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• Photo Showcase: 2011 All-Nebraska, All-Metro boys and girls basketball teams
• Video: See behind-the-scenes footage from the All-Nebraska and All-Metro photo shoot.

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They're headliners on this year's All-Nebraska boys basketball team, and also coming attractions — sophomore Akoy Agau of Omaha Central and juniors Jalen Bradley of Norfolk and Mike Gesell of South Sioux City.

Agau and Gesell already are must-sees for Division I college recruiters. Bradley isn't far behind.

But their high school coaches say there's plenty of behind-the-scenes work to do between now and college.

Take Gesell, the All-Nebraska honorary captain who's already made its first team in back-to-back seasons.

“Next year, it's improve on the little things,'' South Sioux City coach Terry Comstock said. “Some things he can get away with at the high school level that he won't at the next level.

“We want to get one step ahead.''

Agau, a 6-foot-8 forward, is the lone member of the All-Nebraska five who didn't play point guard. Bradley took over that role this year for Norfolk.

Galen Gullie of Omaha Bryan and CJ Carter of Omaha Benson are seniors who steered their teams to the Class A state tournament. Gullie took Bryan to the school's first state championship game in boys basketball.

It's the second straight season that the first team includes a sophomore.

Agau's selection follows that of Gesell last year, when he became the first 10th-grader on the first team since Ron Kellogg of Omaha Northwest in 1980. In the 97 years of All-Nebraska selections, Kellogg (1980 to 1982) and Frank “Ike” Mahoney of Omaha Commerce (1919 to 1921) are the only three-time All-Nebraska first-team players.

On the All-Nebraska second team are Gesell's running mate at South Sioux City — junior Austin Groth — and seniors Derrius Vick of Lincoln Southeast, Kyler Erickson of Millard South, Turner Fahey of Class C-1 Grand Island Central Catholic and Ethan Brozek of C-1 state champion Norfolk Catholic. Fahey led the state in scoring.

Nominations of coaches and observations of The World-Herald's sports staff determine the teams. All schools received nomination forms by e-mail.

The 6-2 Gesell averaged 25.2 points, 8.2 assists and six rebounds — twice scoring 41 points in a game — as South Sioux City (24-2) repeated as Class B champion. The Cardinals finished third in the all-class Top 10. Their only loss to a Nebraska school was to Class A Bellevue East in triple overtime.

Comstock said Gesell's offseason refinements will include going stronger to the basket and improving his footwork.

Gesell said he's in no hurry to choose among the many scholarship offers already on the table. And more could be on the way. Nebraska, Creighton, Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa are wooing him, along with the likes of Utah. Stanford coaches watched him play in the Class B championship game.

Bradley guided Norfolk to third place in Class A in his first year as the Panthers' starting point guard. The 6-footer averaged 21.4 points and 4.8 assists while making 167 of 181 free throws (92.3 percent).

“He spent a lot of time trying to make himself quicker and jump better, and also the leadership of handling the responsibilities of having the ball in his hands more often,'' Panthers coach Ben Ries said. “I think it was a little bit of a challenge early on, but about mid-January, he started feeling more comfortable and had great games for us down the stretch.''

Agau's season met with approval from Central coach Eric Behrens, whose Eagles repeated as Class A champions. Agau averaged 10.6 points and 6.5 rebounds. His best game might have been in the state semifinals against Norfolk, a triple-double of points, rebounds and blocked shots.

“The biggest misconception came because he had such a good state championship game last year (also against Norfolk),” Behrens said. “If people only saw him in the state final, they thought he did that every night.

“I thought he got a lot better this year. But he has a lot of room to grow.''

Gullie showed his moxie in the state-final loss to Central. His eye was swollen shut from an injury that happened late in the Bears' semifinal win over Omaha Creighton Prep. The swelling improved only in the last hour before tipoff, and yet the 5-foot-8 senior scored 14 points in the 52-48 loss.

“I thought all season he played with the best desire to win that I had seen,'' Bryan coach Tim Cannon said. “He played well in the clutch. His scoring was a little less this season, but he was doing things to get people the ball.''

Cannon said Gullie has offers from Midland and Doane. He carries a 4.0 grade average.

Carter, who became a Division I recruit with the University of Nebraska at Omaha's move to the Summit League, was a three-year regular for Benson. He averaged 13.2 points as a senior after finishing with a season-high 29 in a first-round loss at state to Norfolk.

New Benson coach Donnie Johnson said Carter got better on defense as the season went along and didn't have to score as much for the Bunnies to win.

“He believed in his teammates and making plays for everyone,'' Johnson said. “In turn, that opened up the floor for himself.''

Contact the writer:

402-444-1041, stu.pospisil@owh.com

twitter.com/stuOWH

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• Video: See behind-the-scenes footage from the All-Nebraska and All-Metro photo shoot:

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