Xenia’s Samari Curtis commits to Big Ten school

Curtis joins a program that has a new head coach, Fred Hoiberg. Nebraska finished 19-17 last season and 6-14 in the Big Ten and fired Tim Miles in March after seven seasons in which he was 116-114. Nebraska has played in the NCAA tournament once (2014) in the last 20 seasons.

“Samari is an elite guard,” Hoiberg said in a press release. “He gives us size and length at the guard position and his skillset blends well with the other guards currently on our roster.”

Curtis, who was named Ohio's Mr. Basketball in March, signed with the Bearcats in November. Then Cincinnati lost coach Mick Cronin to UCLA in April and hired Northern Kentucky's John Brannen.

It was a similar situation for Curtis in May of 2018 when he decommitted from Xavier after coach Chris Mack left for Louisville.

Curtis, a 6-foot-3 guard, ranks 143rd in the class of 2019, according to Rivals.com. He averaged 33.8 points per game as a senior and finished his career with a school-record 2,109 points.