Creighton Basketball: A Look Ahead

With the 2017-2018 season in the books, it’s time to take a look at what next season has in store for the Creighton Bluejays

2019-20 season preview

As the 2019-20 season approaches, the Creighton basketball team finds itself in a very different position than it did a year ago.

Just two years removed from back-to-back Big East regular season titles, the Bluejays find themselves in rebuilding mode after a disappointing 2018-19 campaign. Head Coach Greg McDermott will have his work cut out for him as he looks to lead Creighton back to the top of the conference.

The Bluejays will be led by a talented group of young players including sophomores Ty-Shon Alexander and Mitch Ballock and freshman Christian Bishop. Alexander and Ballock both showed flashes of brilliance as freshmen and should be even better as sophomores. Bishop is one of the most highly touted recruits in program history and should make an immediate impact.

The Bluejays will also have several experienced players who will be key to their success, including seniors Martin Krampelj and Marcus Zegarowski. Krampelj missed all of last season with a Knee Injury but is healthy now and ready to make an impact. Zegarowski was Creighton’s leading scorer last season and will need to be even better this year if the Bluejays are going to turn things around.

With a mix of young talent and experienced leaders, the Creighton Basketball team has the potential to surprise some people this season. It won’t be easy, but if everything comes together, the Bluejays could find themselves back in the mix for a conference title

Key returners

Creighton will look to build upon their strong 2018-19 campaign in which they went 25-7 ( 15-3 Big East) and won a share of the Big East regular season title. The Bluejays will be led by a core group of returners that played significant roles in last year’s success.

Junior guard Mitch Ballock will be counted on to provide leadership and scoring after averaging 10.4 points per game last season. He will be joined in the backcourt by senior Ty-Shon Alexander, who averaged 15.7 points and was named to the Big East All-Conference Second Team.

In the frontcourt, junior Martin Krampelj returns after averaging 11.9 points and a team-high 8.1 rebounds per game He will be joined by sophomores Jacob Epperson and Damien Jefferson, who both made significant contributions as freshmen last season.

With a wealth of experience and talent returning, the Bluejays are poised for another successful season and should be considered one of the favorites to win the Big East Conference Regular Season title once again.

Key departures

This off-season, the Creighton Bluejays will have to replace some big contributors from last year’s 29-6 team that made it to the NCAA Tournament’s Second Round. Marcus Foster and Khyri Thomas, two of the best players in program history, have departed for the NBA. Foster was Creighton’s leading scorer at 18.2 points per game while Thomas averaged 15.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 2.8 steals per game en route to being named Big East Defensive Player of the Year. These two will undoubtedly be tough to replace, but Creighton does return some key pieces from last year’s squad.

Newcomers

It will be a new-look Creighton basketball team this season, as the Bluejays have just two scholarship players returning from last year’s squad. Leading the way will be sophomores Marcus Zegarowski and Mitch Ballock, who both started as freshmen and will be counted on to provide leadership for a team with 11 newcomers.

Of those 11 new players, seven are freshmen, including highly touted recruits Ty-Shon Alexander and Martin Krampelj. Alexander was Creighton’s highest rated recruit in years, and should make an immediate impact on both ends of the court. Krampelj is a 6’9” forward from Slovenia who was considered one of the best players in Europe before coming to Omaha.

The Bluejays also added four transfers who will be eligible to play this season. The most notable is 5th-year senior Kaleb Joseph, who played three years at Syracuse before transferring to Creighton. He’ll be eligible to play immediately and will likely start at point guard for the Bluejays. Also joining the team are three junior college transfers: 6’7” forward Jabari Peters, 6’5” guard Sammy Franzese, and 6’9” center Jacob Epperson.

Schedule

The Creighton Bluejays men’s Basketball team will tip off its season on November 6th at home against USC Upstate The following is a list of the team’s opponents, with last season’s record and notes on each team.

USC Upstate (11-21): The Spartans return four of their five starters from last season, including their leading scorer Mike Cunningham (17.5 ppg).

Akron (23-12): The Zips bring back all five starters from their NCAA tournament team, led by First Team All-MAC guard Dylan Frye (17.1 ppg).

Omaha (13-18): The Mavericks will be under new leadership this season, as Derrin Hansen takes over for the departed Al Skinner. They return their top three scorers from last year, including Zach Jackson (16.5 ppg).

Colorado (17-15): The Buffaloes are coming off a down year, but return star wing George King (15.6 ppg) and added graduate transfer Derrick White from USCS. They’ll be a tough out at home in Boulder.

UC Davis (12-18): The Aggies were one of the worst teams in the Big West last season and don’t look to be much better this year. They do have UC Irvine transfer Chima Moneke eligible this season, however.

Seattle (17-16): The Redhawks were a fringe NCAA Tournament team last year and bring back leading scorer Matej Kavas (16.8 ppg). They’ll be a tough test in KeyArena.

Non-conference schedule

The 18-19 season will be here before you know it, and with that comes another campaign of Ighton Basketball The Jays will look to build on their accomplishments from last year, when they won a share of the Big East regular season title and made it to the NCAA tournament for the sixth time in seven years.

As always, the schedule is loaded with intriguing matchups, both in and out of conference. Here’s a look at some of the most notable games on the slate:

Nov. 6 vs. UT Arlington (Fort Worth Invitational)
This will be Creighton’s first game against a UT Arlington team that went 21-12 last season and won the Sun Belt conference tournament The Mavericks will be a stiff test for the Jays right out of the gate.

Nov. 9 vs. TCU (Fort Worth Invitational)
TCU is coming off a solid season in which it went 21-11 and made it to the NIT quarterfinals. The Horned Frogs will be looking to make noise in the Big 12 this season, but they’ll have their hands full with Creighton first.

Nov. 23 vs. Akron (Boston College Classic)
Akron is coming off an 18-13 campaign in which it finished fourth in the MAC East division. The Zips will provide a good mid-major test for Creighton as it prepares for conference play

Conference schedule

The Big East schedule for the upcoming season was released yesterday, and Creighton will have their work cut out for them if they want to compete for a conference title They’ll open the season with a road game against Seton Hall followed by home games against Xavier and Marquette. They’ll then hit the road again for games against St. John’s and Providence before returning home to take on Butler. The final five games of the season will be against Villanova, DePaul, Georgetown, at Providence, and finishing up at home against Seton Hall

RPI

The most important metric for college basketball teams is their Rating Percentage Index (RPI). This number is a measure of a team’s strength relative to their opponents, and it is used by the NCAA to help select which teams will make the NCAA tournament

As of this writing, Creighton’s RPI is 14. This means that they are the 14th-ranked team in the country according to this metric. The top 25 teams in the RPI are all currently projected to make the NCAA tournament so Creighton is in a good position to make the field.

However, there are still some games left to be played, and Creighton’s RPI could drop if they lose some of those games. They will need to keep an eye on their RPI in order to ensure that they stay on track for a tournament berth.

NCAA tournament

The Creighton basketball team will be looking to make a run in the NCAA Tournament this year. The team is led by senior guard Marcus Zegarowski, who is averaging 18.5 points per game The Bluejays have a difficult road ahead, as they will likely have to face off against some of the top teams in the country. But if they can stay focused and come together as a team, they have a chance to make some noise in the tournament.

Final thoughts

The team is young but has a lot of potential. They will only get better with time and I can’t wait to see how they progress. I think they have a chance to be really good in a few years.