By Brian Rosenthal / Huskers.com

When Tyronn Lue arrived on campus to embark on his Nebraska basketball career, the Missouri native soon discovered what sport was king in Lincoln.

“That's all that anyone talked about was it being a football school,” Lue said in a phone interview earlier this week, “and getting a chance to see the Huskers play football.”

The sea of red, the Blackshirts, Tommie Frazier, back-to-back national championships – Lue experienced it all as a student-athlete, watching from the stands of Memorial Stadium.

“It was great to be submerged in that,” he said, “and be a part of that type of environment.”

To his recollection, Lue hasn't returned for a football game since.

That streak ends Saturday when Lue, a member of the Nebraska Basketball Hall of Fame and now a three-time NBA champion, will attend the Huskers' 2:30 p.m. game against No. 22 Oregon at Memorial Stadium.

The Nebraska Athletics Department will recognize Lue on the HuskerVision screens and pay tribute to his most recent accomplishment – coaching LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first NBA Finals championship.

Lue isn't one to bask in the spotlight, partly the reason Director of Athletics Shawn Eichorst and Executive Associate Athletic Director Marc Boehm , along with men's basketball coach Tim Miles , had to convince the former Husker he'd be helping his former school.

“Initially I was like, 'Are you serious? You want me to go in front of all those people?' ” Lue said. “But I had a chance to sit down with Marc and Shawn and Coach Miles, and we talked about it, and they said it was good for the university. Any time I can help out with the university or help out with anything that's positive, I always want to do that.”

A former assistant coach with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers, Lue earned a promotion from associate coach to head coach in January and led the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals, where they defeated Golden State and became the first team to rally from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals.

Lue, who played 11 NBA seasons with seven different teams, won two NBA titles as a player. He's only the 14th player in the history of the NBA to win a title as both a player and head coach, and the first former Nebraska player to accomplish the feat.

Lue is the third coach in NBA history to take over a team in the middle of the season and win a championship in that season, and he set an NBA record by becoming the first coach to win his first 10 playoff games.

“I only coached half a year, but the ultimate goal is all the hard work you put in and the things you had to go through to get to where you want to get to, and to win a championship is the ultimate goal,” Lue said.

“I was able to experience that in a half a year, when you put in the hard work and go through the ups and downs and all the injuries and all the bad nights, and that you finally reach the pinnacle of winning the championship, it makes it all worth it. That's the biggest reward you can get.”

With that reward comes obstacles and headaches, and Lue admits the media attention and microscope with the game's biggest star on your roster isn't easy.

“To handle LeBron James, no matter what you do, you're going to be under so much scrutiny,” Lue said. “Just having LeBron on the team is just tough, because I don't like all the media attention and being on TV every day and all the interviews. It's just a lot to handle.

“But it comes with the territory when you're winning and you're blessed to have someone like LeBron on your team. That's what you want, so it comes with all the other stuff.”

Lue, 39, signed a five-year contract in July to remain the Cleveland coach. He envisions staying in the NBA for some time, and said in maybe 10 years he'd consider taking a step back to reflect and enjoy life.

“It's a constant grind, and I don't want to run myself into the ground,” Lue said. “I want to be able to enjoy it.”

Eventually, Lue said he could see himself one day even consider college coaching, considering he's always liked the thought of relating to younger players, giving back and showing them what it takes to succeed.

“But then having to deal with the AAU programs and with the parents and then all the recruiting – it's more than just basketball,” Lue said. “There's a lot that goes along with it. But I would love to give back to those young kids and let it know what it's all about and how to conduct yourself and how to take that next step to get to where you want to from a basketball. When I get older, I might be able to handle it, maybe something I want to do. I'm not totally against it.”

Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal