Big East Basketball: Top 5 storylines heading into 2020-21 season
5. Is Creighton finally ready to handle a national stage?
Let’s be real about Creighton. Since the Blue Jays joined the Big East, they have been solid, but each time they have been on the brink of becoming a true national contender they have faltered and then taken a step back.
In 2014, Creighton’s first year in the Big East, they finished runner up, and Doug McDermott was the National Player of the Year. With that, came a national stage. The Blue Jays got beat in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. McDermott then graduated, and Creighton finished 14-19 the next season.
The 2017 campaign was Creighton’s next opportunity to showcase it was ready to be seen as an upcoming national power. A 13-0 Big East start led by Maurice Watson Jr. was upended by a season-ending injury to Watson Jr, and the Blue Jays never recovered, again going out in the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.
2020-21 is a golden opportunity for Head Coach Greg McDermott to put Creighton truly on the college basketball map. Why is that? Well, for one, they are going to start the season there. Coming off of a 24-7 season where it led the Big East in scoring, the Blue Jays are going to be a trendy pick to be one of the best in the Big East. I am also seeing a lot of early top 25s come out featuring Creighton in the top 10, so they will be top of mind for the media and fans alike. The Blue Jays also return an influx of its major contributors highlighted by Marcus Zegarowski (16.1 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 5.0 Ast) and Mitch Ballock (11.9 Pts, 5.3 Reb, 3.1 Ast).
The Blue Jays also have one of the more intriguing 2020 freshman classes in the conference. The 6’ 11” Ryan Kalkbrenner is coming in with very high expectations, and the May signing of Rati Andronikashvili, one of the top international prospects in this class, has really got people talking in Omaha. Andronikashvili is a 6’4” point guard who led the Georgia National team in scoring, rebounds and assists in the 2019 Under 20 European Championships. The Jays also snagged Alex O’Connell, a former top 100 recruit from Duke, but he would need a waiver to play this upcoming season.
Creighton looks pretty loaded as Damien Jefferson, Christian Bishop, and a slew of other guys expected to contribute return, but I still think there is some reason to be conservative when predicting where the Blue Jays will finish in 2020-21. The main reason is that the loss of leading scorer and the arguable best defender in Ty-shon Alexander is being overshadowed by all of the hope referenced above. Alexander may have been the most underappreciated player in the Big East in 19-20 as he ranked #1 in win share while only ranking #4 in usage percentage for Creighton, which speaks to how efficient he was when on the floor.
The transfer of Davion Mintz, a 2.5-year starter for Creighton who redshirted last season due to injury, also hurts. The losses of Alexander and Mintz essentially equate to the loss of two starters and a lot of experience that could have been valuable for this Creighton roster.
This is going to be a fun team to watch in 2020-21 as the ceiling is as high as it’s ever been in Omaha. The question is what Creighton will do with these expectations that give it another chance to storm onto the national scene. There are A LOT of reasons for excitement here, and I think this is at least a Sweet 16 team. However, McDermott has not had much success in March, and he’s going to have to find a way to replace Alexander. Hence the question. Is Creighton finally ready for the national stage?