Nebraska pitcher Johnny Dorn has been named one of 16 semifinalists for the 2008 Dick Howser Trophy.

Dorn has been the ace of the Husker pitching staff, going 5-1 with a 2.65 ERA in 12 starts this season. The right-hander from Grand Island has held eight of his 12 opponents to two runs or less, and ranks among the Big 12 leaders in innings (85.0, first), strikeouts (90, second), opponent batting average (.195, second) and in ERA (fourth).

The Dick Howser Trophy -- given in memory of the former Florida State University All-America shortstop and major league player and manager who died of brain cancer in 1987 -- is regarded by many as college baseball's most prestigious award.

Dorn is one of two players from the Big 12 on the Howser semifinalist list, joining Missouri right-hander Aaron Crow. The two pitchers will face off Friday night, as the fifth-ranked Huskers begin a three-game series with the No. 12 Tigers.

Apparently never too early to predict where teams are going for bowl games (yes, it is too early, but I'm sure it's getting them some serious page hits), College Football News is already taking a guess at where teams might be headed come bowl season.

Drum roll, please........

According to their "experts," it will be Nebraska versus Fresno State in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport. That's the bowl game reserved for the Big 12's No. 7 team.

The next Obsession of a Husker Mind will deal with the tunnel walk.

Of all the things, this might just be the biggest obsession of all with Husker fans. And if you don't believe me, I'll have to show you some of the e-mails I received last year when there was all the chatter about Mikey Bo introducing a little hip-hop into the "Sirius" song. There was pure panic.

You remember our good friend Mikey, right?

So why is it that you think this has become such an obsession with the Husker fan base? And do you like the tunnel walk the way it is or are changes necessary?

If you've really got a strong opinion, e-mail me your thoughts and name: bchristopherson@journalstar.com. I might use it in the story.

I know, real hard-hitting stuff. Hey, it's May.

Thanks as always for your input and readership.

Nebraska men’s basketball coach Doc Sadler is set to discuss an opening on his coaching staff with a second top candidate for the position.

Walter Roese, an assistant at NCAA Tournament-qualifier San Diego, arrived in Lincoln on Thursday and will talk to Sadler about the job Friday.

Sadler’s interest in Roese probably stems from Roese’s large recruiting net, which extends to Europe and South America. In fact, Roese, a native of Receif, Brazil, has served as coach of the Brazilian Junior National Team.

Sadler has said tapping the overseas market might be a good way to “recruit a great player in an unconventional way.”

James Dickey, a former Texas Tech head coach and Oklahoma State assistant, was in town Wednesday to discuss the NU job with Sadler.

Sometimes when a football team changes coaching staffs, you see a barrage of transfers.

Not in Nebraska's case.

At this point, apparently only two players are set to transfer -- Xavier Rucker, a 5-foot-6, 160-pound wideout from Minneapolis; and Dennis Bergland, a 6-1, 285-pound offensive lineman from Plattsmouth. Both are sophomore walk-ons.

Bergland is probably headed to Nebraska-Omaha, said Jeff Jamrog, NU assistant AD for football operations. Jamrog was unsure where Rucker was headed.

Always a good thing, even for sizzling hot teams like Nebraska trying to make a big splash in late May and June.

Freshman David Stewart (7 RBIs in Sunday's doubleheader sweep of Big 12 leader Texas A&M) and sophomore Tyler Farst (his first three-hit game Tuesday at Creighton) should be high on Mike Anderson's radar. Farst has been spelling Craig Corriston at first, but could be an outfield option against left-handers. Stewart will push for more DH time against right-handers. Both are now prime pinch-hit material.

And what about freshman shortstop Ben Kline, who sat out Tuesday's game after coming off the bench in Sunday's second game (his first non-start in Big 12 action)? According to Anderson, it's nothing about nothing.

Andy Cotton has done a nice job, especially defensively, "but Ben's been a guy that if we're going to get him ready for it, what we've been trying to do is get him ready for this moment," Anderson said following Tuesday's 8-1 win. "He needed a little bit of rest. I thought he was a kid that was worn down just a little bit, from maybe the phsyical and mental side. It's not bad to watch a game.

"I know it's tough, because you've played all your life and that's the first time you sat. There's no demotion. There's no nothing going on."

Nebraska has added a fullback to its recruiting list, C.J. Zimmerer of Omaha Gross becoming the fourth commit of the 2009 class.

