One more go around for the kid from Ashland.

Jacobsen stepped into a larger role in 2025-26. After redshirting in 2022-23, he played 55 minutes as a redshirt freshman and then 180 minutes the next year. However, 104 of those minutes as a sophomore came in Las Vegas at the College Basketball Crown.

This past season, which culminated in a Sweet 16 run, Jacobsen played in 689 minutes across 35 games. His presence was instrumental in a rotation that lost Connor Essegian early in the year and had moments without key contributors Braden Frager, Rienk Mast, and Berke Büyüktuncel.

On Thursday, Jacobsen spoke about this upcoming version of Nebrasketball, which will be his last as a Husker.

The summer is where the blending of the old and new can come together. The Huskers return just one starter and have added several pieces from the transfer portal. Jacobsen likes how the guys are coming together.

"We're a super fun group," Jacobsen said. "Just a lot of good dudes."

The more they play, the more Jacobsen and his teammates recognize why these transfers were brought in.

"As we start to continue to play more live, you start to see why the coaching staff really liked a lot of these guys," Jacobsen said. "Super talented. They all do a lot of really good things. Ultimately, everybody's pretty unselfish again."

A calling card of the team this past season was taking care of the ball. That's something this group is working on through the summer.

"High assist, low turnover obviously is what our recipe is so if we can replicate that, and then obviously rebound at a high level, that gives us the best chance to win," Jacobsen said.

Something that has stood out to Jacobsen has been the amount of shooting on the roster this year.

"Our offense can be hard to when the ball goes in," he said. "That's been the big thing. If we can get shots up, we think have a pretty good chance."

Jacobsen is taking on more of a leadership role as a senior.

"It's a matter of we lost a lot of leadership and a lot of older guys," Jacobsen said. "There's a next group of us who are going into year four and five who have to fill in and step into that role."

For Jacobsen, he's always tried to let his play and effort be the way he leads. Now, he's letting his voice come into action more.

"Being the guy to direct people and to get us into the next drill or the next segment, because our practice is pretty routine-based. So, being able to step into that and be a leader in that way and use my voice to keep things moving has been important," Jacobsen said.

On a recent episode of the "Inside The Coaching Mind" podcast, which is hosted by former Nebraska volleyball coach Terry Pettit, Coach Hoiberg said Jacobsen has "been as good a leader as we've had" this summer. He also compared his senior guard to one of his former NBA teammates.

"You talked about Sam, and how he elevates and makes other guys play hard; the best I ever had in that regard was Kevin Garnett," Hoiberg said. "He played with such a passion and energy that guys just had to follow him. Cale’s got that ability, with the way that he plays and the smarts and the IQ. He raises the level of everybody out there."

Eight newcomers are wearing red this year. That means eight new guys learning how to run Fred Hoiberg's offense and Nate Loenser's defense.

"It's a process," Jacobsen said. "The sooner you can understand the concepts, both offensively and defensively, the faster that we can progress and get to the next level of things."

Jacobsen said the emphasis to both the new guys and the returners is to do the simple things well, which allows them to do better with the more complicated parts of the schemes.

Three guys who have stood out to Jacobsen are freshman Jacob Lanier, transfer Taj DeGourville, and Will Cooper, the latter being a guy who redshirted last season but was with the program.

"(Lanier) has a toughness and an edge about him that is obviously really important as you get into college and you take a step up in levels," Jacobsen said. "He's been really good for all of us to see the way that he works."

Jacobsen noted that Lanier has excelled at pressuring on defense and attacking rebounds. That's something that DeGourville was known for while at San Diego State.

"(DeGourville) has really stepped up. I think even in this last couple weeks, you've seen him get more and more comfortable and just be able to make a lot of plays. He came from a culture of hard work and hard-nosed defensive basketball, and we need that, too, to just get a stop," Jacobsen said.

As for Cooper, who also spoke Thursday, Jacobsen sees a similarity in the way the underclassman has taken his time to learn and grow, even without being on the floor.

"He had a heck of a year last year," Jacobsen said. "By the end of the year, down in Oklahoma City, he was killing us in practice. The challenge for him is this summer you step back into playing Nebraska offense and Nebraska defense, you have to have the same confidence. He's shown that he has the ability."

Jacobsen stressed that the biggest thing for Cooper will be patience.

"You never quite know when it's going to be your turn. When it is, you have to be able to step into that. The Crown was mine. Who knows when his time will be, but he's putting himself in a good position to be able to contribute," Jacobsen said.

Despite only returning one starter in Pryce Sandfort, the Huskers also bring back Jacobsen, Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year Braden Frager, and contributors Essegian and Leo Curtis. Cooper is looking to step into a larger role, and most of the eight additions will be expected to step into the starting lineup or main rotation. That's at least a dozen players vying for minutes.

"It's a super competitive gym," Jacobsen said. "Coach Nate always says three teams, which we have right now, 15 guys, become two and then eventually two teams will become a five-(man) unit that's on the court."

Jacobsen said every guy is fighting for spots on the court.

"But then, as we kind of start to narrow things down, we'll have to buy into the roles from one to 15," Jacobsen said. "That's super important. I think that's what allowed us to be successful last year."

Jacobsen noted that the team is close on and off the court, which makes role acceptance easier.

"When the hard conversations come, if you're friends friends and brothers with your teammates, it's a lot easier to support those guys," Jacobsen said.