NCAA Basketball: Preseason top 25 power rankings for 2022-23 season

After having to replace all five starters from the season prior, Creighton making it back to the NCAA Tournament last year was an overachievement. And the bulk of that production is back, including a trio of sophomores that all could have breakout potential.

It starts with point guard Ryan Nembhard, brother of former Gonzaga point guard Andrew Nembhard. He averaged 11.3 ppg and 4.4 apg as a freshman, including eight games of at least 15 points. His production was very inconsistent overall but as a sophomore should take a nice leap. His backcourt partner is another former four-star prospect in Trey Alexander, who averaged 7.4 ppg and 2.5 apg. He started off the bench until the final 13 games of last season, with seven of them going for double figures.

The third sophomore to watch is forward Arthur Kaluma. He went for 10.4 ppg and 5.4 rpg in 26 mpg as a starter. The 6’7 frontcourt player had 15+ points on eight different occasions, including 24 points and 12 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament against Kansas. Also in the frontcourt is Ryan Kalkbrenner, who already had his sophomore breakout campaign last season, averaging 13.1 ppg, 7.7 rpg, and 2.6 blocks per game on a whopping 65% shooting from the field. That includes 16 ppg in the final 12 games, all of which were in double figures.

Then there’s the major offseason pickup in Baylor Scheierman. The transfer from South Dakota State was the Summit League Player of the Year, averaging 16.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg, and 4.5 apg while shooting 51% from the field and 47% from three-point range. He adds much-needed perimeter shooting to the lineup and is a proven efficient scorer.

Creighton has one of the best projected starting lineups for the upcoming season and the bench looks good too, including TCU transfer guard Francisco Farabello and four-star center prospect Fredrick King. Coach Greg McDermott has potentially his most talented roster with the Bluejays, will the results be historic for the program too?