The Huskers offered the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Zimmerer last night and he accepted this morning. Zimmerer was also an all-state linebacker last season, but NU wants him as a fullback.

"Best football player I've coached in 16 years," said Tim Johnk, head coach at Gross, also a former Husker fullback letterwinner from 1989-91.

"It's really neat. They haven't recruited a lot of fullbacks the last few years. It's neat to see them get one of those big, tough Nebraska kids again."

Johnk said no one had offered Zimmerer until the Huskers, but Iowa and Iowa State were expressing interest.

The fourth known commitment of the class, Zimmerer is the first recruit on the offensive side of the ball. He joins a recruiting list that includes defensive tackles Thaddeus Randle (Galena Park, Texas) and Cole Pensick (Lincoln Northeast), and linebacker Shawn Bodtmann (Scranton, Pa.)

“It was kind of news to my ears that they even recruited fullbacks anymore,” Zimmerer said. “I don’t see it much more, but I’m definitely excited. It’s big shoes to fill with all that tradition and those guys like the Makovickas and Schlesinger.”

Dane Todd and Grant Miller, of the 2002 recruiting class, were the last fullbacks to sign scholarships as Nebraska recruits. (Alonzo Whaley, a recruit from the ’08 class, is often listed as a linebacker, but could also potentially play fullback at Nebraska.)

Read more about Zimmerer here.

James Dickey, the former Texas Tech head basketball coach and Oklahoma State assistant, was in Lincoln on Wednesday talking to Doc Sadler about Nebraska's assistant coaching vacancy.

The fact Dickey is even interested in such discussions says a lot about his regard for Sadler and the upward direction Sadler's program seems to be headed.

Dickey amassed a record of 166-124 at Texas Tech. In 1995-96, the Red Raiders won a school-record 30 games, including an 18-0 mark in the Southwest Conference, and reached the NCAA Sweet 16.

Tech faltered in Dickey's final few seasons and he was replaced in 2001 by Bobby Knight. Dickey spent the past five seasons as an assistant at Oklahoma State. He tenure at OSU ended last month when head coach Sean Sutton resigned under pressure following a 17-16 season.

Sadler and Dickey have been close friends for years. The two coached together as assistants at Arkansas in the early 1980s. Dickey, when hired as head coach at Tech in 1991, made Sadler his first hire as an assistant.

Sadler no doubt was glad to pick Dickey's brain Wednesday about building a program in a place like Lincoln, where it's not always easy to recruit. Lubbock, Texas, is a nice town with a lot of soul, don't get me wrong, but it's not going to make any lists of the nation's top 10 garden spots.

Sadler also is believed to be interested in Walter Roese, an assistant at NCAA Tournament-qualifier San Diego. A native of Brazil, Roese played professionally in Brazil and Italy, and coached Brazil's Junior National team to qualification for the 2007 World Cup.

The NCAA recently came up with the "Saban Rule," a regulation that keeps coaches from making visits to high school campuses during the spring evaluation period in May.

It's been coined the Saban Rule by some since the Alabama coach was accused of breaking that rule last year, even calling the restrictions "ridiculous."

But Saban has found a way around not being able to visit recruits face to face: the magic of the webcam.

He's hardly the only head coach using webcams to talk to recruits.

"I just think it's a better way to communicate," Saban told the Associated Press. "It's great to communicate over the phone but I'd feel a lot more comfortable with this conversation right now if I could see the person I was talking to.

"In business meetings, they wouldn't use the technology if it wasn't a more effective way to communicate, would they?"

The coach said he talks to about four or five recruits a day via the webcam from his office.

Auburn's Tommy Tuberville said he is one coach who won't be using a webcam.

"I wouldn't be interested in doing it," Tuberville told the AP. "I've talked to (recruits), their parents, they've been on our campus. I think that's what's important."

I'm not sure yet if Husker coach Bo Pelini or any of his assistants have been firing up webcams.

Mitch Abeita hit a three-run homer in the top of the first to put Nebraska up on Creighton.

How big of a game is this to the Huskers? Certainly, they want another win to put on their resume -- as evident by the fact that Abeita is catching tonight. But the weekend series at Missouri looms even larger.

"Tuesday is extremely important that we try to win, but we've got to keep our sights on Missouri," coach Mike Anderson said after Sunday's doubleheader sweep of Texas A&M. "I don't know how else to say that."