Creighton Basketball: How Bluejays continue to reload and have success each and every year

Creighton Basketball lost their entire starting lineup from the 2021 season and still put together a phenomenal season last year and has a bright future. How did they do it?

When the final buzzer went off at Hinkle Fieldhouse during the Sweet 16 in 2021, Creighton head coach Greg McDermott faced a reality check: this was the last time he would coach his seniors, the group that was the identity of Creighton basketball.

Mitch Ballock and his career 40% three-point percentage are gone. “3 and D” specialist Denzel Mahoney was gone as well. And don’t forget All-Big East forward Damien Jefferson. And the seniors weren’t the only ones leaving, as the other two starters left the program as well. Point guard and leader Marcus Zegarowski declared for the NBA Draft and big man Christian Bishop transferred to Texas. This left Coach McDermott without any returning starters for next season. What was he to do?

The first domino to fall was when senior guard and Duke transfer Alex O’Connell announced he would be coming back for another year, filling one of the backcourt spots. The next player also came internally, as 7’1” freshman center Ryan Kalkbrenner was sure to start in the middle in Omaha. But outside of those two there were question marks. Could Shereef Mitchell take that next step? Where can the Blue Jays fill out their roster, and with who?

Luckily for McDermott, he hit the nail on the head with recruiting. He brought in a Top 10 freshman class that included versatile forward Arthur Kaluma and guards Ryan Nembhard and Trey Alexander, all of which were starters for the Blue Jays at some point and Top 100 players in the class. Even though the incoming freshman class was so talented, arguably the most impressive get of them all was Northwest Missouri State transfer Ryan Hawkins, who scored over 2,000 points for the Division II school and won three national titles.

Even with the talent that they were bringing in to replace the consistency of the starting five from a year ago, many people didn’t give in to the hype and predicted a down year for the Blue Jays. In the Big East preseason poll, they were picked eighth after coming in second the year before. Despite this, Creighton just played their brand of basketball and came in fourth in the Big East behind Hawkins, who led the team in scoring and rebounding.

What’s even more impressive is how the Blue Jays navigated injuries throughout their success. Mitchell played in just a handful of games in November before suffering a season-ending injury. Nembhard suffered a broken wrist in late February just as things were shifting into gear headed into March.  Kaluma missed a couple of weeks with an injury. Kalkbrenner suffered a season-ending knee injury in the closing minutes of a Round of 64 victory over San Diego St.

With all of the injury troubles, the Blue Jays’ season ended with a narrow loss to the eventual National Champion Kansas Jayhawks in a game that McDermott only went six deep in the rotation and three players (Hawkins, Kaluma, and Alexander) played all 40 minutes. Creighton ended the season with a very modest 23-12 record and had its eyes set on the future.

With the 2022-23 season a few months away, all the Blue Jays are losing are Hawkins and O’Connell, and while both will be missed by the program, the growth and experience that the young players received last season alone will make up for their absence. McDermott also hit the jackpot again in the transfer portal, bringing arguably the best player in the portal to Omaha in South Dakota St. transfer Baylor Scheierman.

With Scheierman in the mix, the now reigning Big East Defensive Player of the Year in Kalkbrenner nursing back to health, and Nembhard, Alexander, and Kaluma all getting a year older, this Blue Jays team is poised to be a Top 10 team, at least, and make a deep run next March.