Nebraska Basketball: Santa surprises walk-on with scholarship

Dec. 24 (UPI) — Coach Tim Miles dressed up as Santa Claus Saturday, surprising one of his Nebraska basketball players with a scholarship.

The player on the receiving end of the gift was Tanner Borchardt. The 6-foot-8, 265-pound junior posted 0.8 points and 1.1 rebounds per game in 3.5 minutes per bout in 2015. He appeared in just one game for one minute in 2016. Borchardt is from Gothenburg High School in Gothenburg, Neb. He is a management major.

On Saturday, ‘Santa Miles’ walked into a team meeting on campus and handed out cookies.

“It’s Santa, and I have one more cookie,” Miles said. “And it’s for Tanner. Come on up here Tanner. Congratulations on the scholarship.”

After hearing about the scholarship, Borchardt’s teammates went crazy, mobbing him with embraces and chanting in excitement.

“Playing @santa is the best! Well deserved T,” Miles tweeted Saturday.

This year is the first season Borchardt has gone through the full offseason program with the team. He earned a spot on the team after tryouts as a freshman. Borchardt’s season high in points was three points, which he posted on Nov. 13 against North Texas. He played 11 minutes, logging three rebounds and an assist on Dec. 3 against Michigan State.

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