Julian Assibey

A long-time NCAA Division I assistant with a track record of success around the country, Julian Assibey (pronounced ah-SEE-bay) completed his first season as an assistant at Nebraska by helping the Huskers to their most successful campaign in a decade.

The Big Red captured a first-round NCAA Tournament victory over Texas A&M after claiming a No. 6 seed in March Madness. The victory followed Nebraska's run to its first Big Ten Championship Game appearance since 2014.

The tough Huskers secured a win over Purdue before notching double-digit wins over NCAA Tournament-bound Michigan State and Maryland to set up a third showdown with No. 3 Iowa in the title game. The Huskers controlled the action in much of the contest and took the Hawkeyes to overtime before falling 94-89 in the championship. Despite the setback, the Huskers booked their second NCAA Tournament ticket in the past three seasons while making their fourth consecutive postseason tournament appearance.

Nebraska finished with a 23-12 overall record that included an 11-7 Big Ten mark to take fifth in the final conference regular-season standings. Nebraska's regular season was highlighted by an 82-79 win over then-No. 2 Iowa in front of a sellout crowd of more than 15,000 at Pinnacle Bank Arena (Feb. 11). The victory over the Hawkeyes matched the highest-ranked team the Huskers have ever defeated. It was one of five wins over NCAA Tournament teams the Huskers notched from Feb. 6 through the end of the season, as Nebraska went 9-4 down the stretch with road losses to No. 2 Ohio State and No. 12 Oregon State, along with a loss to No. 3 Iowa in Minneapolis. Nebraska's only other setback was a one-point loss at Illinois, which won the WBIT Championship.

During Nebraska's late-season surge, the Huskers completed a season sweep of NCAA Tournament-bound Michigan (Feb. 6) and their first-ever sweep of NCAA-bound Maryland (March 9) in the Big Ten Tournament. The Huskers also locked up a season sweep of NCAA Tournament-bound Michigan State (March 8), and a three-game season sweep of WNIT Great Eight participant Purdue (Feb. 17, March 7). The Big Red added a 19-point home win over WNIT semifinalist Minnesota (Feb. 24).

The Huskers finished No. 25 in the regular-season NET rankings with 17 of their 23 victories coming against postseason tournament qualifiers, including eight wins over NCAA Tournament teams, three over WBIT qualifiers and six over WNIT teams.

Nebraska's success in 2023-24 came despite losing projected starting guard Allison Weidner to a season-ending injury in mid-October, and an injury to returning starter and graduate guard Maddie Krull prior to the start of the season. Krull's injury not only kept her out of the first three games, it limited her contributions throughout the season. The Huskers also were hindered by an injury to reserve post Annika Stewart that limited her training and kept her out of the lineup for eight games early in the season.

Despite the challenges, Nebraska continued to improve throughout the season in large part to the consistency of first-team All-Big Ten center Alexis Markowski and the leadership of second-team All-Big Ten guard Jaz Shelley. Two of the top players at their positions in the country, Markowski and Shelley both claimed All-Big Ten honors for the third consecutive seasons before earning spots on the Big Ten All-Tournament Team.

Nebraska's most experienced players also got help from a pair of award-winning freshmen. Natalie Potts emerged as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year after capturing eight Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week awards during the season. She added honorable-mention All-Big Ten accolades from the conference media while being joined on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team by Logan Nissley.

In addition to the individual awards won by the Huskers, Nebraska's success also came out in the record book, including a school-record 292 threes while ranking second in school history with a plus-7.8 rebound margin. The 2023-24 Huskers also ranked fifth in NU history with 2,533 points, fourth in total rebounds (1,431) and third in assists (580).

Nebraska also continued to be one of the biggest draws in all of women's college basketball with an average home attendance of 6,088 to rank 15th in NCAA Division I. It marked the 14th consecutive season the Huskers have ranked in the top 25 nationally in average home attendance. Every game in the 2024 Big Ten Tournament drew more than 18,000 fans at the Target Center in Minneapolis, while NU's Big Ten Tournament Championship Game appearance attracted 4.77 million viewers on CBS - the highest TV ratings for a women's basketball game on the network in well over two decades.

Assibey came to Lincoln after spending three years as an assistant coach at Florida, where he helped the Gators to three consecutive postseason berths. In his first season (2020-21) in Gainesville, Assibey helped the Gators to their first postseason berth since a 2016 NCAA Tournament bid, and their first postseason victory since 2014. In 2021-22, Assibey helped guide the Gators to a 21-11 record and a trip to the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2022-23, Florida finished with a 19-15 overall record that included three wins to advance to the Postseason WNIT Great Eight.

Assibey went to Florida after spending four successful seasons (2016-20) at Montana State, where he helped the Bobcats to a pair of Big Sky regular-season titles and one conference tournament crown. In addition to his assistant coaching duties, Assibey served as the recruiting coordinator for the Bobcats, who produced nine all-conference honorees including a pair of Big Sky players of the year in his four seasons.

In 2019-20, Montana State produced one of the best seasons in school history, finishing with a 25-6 record that included a Big Sky regular-season title with a 19-1 mark. The Bobcats advanced to the Big Sky Tournament title game against Idaho, but the game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fallyn Freije was named the 2020 Big Sky Player of the Year. In Assibey's first year at Montana State (2016-17), the Bobcats rolled to Big Sky regular-season and tournament titles, led by league player of the year Peyton Ferris. The Bobcats earned an automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Tournament and finished the season with a 25-7 record that included a 15-3 Big Sky mark.

Assibey previously served the 2014-15 season as the video coordinator at Colorado, before advancing to a full-time assistant role for the Buffaloes in 2015-16. He returned to the state of Colorado after a pair of previous stops at Western Colorado (2010-11) and two years at Metro State Denver (2007-09).

Following his season at Western Colorado, Assibey traveled to Andover, Mass., where he spent three seasons as an assistant at Merrimack College. The Warriors posted a 12-game improvement in the win column from his first season (5-21) in 2011-12 to his second season (17-12) in 2012-13.

Born and raised in Ghana, West Africa, Assibey grew up in Downey, Calif., before earning four letters in men's basketball while also competing in track and field (long jump, triple jump, 4x100-meter relay) at William Penn in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He earned his bachelor's degree in sports administration and strength and conditioning in 2005. Following his two seasons as an assistant coach at Metro State Denver (2007-09), he spent one season on staff as an assistant coach at William Penn (2009-10). While coaching at Merrimack, Assibey completed his master's degree in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University in 2013.

Julian and his wife, Kaylee, have two sons, Malachi and Elijah.