A look at Maggie Mendelson’s first year playing college basketball (and

Admittedly, during the early days of her attempt to play both college volleyball and women’s basketball for Nebraska, Maggie Mendelson wasn’t up to speed on everything the hoops team was doing when she joined them full-time in December.

However, she was aggressive in her return to the court, and that’s a good place to start.

So in her first games with the Husker basketball team Mendelson went hard to the basket a lot, got fouled and made her free throws — converting 10 for 13 attempts combined in her first two games.

“That’s all you can do at that point,” Mendelson said. “If you don’t know the plays you might as well just try and go get a rebound and try to get fouled.”

Mendelson is about nine months into being part of both programs. That’s a big ask on its own, but Mendelson is doing so as a 17-year-old in one of the best conferences in the nation for both sports. Last year she moved up her graduation year, and she won’t be 18 until April.

She came to Nebraska from Ogden, Utah, accomplished in both sports, having won gold medals for the United States junior national team in both volleyball and basketball.

Mendelson said her first year of playing two college sports has been “good.”

“The coaches have been helpful with me transitioning back and forth,” Mendelson said. “We’re getting through it.”

During the volleyball season Mendelson was mostly focused on that sport, but one or two times per week she’d get in some basketball work. She’d run on a treadmill, or work on her shooting with basketball assistant coach Tom Goehle and a student manager.

Before she joined the basketball team fulltime, Mendelson was able to attend about five games and sit on the bench.

That included one Friday night when the volleyball team played at 6 p.m. and the basketball game was at 8 p.m. Mendelson got two kills and two blocks against Iowa, and then arrived at the basketball game during the middle of the first quarter.

The volleyball season ended on Dec. 8, and 10 days later Mendelson played in her first Husker basketball game.

During her first basketball practice this winter she was surprised at how well it went.

“I just remember being excited to be back out here,” she said.

The sport where Mendelson experienced the biggest adjustment from high school to college is basketball — both for the speed the college game is played at and everything you need to know.

“The first couple of games I think I…