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Former Nebrasketball Guard, Current Trail Blazer Bryce McGowens Selected for 2025 Castrol Rising Stars Showcase

The Huskers will be represented during NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco.

Kaleb Henry

Jan 18, 2025; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Bryce McGowens (11) brings the ball forward during the second half at Moda Center.
Jan 18, 2025; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Bryce McGowens (11) brings the ball forward during the second half at Moda Center. / Brian Murphy-Imagn Images
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Nebraska men's basketball will be represented during NBA All-Star Weekend.

Former Husker Bryce McGowens has been selected to the 2025 Castrol Rising Stars. The annual showcase features top first- and second-year NBA players and NBA G League standouts.

The event will take place Friday, Feb. 14, at 8 p.m. CST at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The game will be carried on TNT and streamed on TNT Overtime on the NBA App and NBA.com.

The format for the event is a mini tournament among four teams, with the winning Rising Stars team competing in the All-Star Game mini-tournament on Sunday, Feb. 16 against the NBA All-Stars.

McGowens has appeared in five games for the Portland Trail Blazers this season. Most of his time has been spent in the G League with the Rip City Remix. In 21 games, he is averaging 27.7 points, second-most in the G League, to go with 3.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game this season.

Former Nebraska Cornhuskers players Trey McGowens (left) and Bryce McGowens watch during the game against Maryland.
Feb 19, 2023; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Former Nebraska Cornhuskers players Trey McGowens (left) and Bryce McGowens watch during the game against the Maryland Terrapins in the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. / Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

After his lone season in Lincoln, McGowens was selected with the No. 40 overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was traded to the Charlotte Hornets, where he saw NBA action in 105 games over two seasons. He was waived by Charlotte in 2024 before being picked up by Portland five days later.

At Nebraska, McGowens was a third-team All-Big Ten performer as a freshman in 2021-22, averaging a team-high 16.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. An eight-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, McGowens had 11 games with 20 or more points.

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Kaleb Henry
KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

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