Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts is banging the drum for the next two events held in Memorial Stadium.
After the Red-White Spring Game on April 22, next up is the Nebraska volleyball team's outdoor match Aug. 30. Speaking on Husker Sports Nightly on Wednesday, Alberts provided updates on both events, including the preliminary response to a potentially historic night of volleyball in August.
“It’s been incredible,” Alberts said. “There have been some (schools) that said, ‘Are you serious? Really?’ There have been a lot of others that said, ‘Hey, how can we get in on this? We’d love to play.’”
Alberts noted that while breaking the NCAA all-time attendance record for a volleyball match is one aspect of the event, he sees it more as an opportunity to celebrate the sport’s impact across the state. That’s why all of the participating schools are in-state colleges, and why Nebraska will be playing a fellow member of the University of Nebraska system.
According to Alberts, this might not be the final out-of-the-box idea that comes out of the athletic department.
“We’re going to have to think more broadly like this, and not just volleyball, about how finding new revenue streams and entrepreneurial ways are going to be important to us long-term,” he said.
Alberts also said the volleyball event will feature “a full football production.”
Ahead of the start of spring practice this month, Alberts said 45,000 tickets have been sold for the Spring Game. While specific details about the format of the game still have not been released, Alberts teased that it may not be a typical spring scrimmage.
“I think at the Spring Game our fans will get an opportunity to see a new-look Nebraska football team that might engage a little bit differently than what we’ve previously been used to,” Alberts said.
Speaking about other Nebraska sports, Alberts applauded NU’s fan support at recent men’s and women’s basketball games at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Several of the men’s games ended in sellouts, while 14,000-plus fans took in the women’s loss to Iowa two weeks ago.
In terms of his decision to remove the interim tag and name Justin St. Clair the head coach of the Nebraska track and field program, Alberts said that not naming St. Clair as the permanent head coach originally came down to timing. After seeing St. Clair’s attention to detail and professionalism play out over the past few months, Alberts felt it was right to make the decision.
“Any time you’re trying to replace somebody as big of a legend as Gary Pepin, you have to be careful, and what I kind of thought would happen actually did happen,” Alberts said. “He (St. Clair) did an amazing job with the way that he built that culture. If we wouldn’t have taken the interim tag (off) we would have had some really upset student-athletes and families.”
Photos: Nebraska announces volleyball match at Memorial Stadium