ROSEMONT, Ill. — Freshmen made a big impact on the Nebraska women’s basketball team in the 2023-24 season, with Amy Williams returning in a big way, but she has a good chance of cracking the lineup again in the 2024-25 season.
Williams was lightened in the portal with just one addition, Alberte Rimdal, a newcomer who transferred from another college in Florida. The rest of the 2024 signing class includes in-state phenom Britt Prince, small-town Illinois standout Amir Hargrove, Croatian forward Petra Bozan, and the head coach’s daughter and diminutive point guard. Comprised of Kennedy Williams.
The headliner is Prince. The 5-foot-11 five-star guard from Elkhorn North had offers from many of the best programs in the country before choosing the Huskers. Prince averaged 27.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.9 steals as a senior while shooting 57 percent from the field, 42 percent from three and 86 percent from free throws. She was a two-time Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year, led the Wolves to four straight Class B state championships, and ranks second all-time in Nebraska’s scoring career.
Williams shared his expectations for the star freshman at Big Ten Media Day on Wednesday.
“My expectations for Britt are that she comes in and plays hard, that she’s a great teammate, and that she finds ways to impact the game and make everyone around her better. , and we’re already seeing it every day,” Coach Williams said at Big Ten Media Days. “She’s working really hard to improve, especially on the defensive side of the ball. But on the offensive side, we just see flashes. She’s an outstanding passer and makes good decisions.” and has instinctively excellent handling.
“My expectations for her are to come in, work hard every day, continue to be one of the hardest working players on the court, show her IQ, be competitive and have a positive impact on the game. . She wants to win and she’s done that a lot, so I think she’ll bring that to the table as well.”
Prince has received a lot of hype and for good reason, but Alexis Murkowski wants fans to fall asleep thinking about Nebraska’s other backcourt addition. Not there.
“I think everyone is ready for Britt Prince to come in and make an impact and I think she will too, but I think our transfer Alberto Rimdal is a really good player and she I think it’s very neglected right now,” Murkowski said. “She’s a senior and she’s played in the SEC and has that experience, so she’ll be a great addition.”
Rimdal, a native of Koge, Denmark, spent three seasons at Florida, starting 50 of 64 games over the past two years. She shot 33.7% on over 300 3-pointers as a Gator, including 38.2% in her sophomore season. Williams spoke glowingly of the 5-foot-9 guard Wednesday.
“She’s a very nice person,” Williams said. “We love Barty, Barty is what we call her for short, and she has three years of experience playing in the SEC, so the game is not too fast for her. She’s been there, she’s seen it, she’s going to sit and guard and she plays really hard and that fits our style of play. She shoots really well and has a pretty good IQ. He is a highly skilled basketball player who makes good decisions off the dribble.
“But her shooting talent is very welcome in our program and she is a great teammate. She comes to practice every day with great energy and focus. She has had her wisdom teeth removed and She was in the gym that day. She’s really passionate about wanting to be the best player she can be to make our team the best it can be.”
While Prince’s impressive performance garnered a lot of attention locally, Hargrove also had an extremely strong record book at Christopher High School in Illinois. The 6-foot-2 forward averaged 28.7 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 1.9 assists as a senior and has already turned heads in practice.
“I couldn’t wait to talk about her,” Williams said. “She’s a very exciting player. She’s strong, really strong and explosive and has great skills, so in that forward position, she’s a really different look. She makes contact. She doesn’t shy away from it. Sometimes she puts her shoulder into the guys at practice and they feel her. It’s just that the new guys come in and are already craving that physicality and they shy away from it. I think it’s sometimes rare that we don’t.
“What a great teammate. She’s already like, ‘What do you want me to do?’ If you just want me to go get offensive rebounds…” She is hungry to learn and has a smile on her face every day. This is the epitome of what we look for in a Husker women’s basketball player. She is exactly who she is and I am so excited to spend the next four years with her. ”
Hargrove played grassroots basketball for the Bradley Beal Elite in St. Louis, about 160 miles southeast of Christopher, his hometown of fewer than 2,700 people. Williams said he is still learning how to play defense properly, as he was athletic enough to block shots from behind while getting through opponents at the 1A level in Illinois.
