The Nebraska Huskers lost a lot more than just the NCAA tournament semifinal last year. “I wanted to say thank you one last time,” senior Lexi Rodriguez said in a somber tone. “The past four years have been better than I could have ever imagined,” she said after her final NCAA tournament. It was a similar feeling for Merritt Beason, who said it was “Do or die,” ahead of that semifinal. But did it just end with the seniors’ graduation?

No. Rather, it was a new challenge for the Huskers, who had lost two great on-court leaders. Then came John Cook’s departure in January. The 25-year veteran Husker’s coach retired, and before the girls could even process what happened, Cook revealed Dani Busboom Kelly would take over. Now, six months later, Harper Murray explained how it’s felt stepping into Rodriguez and Beason’s shoes.

The first thing that Harper Murray said was that she is not the only one taking on the responsibility. Just like they had more than one leader to look up to on the court, Murray will be one among many. “I think different people are going to look to different people for leadership, and that’s what’s so special,” Murray said after sharing the stage with DBK and Rebekah Allick at the Big Ten Media Days.

“It might be a little bit overwhelming at times, but I think that’s what’s so special about it. We have so many people that can lead,” Murray said on YT, during a HuskerOline interview. She even gave an example of the different personalities at Nebraska working in sync. “Bergen and I live together, and we’re complete opposites, but we both have different ways of leading,” she added.

Harper Murray explained that it was a good thing because that way they’re “able to help different people” on the court. What’s more? Reilly and Murray are already showing their leadership skills even before the NCAA season starts. The duo paired up to coach thousands of kids at the Huskers Youth Camp in Lincoln, Nebraska. And leadership is something DBK will be paying special attention to.

DBK’s critical take on Harper Murray and Co.’s on-court leadership

On July 24, Dani Busboom Kelly appeared on Dani Busboom-Kelly, the Inside the Coaching Mind podcast with former Husker’s coach Terry Pettit. During the interview, Pettit asked about DBK’s presence during the historic Nebraska vs. Penn State semifinal. Back then, the 40-year-old was a finalist for the Louisville Cardinals’ head coach and hence looked on to see who her team would face.

And it was because of that unique perspective that Pettit wanted to know what DBK thought about Nebraska’s collapse from the outside looking in. The new Huskers head coach explained how she saw things at a time when she didn’t have any horses in that race, and leadership was the glaring problem. “To me, it was just… Fear was coming in,” said the former Cardinals’ head coach.

Despite having Rodriguez and Beason, they couldn’t deal with a rejuvenated Penn State after the second set. “The lack of leadership really came out in those big moments,” the multiple-time NCAA finalist told Terry Pettit. She even recalled another moment when that lack of connection was apparent in Nebraska’s play.

“You know? In game five, Harper passed a ball, and it kind of went straight up, but it goes out of the picture,” recalled the head coach, saying no one came forward to receive that pass from Harper Murray. It was an easy thing to miss, but she noticed it and has addressed it after coming over to Nebraska. Now only time will tell if the new generation of Huskers will prove even more effective leaders than their predecessors.