Ex-Huskers, NBA players sold on Sadler

LINCOLN — Nebraska basketball coach Doc Sadler's ongoing mission to connect with the past has added two former high-profile Huskers as converts.

Stu Lantz, an eight-year NBA veteran with four teams, and Ricky Marsh, who played two seasons with the Golden State Warriors, said during Friday's NU Rebounders Club golf outing that Sadler is building a program that can succeed in the long run.

“This isn't a one-day deal or a one-month deal or a one-year deal,'' said Lantz, now the color analyst for Los Angeles Lakers telecasts. “Doc is going about this the right way.

“I'm very impressed with the things he is doing, after talking with him and meeting with the team.''

Lantz, 62, has made regular trips to Lincoln through the years to see relatives. His met his wife, Linda, at NU. But the former first-team All-Big Eight pick hadn't been in contact with the basketball office.

Neither had Marsh, 55, who grew up in New York and now is a manager for DuPont in suburban Chicago.

“I was in Omaha on business about 12 years ago,'' Marsh said. “I drove to Lincoln and spent about 45 minutes on campus.''

But Marsh, who played two years at Nebraska before transferring home to Manhattan College, said he was delighted to be invited back.

He and former classmate Jerry Fort, last year's featured guest at the golf event, met with Sadler, toured the athletic offices and visited with coaches and staff the past two days.

“I felt like we were on another recruiting trip,'' Marsh said, laughing. “And Doc sold me.

“It's all about the networking. Doc has that personality — that people-to-people skill that gets you hyped up.''

Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne also tried to hype up the former players at a speech before dinner, asking them to contribute to the new practice facility.

After the recent $10 million donation from the Tom and Mary Hendricks family of Omaha — which Osborne said “kind of came out of the blue'' — another $8.7 million will be needed to complete the building.

As for a possible new arena being built in Lincoln, more information on whether that issue will be put to a public vote should come in three to four months, Osborne said.

ŸNOTES: During the live auction, four tickets to a New York Yankees game donated by Joba Chamberlain went for $2,100; two Final Four tickets went for $1,900; and a Kobe Bryant autograph on a game-worn shoe donated by Lantz went for $750. ... Nebraska still has no word on the potential eligibility or arrival of 6-8 forward Christian Standhardinger from Germany, who signed a letter of intent last November. Questions about the club team he played on are still being investigated.

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444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com �