Nebraska will send 18 current and former Husker student-athletes across the stage at University of Nebraska-Lincoln Summer Commencement on Saturday, Aug. 15 at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Football leads the way among the graduates, with three names at the top of the list. Emmett Johnson of Minneapolis, Minn., now with the Kansas City Chiefs, will earn his bachelor’s degree in advertising and public relations.
Johnson was a first-team All-American and the Ameche-Dayne Big Ten Running Back of the Year in 2025. Dasan McCullough of Kansas City, Kan., is also collecting his degree while working to land a spot on the Denver Broncos roster at outside linebacker.
Gunnar Gottula of Lincoln, Neb., is set to receive a degree in management before heading into his fourth season on the field for the Huskers.
Baseball adds another strong cluster of graduates. Dylan Carey of Castle Rock, Colo., who won the 2026 Brooks Wallace Award and was named a 2026 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, will finish his bachelor’s degree in management after beginning his professional career with the New York Mets Class A affiliate St.
Lucie. Jalen Worthley of Lincoln, Neb., is earning a degree in advertising and public relations after starting his pro career this summer with the Lexington Legends in the Atlantic League.
Cooper Katskee of Greenwood Village, Colo., rounds out the baseball group with a psychology degree.
The rest of the class stretches across the Husker department. On the tennis side, Nikolay Sysoev of Moscow, Russia, Joan Torres Espinosa of Alicante, Spain, and women’s standout Reya Lee Coe of Dallas, Texas are among the graduates. Women’s track and field is represented by Kellyn Kortemeyer of Custer, S.D., and Sakena Massiah of Bridgetown, Barbados.
Men’s basketball contributes Kendall Blue of Woodbury, Minn., and Braxton Meah of Layton, Utah. Wrestling adds Chance Lamer of Corvallis, Ore., who finished fourth for the Big Red at the 2026 NCAA Championships at 149 pounds, and Brandyn Van Tassell of Mapleton, Utah. Volleyball’s Allie Sczech of Sugar Land, Texas, men’s gymnast Jack Critz of Huntington Beach, Calif., and women’s golfer Arden Louchheim of Park City, Utah, complete the group.
In all, the August graduates come from nine states and three foreign countries. Across the last three commencement cycles - December 2025, May 2026 and August 2026 - Nebraska has had 108 student-athletes earn degrees, representing 28 states and 11 foreign countries.
The university’s track record in the classroom remains a major point of pride. Nebraska continues to feature one of the highest graduation rates in the nation, while leading the nation with 19 NCAA Impact Awards across all sports. The Huskers also lead the Big Ten and rank second in NCAA Division I with 384 College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans, and 110 Nebraska student-athletes all time have earned NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships.
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