Nebraska’s summer workouts are already giving Fred Hoiberg’s program something it badly needed: a freshman who brings an edge.
Jacob Lanier has been turning heads since arriving on campus, and one of the first people to notice was teammate Cale Jacobsen. The veteran guard said Lanier’s competitiveness showed up immediately when the two went at it earlier this month.
“Super talented. He has a toughness and an edge about him that is obviously really, really important as you get into college and you take a step up in levels,” Jacobsen said. Lanier has shown that he can compete with the physicality of the Big Ten, even in his first year on the court.
“He’s always up in people’s grills and pressuring the ball, contesting everything. And he’s done a really good job on the glass,” Jacobsen added. “ He’s just a competitor, so he plays really hard and does a lot of things really well.”
That kind of early buzz fits the resume Lanier brought with him to Nebraska. The 6-foot-5, 180-pound four-star shooting guard is coming off a huge senior season at Little Rock (Ark.) Parkview Magnet, where he helped lead the school to a 5A state championship while putting up 28.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game on 65% shooting.
He was even better during the postseason stretch, averaging 28 points, 11.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists across four state tournament games. Lanier also had a school-record 45-point game and delivered Parkview’s first triple-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Hot Springs.
Rivals Industry Rankings listed Lanier as the No. 105 player in the 2026 class, the No. 26 shooting guard and the No. 2 player in Arkansas.
Nebraska had plenty of competition to land him. Along with the Huskers, Lanier had offers from Arkansas, Arkansas State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, California, Creighton, East Carolina, Florida State, Kansas State, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Omaha, SMU, TCU, Texas State, Texas Tech and UT Arlington.
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