Danny Nee hasn’t been in Lincoln for seven years. He hasn’t played golf, he said, for five or six years.

Both of those streaks end today when Nee, the former Nebraska men’s basketball coach, participates in the Doc Sadler Golf Classic at Wildnerness Ridge Golf Club.

“Doc was nice enough to invite me back,” Nee said of Nebraska’s current basketball coach. “It just fit.”

Nee, whose 254 victories are the most by any Nebraska basketball coach, is back in the state for the first time since he was fired in 2000. He arrived Sunday and spent most of Monday fishing near Seward. He’s also stopped by to see Sadler in the Devaney Sports Center.

His relationship with Sadler?

“Excellent,” Nee said. “Excellent. I tried to hire him as an assistant. He’s just a warm friend.”

Nee said things “didn’t work out” when he tried hiring Sadler to Nebraska’s staff in the early 1990s. He’s hoping for different results for Sadler now.

“I think he’s a pretty damn good coach,” Nee said. “I want him to do well.”

Nee will be among 27 celebrity guests — those being former Nebraska players and coaches — in today’s event. It’s being hosted by the Rebounders Club in conjunction with the Nebraska athletic department as a summer fundraiser for the booster club.

Rebounders Club President Paul Garnett said Tyronn Lue, Eric Piatkowski, Erick Strickland and Dave Hoppen are among the former players who’ve said they will play today. There are 31 teams.

“We used to do it every year,” Garnett said. “It was a very successful event with Danny.”

Nee, who turns 62 next week, coached at Robert Morris and Duquesne after his 14 years at Nebraska. He resigned from Duquesne following a 3-24 record in the 2005-06 season.

Nee took last year off from coaching. He said he spent time watching his son, Kevin, play his senior year of high school basketball, and also did some scouting for the NBA’s Utah Jazz. Nee’s oldest son, Patrick, just completed his first year as head men’s basketball coach at Highland (Kan.) Community College.

“It was very relaxing,” said Nee, who resides in Pittsburgh. “I didn’t win any games or lose any games or have any press conferences or interviews.

“The time off has really done me well. There are different emotions you go through. I really enjoyed it. I’ve gone to Ohio State practices, I’ve been to practices at Pitt and West Virginia, I’ve evaluated players, done clinics.

Of course, the big question now: What’s next for Nee?

“Everyone’s asking me what I’m going to do, including my wife,” Nee said. “I’m totally up in the air. I haven’t decided.”

Nee said he won’t be a head coach, but that he will work again, perhaps as a third or fourth assistant to a major college program. He said he’s talked with Minnesota’s Tubby Smith and Kentucky’s Billy Gillespie, a close friend of Sadler.

Other options, Nee said, including being an NBA scout or working as a fundraiser at a university.

“I want to be selective, see what happens. I really don’t know what that is,” Nee said. “I’ll know it when I find it.”

Garnett said it was Sadler’s idea to invite the former coaches. Sadler’s predecessor, Barry Collier, who resigned to accept the athletic director’s job at Butler last summer, declined an invitation to attend today’s event.

The golf outing, which begins at noon, will be followed by a steak dinner and an auction of Husker items and memorabilia.

“We expected to have good support, and everyone got behind this event quickly,” Garnett said. “The ‘team’ participation was unparalleled, and we actually had to turn down some foursomes because we had such a positive response.”

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