Alabama transfer Juwan Gary announces transfer to Big Ten program

Nebraska landed a big fish in the transfer portal on Thursday.

Juwan Gary, a transfer from Alabama, took to Instagram to announce his commitment to Fred Hoiberg and the Cornhuskers. He’s coming off his second season with the Crimson Tide and could have three years of eligibility remaining if he takes the COVID-19 year.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Juwan Gary (@wanwitdabutter)

Gary received plenty of interest in the portal and took his official visit to Nebraska earlier this week. He also visited South Carolina and had other schools on his list, including Ole Miss, Wake Forest and DePaul, according to On3’s Jamie Shaw.

After entering the portal, Gary was the No. 29 transfer in the portal and the No. 8 small forward on the open market, according to the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings. He initially heard from upward of 12 schools after transferring, including Georgia and LSU within the SEC. Ultimately, he chose to head to Lincoln to join the Cornhuskers.

As a sophomore in 2021-22, Gary averaged 6.5 points and 3.4 rebounds in 15.6 minutes per game. His biggest game of the year came against Florida in January when he dropped 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help Alabama to an 83-70 win in Gainesville. He also had a solid showing in the NCAA Tournament against Notre Dame, scoring 10 points and pulling down four boards in the Crimson Tide’s first-round loss.

Gary arrived in Tuscaloosa as a four-star recruit and a top-100 prospect from the Class of 2019, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Nebraska had a rough go in 2021-22, finishing with a 10-22 overall record and 4-16 mark in Big Ten action. Gary is the second transfer to join Nebraska this offseason, joining former North Dakota State forward Sam Griesel.