In the latest episode of Half-Court Press, Wilson Moore and Jon Walker discuss the latest Nebraska and Creighton transfer portal news, as well as the schedule announcement for the next NU-CU basketball game.
Nebraska’s lengthy pursuit of more size and muscle culminated in a commitment Tuesday. Braxton Meah, a 7-foot-1 center who played at Washington for two seasons, announced plans to spend his last year of college at NU.
In Meah, Nebraska adds a handful of skills it lacked a season ago. Meah was in the top 200 in the country with a 5% block percentage last year and joins a team that didn’t have a true rim protector. He’s also an above average offensive and defensive rebounder. Bigger, more physical teams hurt the Huskers on the glass in 2023-24, notably Illinois and Texas A&M in back-to-back games that bounced NU from the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.
Meah, if nothing else, adds toughness and mitigates opponents’ abilities to thrash Nebraska under the rim. He isn’t as technically skilled as Rienk Mast or Andrew Morgan, but he’s athletic, a quality defensive presence and can finish near the basket.
At Washington, Meah averaged just under 17 minutes per game and shot 77% from the floor while taking only 2-pointers. In a halfcourt offense, he’s a constant lob threat capable of scoring in the pick-and-roll. He has limited range and little finesse within his game and shot 49.3% from the free throw line.
He’s the tallest Husker since Sergej Vucetic, also 7-1, spent two seasons on the roster and saw the floor sparingly from 2012 to 2014. Meah averaged 5.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game last year as his playing time increased throughout conference play.
His season high was 19 points late in the season against former and future conference opponent UCLA. Two games earlier, he had 13 points and 14 rebounds against Arizona State, his last of three double-doubles.
Meah is from Layton, Utah, spent his last two years of high school in Fresno, California and began his college career at Fresno State, transferring to Washington after his sophomore season. He averaged 2.5 points and 2.2 rebounds per game for the Bulldogs, appearing in 55 contests.
Nebraska’s roster is almost set for the 2024-25 season. Meah is the second big man and fifth transfer to commit to NU in the past month, following Morgan, Rollie Worster, Gavin Griffiths and Connor Essegian. The Huskers have two scholarships remaining, but it’s not a guarantee they’ll fill both spots. Nebraska had an open scholarship until August last year, when it added Jarron Coleman amid the fallout of Ahron Ulis’s gambling-related charges in Iowa.
Photos: Our favorite photos from the 2023-24 Nebraska men's basketball season