Busting Brackets
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Big East Basketball: Analyzing early 2019 recruiting classes

By Lukas Harkins

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 27: A Villanova Wildcats basketball goes through the net during warmups prior to the game against the Seton Hall Pirates at the Wells Fargo Center on January 27, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 27: A Villanova Wildcats basketball goes through the net during warmups prior to the game against the Seton Hall Pirates at the Wells Fargo Center on January 27, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 08: Coach McDermott of Creighton looks on. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 08: Coach McDermott of Creighton looks on. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) /

8. Creighton Bluejays

National Ranking: No. 115

Creighton has had a relatively inconsistent season during 2018-19 but it is reasonable to expect that they will not be down long. The Bluejays boast a ton of young talent and head coach Greg McDermott is one of the better leaders in the conference. With regards to their incoming recruiting class, only one player is currently committed and that is local product Shereef Mitchell. A 6-foot-0 point guard from Omaha, Mitchell comes in ranked at No. 200 in the class but as the best prospect in the state.

Mitchell plays with great pace with the ball in his hands and his defense is well beyond his years. He seems to be a great fit within the Bluejays’ system as well, especially if he continues to develop as a 3-point shooter. It is always good to snag a local product such as Mitchell. With Davion Mintz and Marcus Zegarowski already roaming the backcourt, it seems likely that Mitchell will come off of the bench in his first season but he could still see significant minutes.

Similar to many other schools in the conference, Creighton will also have an influx of talent from the transfer market next season. Denzel Mahoney, who started his career at Southeast Missouri State, is sitting out this season before taking the court in 2019-20. He averaged 19.3 points (.463/.413/.835) and 5.1 rebounds per game during his last season with the Redhawks and will have two years of eligibility remaining. Mahoney does not count towards Creighton’s 2019 recruiting class (obviously) but he deserves to be mentioned as a newcomer to the league.

On the whole, this has been a slightly disappointing recruiting class for Creighton. They entered the year with high hopes and have only been able to snag one recruit so far. The Bluejays still have two open scholarships so it will be interesting to see if they snag a big fish as the recruiting year continues. It has been reported that the Bluejays and top-100 recruit Tristan Enaruna have mutual interest.

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