(Photo: Brandon Jenkins, 247Sports)
Right as Quentin Rhymes was calling, the ball was tipped.
"And there you are," is the next line in those "One Shining Moment" lyrics. For Rhymes, not just yet. But the idea is no doubt to be there moving forward when the opening round of the NCAA Tournament begins.
"I'm still in awe about it all to be honest," Rhymes told Husker247 of thinking about being able to now go after such goals. "But I'm definitely excited to just get rolling and have an opportunity for that."
The Husker signee will arrive to the program in June. And while he'll need to keep developing his skillset to soar at the next level, the 6-7, 195-pound wing has traits that Husker head coach Fred Hoiberg said "reminds me of Brice Williams."
That is, a good shooter with length who can play through contact and has handled the ball and shown good court vision too, Hoiberg added. "And a high basketball IQ."
A four-star prospect in the 247Sports composite who ranks No. 102 overall, Rhymes was in town when Nebraska played Iowa to finish the regular season. A tough day for Husker hoops but he could see it was a Nebraska fan base ready to burst over a team being part of March Madness – and adding some noise to it too.
"Being there and seeing the energy really helped a lot and just makes me excited to play in that atmosphere, that caliber. That's what I'm really looking forward to," Rhymes said. "They're all there. They just need some fuel to add to the fire for sure."
Rhymes has been on fire for the game since he can remember.
"I fell in love with the game when I was like four or five years old," he said. "Just because I saw my dad play at a really high level."
His father, Wayne Rhymes, played at Portland State and professionally overseas. The Rhymes name is well known in the Phoenix area for the family's basketball prowess.
There was the good kind of competitiveness watching someone with the Ryhmes name excel. Then you wanted to go get it too.
"Our family is a tight basketball family so I just thought I'd pick up on it as well and I just fell in love with it," Rhymes said.
As a recruit he also formed a strong connection with Hoiberg's offensive system, which Rhymes calls "a pro-level system" that he thinks connects the dots to his skills. "With my goals and my game I thought it would be the best fit for me."
As for where he plays in Lincoln, "To be honest I could play any position they want me to play as far as the guard spots. If I need to play the 1 or 2, I'll definitely play that for sure. It all just depends on what they need from me."
Rhymes received an offer from Nebraska last May after he shined at a tournament in Wichita. He not only hit 50 percent from the field but also 38 percent behind the arc.
His game has been on the climb since, with a strong campaign that just ended at the same Hillcrest Prep school in Arizona that produced Creighton's Jamiya Neal, who had 29 points and 12 rebounds in the Bluejays' opening-round win Thursday.
Playing on that post-grad team this year, Rhymes will actually hit the age of 20 during Nebraska's season next year. So he's an older freshman-to-be as he joins the squad. And while NU will need to make some key portal additions, he has an idea of key players who will be back.