“I think the great thing about Amir is that she comes from a very small town and is used to doing everything,” Murkowski said. “She was the student body president, she played all the sports, she was active in everything. When you add that to the program, it makes everyone around her so much better. She’s very active and outgoing. It’s great to have a player who can really connect with people.”
One member of the program who wasn’t surprised by what Hargrove brought to the table is sophomore forward Natalie Potts, herself a St. Louis native.
“She’s been giving it her all this preseason,” Potts said. “She brings rebounds. Her rebounds are unreal. But she also takes tough shots. I think she’s going to be a really good versatile player and I grew up playing against her. So there was a bit of a rivalry between the two clubs. It’s good to be on the same side as her.”
Bothan was the last piece of the recruiting class. Nebraska announced the signing on the first day of class (August 26), the day after Lincoln arrived. The 6-foot-3 post from Split, Croatia averaged 16.1 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 assists at the FIBA U18 Women’s EuroBasket in Portugal just weeks before joining the Husker program. led Croatia.
Williams said she is making rapid progress, although she is experiencing the major changes of adjusting to life in a foreign country, in addition to the typical challenges that college freshmen face.
“Due to the slow recruiting process, she did not receive the summer training that the rest of the team received,” Williams said. “But the change in her when she arrived on campus the day before school started was really amazing. Her English is very good and she’s just being able to understand the terminology and she’s improving so quickly. Her teammates were nice enough to say, “Hey, let’s meet tomorrow before practice, so we can see some of the action she hasn’t been here with this summer.” Ta. She’s just learning and figuring things out. I think we’re asking her to communicate a little more because she’s translating in her head. ”
Fans won’t see Kennedy-Williams on the court this season as he plans to redshirt while recovering from injury, but players and coaches alike will be keeping an eye on his height. After the 5-foot-4 Lincoln Southwest graduate grows up, she’s excited to officially become a part of the team. Focused on her mother’s program.
“She wasn’t active in practice with them, but she’s there every day, she’s on the sideline,” Amy Williams said. “I feel like I can hear her voice saying the exact thing that was about to come out of my mouth. When Kennady was seven years old, I was watching a movie and she I was thinking, “Huh, why did they switch to zone defense?” And I also knew that she was a little bit unique and saw the game in a different light than most 7-year-olds, but also most young women.
“It’s great to have someone with that IQ on the sideline and I’m really going to enjoy this experience with her. She always plays for my husband and he always coaches her teams. It’s helped me. I think he’s going through a little withdrawal, but I’m really looking forward to it.”
Although the younger Williams has yet to step on the court, Murkowski said he has handled the transition to college well.
“She fits in really well with everyone and has long-term relationships with everyone,” Murkowski said. “She’s a really kind soul and has a lot of energy, just like her mother… She’s always felt like a little sister on our team, and now with her being a part of the program, , it’s a different dynamic, but she’s doing it “good.” I think most people wouldn’t be able to cope as well as she does, but she balances being a mom as a coach and being part of a team really well. ”
The good news for Rhonda Revell is that Williams is expected to be fully healthy in the spring and is scheduled to play softball during the 2025 season and will be a dual-sport athlete at Nebraska. is.
Murkowski and Potts both played key roles as freshmen at the University of Nebraska. Off the court, Potts said time management is her biggest challenge as a student-athlete. Murkowski said learning defense can be difficult for young players trying to hold up against bigger, stronger, more athletic and more experienced competition on the court. The advice for the freshman All-Big Ten center was simple. “Rely on your teammates.”
“I think it’s okay to ask for help,” Murkowski said. “As a freshman, you want to figure everything out on your own, but if it’s school or basketball, you always have a team that has your back. It’s okay to make mistakes and learn from them. , I think that’s the best advice I can give to new students.