Nebraska men’s basketball players huddled at mid-court after Friday’s practice. They had 16 minutes to ready themselves for a bus ride to the airport.

Their flight was headed to College Station, Texas.

Their coach’s flight wasn’t.

Doc Sadler, for the fourth straight Friday, was prepared to part ways with his team the night before a game.

Worry not. He’ll meet the Huskers in time for today’s 3 p.m. tip-off at No. 22 Texas A&M.

During Sadler’s time away, though, he’ll watch potential future Huskers play as he hits the recruiting trail.

Friday night’s stop: somewhere in New Mexico. Last Friday, the night before Nebraska’s game at Iowa State, Sadler was in Chadron. He’s also traveled to Kansas, Iowa and Wyoming, part of his goal to see players at least twice a week.

Sadler thanked those boosters helping provide the quick travel.

“If you’re going to build a program on the Big 12 level,” Sadler said, “you have to have access to private planes.”

Those planes certainly come in handy with in-season recruiting, especially when you’re coaching in a state not exactly bursting   with NCAA Division I talent.

Nebraska currently has one too many players signed for its 2008-09 recruiting class. In November, Sadler signed junior college guard Roburt Sallie and German high school center Christopher Niemann, although Niemann’s eligibility for next season is in doubt because of his involvement with a German club team.

Nebraska has only one scholarship to fill, that of senior Aleks Maric. However, it’s believed Nebraska could lose at least one other current scholarship player and not be penalized with a scholarship loss because of a low APR (Academic Progress Rate).

That means Sadler continues to look for players to sign in the spring, although he has something of a stipulation.

“I’m not interested in signing anybody else unless they’re a starter,” Sadler said. “I don’t need any more bench players.”

In the meantime, Sadler will try to gather momentum from Wednesday’s victory against No. 24 Kansas State. That gave new life to the Huskers’ hopes for postseason play.

They’re hopes that could’ve been stronger had Nebraska (15-9, 4-7 Big 12) not stumbled in games against Colorado, Baylor, Missouri and Iowa State.

Those losses, all by single digits, are what kept Sadler from having a good night’s sleep despite beating K-State.

“I slept terribly,” Sadler said Thursday, the day after he collected his 200th college head coaching victory, junior college games included.

“There’s always something we could’ve done different. I know I’m supposed to have all the answers, but I miss a lot of things during the game sometimes, and look back and wish I would’ve done something different or saw something different.

“That’s why basketball is a fun and hard sport to coach, because it’s happening so fast.”

So, too, is the travel.

Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.