Injured or not, Bandoumel's leadership has been critical in Nebraska's late-season turnaround
Nebraska’s players sat in a quiet locker room, their heads hanging after an embarrassing 78-63 blowout home loss to Northwestern on Jan. 25.
Head coach Fred Hoiberg delivered his usual post-game message to the team, but someone else had some things to say afterward.
Senior guard Emmanuel Bandoumel had just suffered a college career-ending knee injury four days earlier at Penn State. While he could have easily checked out and turned his attention to life after NU, the natural leader in him had to get his teammates’ attention.
According to Hoiberg and fellow Husker players, that speech served as a turning point for Nebraska’s late-season resurgence.
“Emmanuel was unbelievable,” Hoiberg recalled. “He was fresh off that injury, and after I got done speaking, he said, ‘Coach, do you mind if I have a couple minutes to address the team?’ I said, ‘absolutely.’ He got up there, and it was all from the heart. All he talked about was playing hard and playing with effort, doing all the little things, and keep competing. If they did that, good things would happen.
“He got pretty animated. Everybody has such respect for Emmanuel and what he’s all about. I’ve talked a lot about how he’s one of the best culture guys I’ve had the opportunity to be around. That was important for him to get up in front of the group and just talk about the competitive spirit that I think everybody thought the team lacked in that game.
“From that point forward, I think you saw the next day in practice was where everybody realized what still could happen and what we were still capable of. Emmanuel stepping up and doing that, even though knowing his college career was over, tells you everything you need to know about him.”
Fellow Husker leaders took Bandoumel’s message to heart
What has made the 2022-23 group so much different than previous Hoiberg teams at Nebraska is the number of strong leaders it has on the roster.
Derrick Walker, Sam Griesel, and Juwan Gary are just some of the veterans that have no issue calling out problems or encouraging struggling younger teammates.
But no one had struck a chord with everyone in the program, coaches and players alike, the way Bandoumel did following that Northwestern loss.
“It got me pretty emotional,” Griesel said. “I honestly think that was a big turning point for our season. Obviously, he was out, but he delivered one of the greatest speeches that I’ve ever heard. It touched me, and it touched a lot of our team, and I think it was a big turning point.
“It kind of just put everything into perspective for us… This game is a privilege to play, and we need to enjoy it when we’re out there.”
Bandoumel said he could barely remember everything he said in his speech. Walker did, and he said the former SMU transfer’s words still stuck with him a month later.
“He just did a lot of reflecting of his life,” Walker said. “Everything can’t be said because it was very personal. He had the courage to get up in front of us and share those emotions with us. It was powerful. At that point, he was going through some things…
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“He let us know how he felt, and it hit a lot of people’s hearts in that locker room. Everyone loves him, and he loves everyone back. He knew what this team was capable of with him, and he knew what it was capable of without him.”
Bandoumel calls lone season at NU ‘a blessing’
Bandoumel committed to Nebraska in late May 2022 and didn’t arrive on campus until two weeks into June.
He started all 20 games he played before his injury, averaging 8.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 steals.
The native of Quebec City, Quebec, earned his undergraduate degree in performance leadership at SMU, and he’s on track to receive his master’s in applied science at Nebraska.
The last month has been highly bittersweet for Bandoumel. He loves every second of the Huskers’ late postseason push, but it pains him not to be out there helping his team.
Some players go to a dark place when an injury cuts their final college season short. But Bandoumel stayed engaged by involving himself with his team in every way possible.
Bandoumel’s teammates feel like he never left. His leadership on the bench, in practice, and the locker room has been critical in NU keeping this season afloat.
He’s only been in the program for roughly nine months, but Bandoumel’s experience in Lincoln – both the highs and lows – has made him a Husker for life.
“I don’t like what-ifs, but for me, it’s kind of crazy to think that I won’t have the chance to play with these guys anymore,” Bandoumel said. “For me, it hurts so much to not be able to provide as much for the team. I was really proud to put that jersey on and play for Husker Nation, and now it was taken away from me.
“But at the same time, I’m still alive. I’m still here. I can still find ways to be a leader to this team and push the guys to do better. To me, it’s still a blessing.”
