Myles Holley brings confidence to Husker basketball

Myles Holley isn’t used to Nebraska basketball, so bare with him when he talks about how he came here to win.

However, he joins a Cornhusker team picked to finish 11th in the Big 12 Conference by a preseason media poll.

“That’s just paper,” Holley said. “That doesn’t mean anything; it’s just paper. We’ve got a lot to prove because we are a young team and people don’t know about us. But other teams put on their shorts just like we put on our shorts, and they put on their shoes just like we put on ours. No different.”

Holley isn’t trying to disrespect any other teams in the Big 12. He knows what the competition holds when conference play starts in January – even if he’s never experienced it.

“It’s a very, very tough conference,” Holley said. “It’s been one of the top conferences in the NCAA.”

He’s also not worried about him or his game transitioning to Division I basketball.

“The only adjustment I can see is speed wise, but I can still get above the rim,” Holley said.

If Holley brings nothing else to Nebraska from Norfolk, Va., he’s already brought more confidence than some entire Husker teams have had in the past.

Holley said he gained that confidence in high school. His game plan has always been the same: He wants to “lock up his man on defense then kill him on offense.”

His personal scouting report reads like this: mid-range jumper, good rebounder, hard-worker and when he has the ball, don’t give him a centimeter.

“If I get a centimeter, I’m going to dunk on people,” Holley said. “I play above the rim.”

Senior forward Ryan Anderson said Holley’s confidence is infectious.

“I just love his attitude for the game,” Anderson said. “It’s one thing to have the ability, but it’s another to have the right mentality to have it and apply it.”

Anderson said Holley will bring a lot to this Husker team.

“He’s high energy and high flyer that’s brought another dimension to our team,” Anderson said. “That’s going to help our basketball team reach our goals.”

Holley has already wowed Anderson with an array of dunks, but it was one simple drill in practice that floored the senior.

“We were doing a drill, and he was drop-step dunking,” Anderson said. “I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ He’s got so much athleticism it’s crazy.”

NU head coach Doc Sadler said in a preseason press conference that Holley is as explosive as any player he’s seen in college basketball. But that doesn’t mean that Sadler expects him to take over the Big 12.

“He’s a guy that has a lot to learn,” Sadler said. “In time, he’ll be a player that can athletically fit in this league.”

Sadler said he doesn’t think Holley knows what it means to be a hard worker yet.

“He’s not anywhere close to where he needs to be,” Sadler said. “But he is getting closer. It’s just something he needs to be working on.”

Sadler has earned a reputation of running his teams ragged, but Holley’s not scared of his coach’s conditioning methods.

“In high school, I had to run eight miles for preseason conditioning,” Holley said. “My conditioning has always been a nightmare.”

michaelschaefer@dailynebraskan.com