LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — It's too early to tell where the Nebraska men's basketball team will end up, but Fred Hoiberg and two of his sons sure are enjoying the ride.
The Cornhuskers are 17-0, have the nation's longest winning streak at 21 games and, at No. 8, the program's highest ranking in 60 years.
Talk about family fun.
Hoiberg's son Sam has evolved from a walk-on practice player to one of the Big Ten's most versatile guards.
Sam's identical twin, Charlie, is in his first year as a graduate manager who, among other things, helps run practices, puts players through individual workouts and produces analytics reports for the staff.
“We’re living our dreams right now," Sam said. "It’s tough to really reflect at midseason because we have so many things to improve on and so many goals to reach, but it has been an amazing experience up to this point.”
There are 20 Division I men's teams whose head coach has at least one son playing for him this season, according to NCAA research.
North Texas first-year coach Daniyal Robinson and his son Reece began their journey at Cleveland State last season.
“In my mind, there's no cons,” Daniyal said. “Whether he has a great performance on the court or he doesn't have a great game, man, that is minute compared to the day to day, being able to spend quality time with him and be there with him where we're working together to go through whatever adversity we have. And then also share the great moments.”
One of those moments happened late in a November game against Eastern Washington when Reece hit a 3-pointer, had a tip-in and made two free throws with nine seconds left to force overtime. UNT won 79-71, and Daniyal said he felt pure joy because his son's performance loomed so large.
“I just remember seeing how proud my dad was after I hit those free throws,” Reece said. “I talked to him in his office after the game, and it made me emotional."
At North Carolina, senior reserve Elijah Davis got his big moment with his father, Hubert Davis, in a December blowout of East Carolina. With about 30 seconds left, he launched a 3-pointer from in front of the UNC bench with his dad standing nearby on the sideline.
The shot caught all net for his first points with the Tar Heels, and the starters on the bench went wild.
“I’m the head coach, so I try to be head coach and not Dad,” Hubert Davis said, pausing multiple times to control his emotions. “That was a really awesome, cool moment.”
The Hoibergs are the consummate basketball family. Fred was a star player for Iowa State and had a successful run as the Cyclones' coach. Another son, Jack, was a walk-on at Michigan State and now is a video analyst for the San Antonio Spurs. Fred and Carol Hoiberg's oldest child, daughter Paige, works in medical device sales in Chicago.
Sam and Charlie played high school ball together at Lincoln Pius X. From there, Charlie went to TCU to be a regular student, but Sam wanted to keep playing. Sam didn't draw much recruiting interest, and he walked on at Nebraska with the idea he would develop his game against better players and look for opportunities to transfer to a lower-level Division I program after a couple of years.
A rash of injuries put Sam in position to play significant minutes starting in the second half of the 2022-23 season, and he has started 32 of the last 33 games. He is fourth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (5.25 to 1) and tied for first in the Big Ten in steals (35).
Charlie was a TCU student manager for two seasons, interned for his dad in the summer of 2024 and returned in June as a graduate manager, a position designed for aspiring coaches.
“It’s been a lot of fun having Charlie part of the program,” Fred said. “He’s been really good for Sam. They share the same DNA, so he has a way of being able to get in his head probably better than I can as a coach and father just because those guys shared a womb together."
Charlie has helped Sam build and maintain confidence, particularly as an offensive player. Sam has doubled his scoring average, to 8.2 points per game, and his shooting accuracy has gone from 43% to 53%.
“He's seen me when I’ve been shooting at the highest level, and he's seen me when I was the leading scorer on teams and making plays, and he’s there to remind me of that,” Sam said of Charlie. "I work out with him every day, he helps me get the reps and he reminds me a lot about the best I’ve played, and that gives me confidence.”
Fred, like Sam, said he hasn't had time to fully savor the experience of having family with him on the team but knows he will when things slow down. Charlie, on the other hand, is soaking it up.
“I’ve taken my moments to sit back and say, ‘Yes, this is great,’ “ he said. "I’m having a great time on top of being with my dad and brother, which is why I wanted to come here in the first place. I get to be with them every single day. I get to go have dinner at my parents' house with my mom. Life’s great right now.”
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AP Sports Writer Aaron Beard in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
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