By: NU Athletic Communications
With just five weeks remaining until the official opening tip of Nebraska women’s basketball season, Nebraska Athletics continues to accept school registrations for the upcoming Sizemore Sportsmanship Pep Rally in association with the Cornhuskers’ regular-season opener with San Jose State at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Monday, Nov. 2.
The registration deadline for schools to sign up for the event is Monday, Oct. 19.
Nebraska's annual pep rally to tip off its season featured a record 83 schools and more than 3,900 middle grades students and accompanying adults from across the state for last year’s win over Northwestern State, and this year promises to be even bigger with the possible inclusion of Lincoln Public Schools students for the first time since the arena opened in 2013. Since its inception, more than 21,000 students and accompanying adults have been impacted by the messages at the event, which is regularly described as the highlight of the students’ school year.
The game between the Huskers and the Spartans is expected to tip off at Noon following the annual Nebraska Sizemore Sportsmanship Pep Rally at Pinnacle Bank Arena earlier in the day. The game will feature returning first-team All-Big Ten point guard Britt Prince (Elkhorn North), backcourt mate and fellow junior Kennadi Williams (Lincoln Southwest) and sixth-year Husker senior Allison Weidner (Humphrey St. Francis). Weidner and Williams are both former Nebraska state high school athletes of the year, while Prince is a two-time Nebraska state basketball player of the year.
The Huskers also feature three-time North Dakota high school player of the year Logan Nissley, two-time South Dakota player of the year Ashlyn Koupal, two-time Missouri player of the year Natalie Potts and 2026 Oklahoma player of the year Maddi Stewart along with 2024 Southern Illinois player of the year Amiah Hargrove. Three-time adidas All-American Ava Miles (Missouri) and returning forward Emily Fisher (Illinois) join transfers Arek Angui (South Sudan) and Edessa Noyan (Sweden) in rounding out the Nebraska’s 12-player roster for 2026-27.
The event, which is co-sponsored by the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame, features positive messages from Husker student-athletes and coaches aimed at promoting the importance of education, sportsmanship, character development, teamwork and responsible decision-making. This year’s Pep Rally will mark the eighth time since 2013 (also 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) the event has been paired with Nebraska’s season-opening women’s basketball game.
The Nebraska Sizemore Sportsmanship Pep Rally, which is focused on 4th through 8th grade students across the state of Nebraska, not only includes inspiring messages from current and former Nebraska student-athletes and staff members, it also includes complimentary pizza from Nebraska Athletics thanks to a generous donation from the Sizemore family, and bottled water provided by Pepsi for students and accompanying school staff members.
The 2026 Pep Rally is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. and conclude at approximately 10:45 a.m., prior to Nebraska and San Jose State taking the court for pregame warm-ups ahead of their noon tip-off.
For more information or to register your school for the 2026 Sizemore Sportsmanship Pep Rally, contact John Rouse at jrouse@huskers.com.
Nebraska Sportsmanship Pep Rallies at Women's Basketball
2026 – vs. San Jose State (Monday, Nov. 2 – Rally – 9:30 a.m. / Game – Noon)
2025 – 8,004 (attendance) / 3,900 (students/staff – 83 schools) vs. Northwestern State)
2024 - 8,106 (attendance) / 3,800 (students/staff - 75 schools) vs. Omaha
2023 - 7,065 (attendance) / 3,300 (students/staff - 62 schools) vs. Northwestern State
2022 - 6,233 (attendance) / 2,500 (students/staff - 40 schools) vs. Omaha
2021 - 4,476 (attendance) / 1,600 (students/staff - 30 schools) vs. Maine
2019 - 5,250 (attendance) / 2,000 (students/staff - 27 schools) vs. Alabama A&M
2013 - 9,750 (attendance) / 4,000 (students/staff - 45 schools) vs. UCLA
Link to register
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=xAPQGhOJLkyxIGKu-ItszYiw2eyWRn1EoB993aYcfGNUM0RNR0hXTkxUWjJINkFHMFVCOUpRUDczVi4u