weekend series at No. 12 Arizona State (6-3). His solution: Stay positive, keep scoring first.
 
"Odds are in our favor," Bolt said. "If we can continue to get ahead early, statistics say you're going to win 75 percent of the time when you score first."
 
Bolt knows why his team hasn't thus far.
 
"Part of that comes from pushing the right button with the bullpen and the guys that come out of the bullpen getting stops for us" Bolt said, "and kind of helping create the momentum late in innings. That's kind of where we've struggled."
 
Bolt has seen encouraging signs, noting a strong inning from Paul Tillotson, who's coming back from injury, a couple of solid outings from Kyle Perry and a strong bounce-back Sunday performance from Max Schreiber.
 
Sophomore infielder Spencer Schwellenbach, one of four Huskers to reach base in every game, said an encouraging, positive coaching staff has helped players maintain a strong mindset that he said will be even better this weekend.
 
"There's no panic button at all," Schwellenbach said. "Losing a tough game Friday night, that's a real heartbreaker, going up 7-0 and then blowing the lead, but we came out Saturday and Sunday with a good mindset. We weren't feeling sorry for ourselves.
 
"We're one play away in every single game from being 6-0. From my perspective, I'd say we're just as good, or even better than the teams that we have lost to. I think the confidence level is high in all of our guys, because I know our coaches think we can do it, our players know we can do it.

"Instead of the coaching staff being mad at us for blowing leads or losing these close games, they tell us after every single game they believe in us. They have the most confidence in us. Just hearing that from them, it makes us believe we can get through this tough time and come back next weekend and do better."
 
Precision Key For Povich
 
Junior college transfer Cade Povich boasts a 15.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio that leads the Big Ten Conference. The third starter in the Huskers' weekend rotation, Povich has a team-high 15 strikeouts and has allowed only one walk.
 
After pitching in a wooden bat league in junior college, Povich is realizing the adjustments he must make on the Division I level with aluminum bats.
 
"Definitely have to be a lot more precise," Povich said. "Stuff has to be good. You have to come with everything every single day."
 
Povich has been throwing his fastball, changeup and curve ball, but hasn't felt comfortable enough yet with his slider. He felt good in Sunday's start against Arizona, but lamented two pitches he left up high.
 
"As far as Sunday against Arizona, I take responsibility for that," Povich said. "We put up two runs. I made two mistakes and gave them the lead. Those two pitches, put up three runs. So that's on me. Two runs should've been enough to get that win."
 
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.