Fastbreak: Hoiberg gives the latest after NU's COVID-19 shutdown

Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg gave his first public comments since the Huskers paused team activities on Jan. 11 during his monthly show on the Husker Sports Network on Monday night.

Here is a full recap of what Hoiberg had to say about his team and where NU stands after a long bout with COVID-19...

***Hoiberg said COVID-19 “spread like wildfire" through the team over three weeks.

In all, he said 15 of Nebraska’s 30 Tier 1 personnel (players, coaches, staff in direct contact with the team) all tested positive, including himself, three coaches, a graduate assistant, and a team manager.

Hoiberg said it started with one player testing positive, and then that player’s roommate got it. Then the next apartment of players got it, and it kept spreading after that.

***Hoiberg said he experienced “about every symptom” during his bout with COVID, and the first 3-4 days were pretty rough for him. He said each day was a “roller coaster,” as he’d feel good most mornings, but then by the afternoons, it felt “like a truck hit me.”

He eventually started watching film again and even felt good enough to watch all three “American Pie” movies during his quarantine.

***Hoiberg said of the players who tested positive, most were asymptomatic and the symptoms they did experience were mainly mild.

***Hoiberg said all but two players had cleared the “return to play protocol,” which includes passing a series of medical tests before being allowed to do on-court activities.

***When Nebraska finally held its first practice after the shutdown on Sunday, they were without those two players and then two others who were out with non-COVID related illnesses.

Then sophomore point guard Dalano Banton sprained his ankle during the practice, leaving NU with just seven available players.

As you could guess, Hoiberg said the first couple practices back haven’t been “pretty.”

***Hoiberg said he expects Nebraska to play 14/15 games in 32 days beginning on Saturday, Feb. 6, at Michigan State.

He said the next three games - at Michigan State, at Minnesota on Feb. 8, and vs. Wisconsin on Feb. 11 - are set. After that, the schedule is tentative.

Hoiberg expects at least “a couple” back-to-back games included, which will feel like an NBA schedule.

***Hoiberg said the key this month and for the rest of the season was focusing on a lot of mental preparation, like in the NBA. They’ll watch a lot of film, hold walk-thru practices, and focus on pretty much the top-five plays the next opponent runs.

Most importantly, they’ll try to keep players as fresh as possible

***As for Nebraska’s overall conditioning, Hoiberg didn’t sugarcoat that the Huskers had a lot of work to do to catch up.

“It’s going to take a while to get back in the playing shape...” Hoiberg said. "It’s going to take us a long time to get back into shape, and we’re going to have to monitor that."

He said NU would have to play a lot of guys at shorter stretches as guys readjust.

***Hoiberg confirmed that this year’s Big Ten Tournament will be held in Indianapolis instead of Chicago and will be a bubble-type setup.

Hoiberg said he thought that was the right approach because it’s worked so well for the NBA.