The newest Nebraska men’s basketball assistant coach, Kenya Hunter, comes from a strong college background.

Hunter has been an assistant the past six years at Georgetown, working with and helping to recruit big men Roy Hibbert and Otto Porter. Hunter also has previous coaching stops at Xavier and North Carolina State.

He played collegiately at Duquesne, where he was a three-year captain.…

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Though no contract has been signed, Cincinnati media outlets are reporting that the University of Cincinnati and Nebraska will start a two-game men’s basketball series this season in Cincinnati.

Jayden Olson, NU’s director of basketball operations, said Friday he’s not aware of any contract with Cincinnati but that talks with several schools are ongoing.

The Bearcats lost to Creighton in the second round of the NCAA tournament last season.

Olson said Nebraska still is awaiting word on who it will be bracketed with in the eight-team Charleston Classic on Nov. 21-24.

The other seven teams in the field are Clemson, Georgia, New Mexico, Temple, UAB, Massachusetts and Davidson.…

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Drew Ott, a sophomore on the Iowa football team, was one of 15 Hawkeyes picked Wednesday for the 2013 Leadership Group.

Coach Kirk Ferentz said the group helps formulate team policies and is involved in any team decision-making process. A team vote determines who makes it.

Ott is a defensive lineman who earned praise from coaches for his work in the spring.…

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The latest trendy topic for college football commenters to bloviate about is how schools should play more neutral-site games, even giving up home games to do so.

Sounds kind of cool. But it’s not happening on anything more than an irregular basis, as anyone who has ever sat down with an athletic director at conference administrative meetings can attest.

Power conference schools playing at least seven home games a year is NON-NEGOTIABLE. Anyone who tells you otherwise isn’t paying attention.

Listen to Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez from earlier this week: “Everyone needs seven home games to balance your budget.”

Or hear Ohio State A.D. Gene Smith: “We all work off needing seven home games. That’s how we’re set up.”

One school in a position to get creative in football scheduling …

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Former Nebraska volleyball player Julie Hermann has been named athletic director at Rutgers, becoming the third current female to lead a department at a BCS school.

Hermann, for the past 16 years, has been the executive senior associate A.D. at Louisville, where she has overseen 20 of that school’s 23 sports.

She grew up in Nebraska City and played volleyball for coach Terry Pettit at NU from 1981-84, earning All-Big Eight honors. She coached volleyball at Wyoming, Northern Arizona and Tennesee before getting into administration.

Hermann becomes just the second female A.D. in Big Ten history. The first was Merrily Dean Baker at Michigan State in the early 1990s.…

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Nebraska learned Tuesday the four Big Ten schools it will play only once next season in men’s basketball, and coach Tim Miles was puzzled with the choices.

The Huskers will face Iowa (road), Minnesota (home), Wisconsin (home) and Michigan State (road) as “single-plays.” The other seven schools are “double-plays,” meaning home and home.

That doesn’t do much to foster geographic rivalry as NU’s three closest schools are single-plays.…

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Iowa missing the Big Ten baseball tournament for the seventh time in Jack Dahm’s 10 years as coach has sparked speculation of a coaching change.

Hawkeye Athletic Director Gary Barta declined to get specific Tuesday about what’s to come.

“I observe daily and evaluate annually,” Barta said. “We’ve got another series left. At the end of the year, we’ll sit down like I do every year with each coach.”

Dahm, a former Creighton coach and player, is working on a one-year contract signed last spring after his previous five-year contract expired.

Said Barta: “Any time any of our programs isn’t in the top half and competing for championships, I have concerns. Again, we aren’t going to talk about it until the season is over.”

Dahm coached for 10 years …

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The Big Ten men’s basketball coaches are still meeting this morning here in downtown Chicago, but early word is that Nebraska and Iowa will face each other just once in the 2013-14 season.

It doesn’t make much sense for those two schools to be “single-play” opponents. Yet it appears that is what is ahead, with the game to be in Iowa City.

Starting in 2014-15, when Rutgers and Maryland join the Big Ten, plans are to keep an 18-game schedule with five home-and-homes and eight single-plays. Currently, schools play seven home-and-homes and four single-plays.…

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Julie Hermann, a former Nebraska volleyball all-conference player from Nebraska City, is one of two finalists to become the athletic director at new Big Ten member Rutgers.

Hermann, who played at NU from 1981-84, has spent the past 16 years at Louisville. She now is executive senior associate A.D. for the Cardinals with oversight of 20 sports. Before entering administration, Hermann coached volleyball at Wyoming, the U.S. National Team, Northern Arizona and Tennessee.

The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger reports that Hermann and Sean Frazier, the deputy A.D. at Wisconsin, are the two finalists to succeed Tom Pernetti, who left in the wake of the recent men’s basketball abuse scandal at Rutgers.…

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Nebraska and Iowa will play home games in the 15th annual Big Ten/ACC men’s basketball challenge in December.

The Huskers (15-18) will host Miami of Florida (29-7) on Dec. 4 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Miami, ranked as high as No. 2 last season, lost in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament to Marquette.

Iowa will host Notre Dame on Dec. 3 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes (25-13) reached the title game of the NIT. Notre Dame (25-10) lost to Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Nebraska’s first two games in the Big Ten/ACC challenge were against Wake Forest.…

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