2008 Woodie Awards
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Dagunduro a possible double threat for NU basketball
Jonathan Crowl
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Sports
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He's proven himself as a force on the offensive end. But Nebraska Coach Doc Sadler thinks Ade Dagunduro could be just as big on defense.
Only one game into his first season at Nebraska, Dagunduro is earning a reputation as a spark plug on a Cornhusker team that seems to struggle from complacency and a lack of motivation. In two exhibition games and the regular season opener, Dagunduro has scored 13, 16 and 11 points, respectively, emerging as one of NU's most consistent scoring threats.
For the transfer from Antelope Valley Community College (Inglewood, Calif.), scoring is no new thing. He led his former team in scoring last season with 18.2 points per game. To take his talent to the next level, though, Dagunduro will need to shore up his game at the other end of the court.
"I think, first of all, he has to get a lot better defensively," Sadler said. "He's a guy that could be that defensive stopper, but he's not that right now. As I told him during the game and even after the game, he has to be a guy that doesn't float in and out."
Floating in and out may be as much a symptom of the team's shortcoming as it is Dagunduro. All three of Nebraska's wins have come in spite of sluggish stretches of play against subpar competition.
But the potential for Dagunduro is there. The 6-foot-5 guard has long arms that helped him lead Antelope Valley in rebounds (8.8 per game) and steals (86). Those numbers drew interest from NCAA Tournament regulars like Southern California and UNLV.
Dagunduro's decision to sign with the Huskers followed suit with his older brother, Ola, who also came to Nebraska as a junior college transfer to play on the football team's defensive line.
More importantly, and perhaps a rarer find among young basketball players, Ade Dagunduro is not concerned with being the high-points man on offense, even if he is one of the Huskers' top scorers. He sees himself in the same mold as Sadler does.
"Playing in the Big 12 (Conference), there are a lot of superstar guards out there," Dagunduro said. "I take pride in defense, and Coach believes I have the ability. I do, too, but right now it's not where it needs to be, so I've got to improve to be able to become that shutdown defender."
Only one game into his first season at Nebraska, Dagunduro is earning a reputation as a spark plug on a Cornhusker team that seems to struggle from complacency and a lack of motivation. In two exhibition games and the regular season opener, Dagunduro has scored 13, 16 and 11 points, respectively, emerging as one of NU's most consistent scoring threats.
For the transfer from Antelope Valley Community College (Inglewood, Calif.), scoring is no new thing. He led his former team in scoring last season with 18.2 points per game. To take his talent to the next level, though, Dagunduro will need to shore up his game at the other end of the court.
"I think, first of all, he has to get a lot better defensively," Sadler said. "He's a guy that could be that defensive stopper, but he's not that right now. As I told him during the game and even after the game, he has to be a guy that doesn't float in and out."
Floating in and out may be as much a symptom of the team's shortcoming as it is Dagunduro. All three of Nebraska's wins have come in spite of sluggish stretches of play against subpar competition.
But the potential for Dagunduro is there. The 6-foot-5 guard has long arms that helped him lead Antelope Valley in rebounds (8.8 per game) and steals (86). Those numbers drew interest from NCAA Tournament regulars like Southern California and UNLV.
Dagunduro's decision to sign with the Huskers followed suit with his older brother, Ola, who also came to Nebraska as a junior college transfer to play on the football team's defensive line.
More importantly, and perhaps a rarer find among young basketball players, Ade Dagunduro is not concerned with being the high-points man on offense, even if he is one of the Huskers' top scorers. He sees himself in the same mold as Sadler does.
"Playing in the Big 12 (Conference), there are a lot of superstar guards out there," Dagunduro said. "I take pride in defense, and Coach believes I have the ability. I do, too, but right now it's not where it needs to be, so I've got to improve to be able to become that shutdown defender."
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