LINCOLN — Nebraska has some unexpected competition for 7-foot Argentine basketball prospect Francisco Caffaro.
After visiting Nebraska, Georgia Tech and St. Mary’s last week, Caffaro got a late invitation to tour one more campus — Virginia, the overall No. 1 seed in March’s NCAA tournament.
Sources said Caffaro, who has been playing at the Australian Institute of Sport on an NBA Global Academy team, visited Virginia on Monday.
Also on Monday, the Huskers finished paperwork to officially land Robert Morris sophomore transfer guard Dachon (duh-SHAWN) Burke. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound guard was second-team All-Northeast Conference, averaging 17.6 points and 5.8 rebounds.
NU, too, is prepping for a visit at midweek from 6-5, 190-pound guard Amir Harris of Hagerstown, Maryland, a one-time Rhode Island commit.
One topic that didn’t produce news Monday was the search for an assistant coach.
Nebraska coach Tim Miles said in an interview that he is continuing to do homework on at least four candidates, and declined to discuss any names or confirm any unsourced speculation.
As for Burke, he will sit out 2018-19 as a transfer then have two years of eligibility. He picked NU over Marquette, Pittsburgh and St. John’s.
With perimeter scorers such as James Palmer and Glynn Watson set to leave Nebraska in a year, Burke liked the plan laid out for him by Miles and assistant Michael Lewis.
“Michael did a good job of getting in early,” Miles said. “When doing my research, I was really impressed by his numbers. Then watching him play, I really liked his game.
“We were able to get a home visit to Orange, New Jersey. The whole family was there and we showed them our game plan on how we have handled that redshirt year with our other successful transfers.”
Soon after the home visit, Burke and his mother and uncle visited Lincoln and “loved it.”
“It was really big to get his commitment,” Miles said. “When you’re getting ready to lose guys like Glynn and James, you need somebody who isn’t a true freshman and has had to make tough baskets in big-time environments.”
Miles said Burke is comfortable on the perimeter with ball in hand or working off screens to slash to the basket or set up jumpers. He was a candidate for his league’s defensive player of the year award, too, after leading the NEC in steals at 2.1 a game.
“He needs to shoot the 3 better,” Miles said. “But he’s really quick and rebounds like crazy. He is very, very quick to the ball and smart.”
Nebraska has two scholarships left with Burke’s signing becoming official.
