College Hoops Today

Serving College Basketball 365 Days a Year

5 questions with Creighton’s Greg McDermott

Greg McDermott has made Creighton into one of college basketball’s most consistent programs. The Bluejays have advanced to five of the last six NCAA Tournaments and nearly made the Final Four last season before falling to San Diego State in the Elite Eight. I caught up with McDermott on Wednesday to discuss the pain of last season’s loss to the Aztecs, Trey Alexander, and much more.

Jon Rothstein: You’ve been coaching for a long time, what is it like suffering a loss in the Elite Eight compared to the other defeats that you’ve encountered in your career?

Greg McDermott: It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t until July that I actually watched the game again, but I don’t want to take away from what that team accomplished. It was a heck of a run, especially when you consider what this team went through last December when Ryan Kalkbrenner was out of the lineup due to illness. We went on a six-game losing streak and were bumped out of the Top 10 and then out of the Top 25 and then we got back into the Top 25. It was a hell of a run and something that doesn’t happen very often, but it was definitely a tough way to have your season end.

Rothstein: What do you say to your team in the locker room after a loss like that — when you’re literally on the cusp of an appearance in the Final Four?

McDermott: You just kind of speak from the heart and tell them how much you appreciate their effort and their buy-in throughout the year. You don’t want the last play to define your season. I think this group now has done a good job in moving on from that and is now preparing to try and get back there again.

Rothstein: You lost two starters — Ryan Nembhard and Arthur Kaluma — from last season to the transfer portal, but you do return three starters including Trey Alexander. With Ryan Nembhard no longer at the point of attack for Creighton, what could that mean for Trey?

McDermott: I think you’re going to see Trey make a huge step on both ends of the floor. Defensively, we ask him to guard the other team’s best player and he’s got to make plays for himself and other people on offense. He’ll just have the ball in his hands a little bit more. Steven Ashworth — who transferred from Utah State — can play both on and off the ball so he’ll allow Trey to operate in both spots. Steven understands spacing and where to be. He’s one of the best shooters in the country so you have to account for him, which adds even more spacing to our offense.

Rothstein: You’ve coached a lot of great shooters during your time at Creighton, but Steven Ashworth made 111 three-point shots last season at Utah State. What could the marriage look like between him and the offense that we’ve seen your teams run during your time with the Bluejays?

McDermott: It’s been an easier transition than I probably would have anticipated, especially with him playing alongside Trey. I was anticipating certain things before our practices over the summer prior to our trip to the Bahamas, but the two of them have been able to do things organically. It’s been on the fly. Sometimes at the start of our offense the ball is thrown to Steven and sometimes it’s thrown to Trey and it’s worked out fine. But Steven brings so much gravity to our offense because you have to account for him six feet behind the three-point line. Beyond that, he makes great decisions and really makes simple plays with the basketball. Defensively? He’s a fighter. I really like what he brings to our group. There were other guys in the portal who were maybe bigger or more athletic, but in terms of fit for this particular team, I can’t imagine anyone better.

Rothstein: Creighton joined the Big East 10 years ago and has a major hand in its success. Considering the current landscape of college sports and the additions that the league made during the offseason, what do you envision for the conference during the 2023-24 season?

McDermott: I think it’s as good as it’s been in terms of the depth of the talent since I’ve been in the league. You’ve got three potential top-10 teams with what we return plus Marquette and UConn. That’s not including Villanova, who has seven seniors. And teams with seven seniors — in a system like that — are usually pretty good. I think people are really sleeping on how good Villanova is going to be. Coach (Rick) Pitino was able to turn over the roster at St. John’s and Kim (English) was able to retain guys at Providence and Ed (Cooley) was able to add guys at Georgetown. So across the league, it’s just gotten better. The strength at the top is as good as it’s been. It’s going to be a dogfight night in and night out, but that’s part of what makes it fun.

Leftovers