Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The men’s basketball team at the Omaha branch of the University of Nebraska has surpassed expectations this season, and a postgame ritual involving a trash can has gotten plenty of attention during the team’s impressive run. An assistant coach is usually the man responsible for assaulting that inanimate object, but the team took things to the next level by inviting a couple of AEW wrestlers to get in on the fun.
Last year, Omaha’s men’s basketball team finished with a 15-18 record after going 7-9 in Summit League play (good for sixth place out of nine teams) and saw their season end after losing to eventual champion South Dakota State in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
The Mavericks weren’t expected to have a dramatic turnaround when you consider they finished eighth in a preseason poll, but they’ve spoiled the narrative in a big way.
Omaha is currently sitting atop the Summit League standings with a 12-3 record in conference play (they’re 18-12 overall) and bounced back from a recent two-game skid with wins over Kansas City and South Dakota.
They’ve emerged as one of the more compelling teams in college basketball this year thanks in no small part to the postgame ritual associate head coach Kyan Brown inadvertently invented when he kicked a trash can in the locker room to try to fire up his team before a game when they were sitting a 4-9, which marked the start of a nine-game winning streak and a run where they’ve been victorious in 14 of their last 17 contests.
On Saturday, the Mavericks had a couple of special guests in the building for their aforementioned showdown with South Dakota in the form of Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd, the AEW wrestlers who comprised the tag team known as The Outrunners.
The duo gave the players a pep talk before the game to give them extra motivation to earn the right to inflict some damage on one of the trash cans that have hated to see Omaha coming in recent months, and they were able to do exactly that with the 93-85 win.
The Outrunners were subsequently invited to do the honors in the locker room, and they took full advantage of the opportunity.
NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE SUCCESS 🗣️@AEW stars The Outrunners (@turbofloyd_ and @TruthMagnum) do the honors after your Mavericks clinched at least a share of the @TheSummitLeague regular season title🤘‼️🗑️@OMavs x @AEW pic.twitter.com/alqODfdwqP
— Omaha Men’s Basketball (@OmahaMBB) February 23, 2025
How can you not love college basketball?