LINCOLN – The Nebraska men’s basketball program added another experienced piece to its 2024-25 roster with the addition of Utah transfer Rollie Worster (pronounced raw-lee Wooster). Worster, a 6-foot-4, 204-pound guard from Missoula, Mont., has made 101 starts and has tallied 888 points, 425 assists and 473 rebounds during his collegiate career. He has played under former Husker assistant Craig Smith at both Utah, where he started 76 of 77 contests for the Runnin’ Utes over the last three seasons and at Utah State, where he started 25 games in helping the school to an NCAA appearance in 2020-21 before Smith took over the Utah program.
“We targeted Rollie early as someone who can come in and elevate our program,” Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg said. “The first things you look at are his experience and decision-making ability on the court. He started in the Pac-12 the last three years and had nearly a 2.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Rollie was among the conference leaders in assists two years ago and was on track to put up better numbers before his injury in January. He also gives us positional size in the backcourt while being a very good rebounder and defender.”
Last season, Worster started the first 16 games before suffering a season-ending foot injury in a win over UCLA in mid-January. He averaged 9.9 points, 5.5 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game, as he was third in the Pac 12 in assists per game and first in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.93-to-1) at the time of his injury. He reached double figures seven times, including a season-high 17-point effort in a road win at St. Mary’s. Worster also had seven-or-more assists on seven occasions, including a season-high 10 against Southern Utah and nine each against Wake Forest and Bellarmine. The Utes were 12-4 prior to his injury before finishing with a 22-15 mark and an NIT appearance.
Worster started all 30 games he played in in 2022-23, averaging 8.6 points, 5.0 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game. He finished second in the Pac-12 with a 2.61 assist-to-turnover ratio while his 5.1 assists per game in conference play ranked second in the league. He had seven contests with at least seven assists, including a trio of double-digit assist totals. Worster’s best performance of the year came in a win over No.4 Arizona where he totaled 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. He had 14 contests in double figures, including a career-high 19 points, along with seven rebounds and four assists in a win at Washington State. He had a five-game stretch scoring double-digit points – including another near triple-double against Washington at home with 11 points, 9 rebounds and a career-high tying 10 assists. Worster also dished out 10 assists against UTSA and Stanford.
In his first season at Utah, he averaged 7.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and a team-high 3.1 assists per game in 31 games, including 30 starts, He had 14 games in double figures, including 13-point efforts at No. 18 BYU and at Arizona State, where he also had six boards. He dished out a season-high seven assists against Boston College, one of six games with at least six assists in 2021-22.
Worster began his career at Utah State, where he started 25 of 26 contests in helping the Aggies to a 20-9 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2020-21. He averaged 9.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, highlighted by a near triple double against UNLV with a career-high 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. He also dished out nine assists in a win over Colorado State.
Worster was a two-time Montana Gatorade Player of the year at Hellgate High School, where he finished as the school’s all-time leading scorer while also ranking in the top three in both assists (second) and rebounds (third). As a senior, he led the school to a share of the Montana State AA title by averaging 20.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Worster paced Hellgate to a runner-up finish as a junior, leading the state in scoring as he averaged 22.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game. In addition to playing basketball, was a two-way performer in football, earning first-team all-state honors as a safety and honorable-mention accolades at quarterback. He threw for 3,400 yards and rushed for more than 2,000 yards during his high school career.