June marks an important time in any basketball program’s future. Visits are set-up and the staffs begin to show potential recruits what their university has to offer.
This coming weekend, Creighton will host a talented group of 2013 and 2014 recruits from the prestigious KC GMC (formly KC Pump’n’Run) program. KC GMC is Kansas City’s most famous program and has produced a number of elite college stars including Marcus Denmon, Michael Dixon, Brandon Rush, Brady Morninstar, Travis & Trevor Releford, Tyrel Reed, Casey Crawford, Steve Moore, Dominique Morrison and Kyle Weems. This program has also contributed some of the most solid players in the Missouri Valley over the years, such as Weems, Denver Holmes, Christian Kirk, Jon Ekey, Jay Tunnell, and Ryan Wedel. In addition, incoming Missouri State freshman Gavin Thurman has also played for this program.
Creighton recruited Denmon, Dixon, Moore and Weems very hard before losing them to Missouri and Missouri State. Thinking about what could have been makes you wonder what the last four years of Valley play would have been like with Weems a Bluejay. Could you imagine a Stinnett-Weems backcourt?!? Although Creighton missed out on the aforementioned players, they were successful in landing part-time KC Pump’N’Run ace Isacc Miles for a year before he transferred to Murray State.
Despite the fabled alumni KC Pump’n’Run boasts, this batch of KC GMC players could be the most talented of them all. For starters, 2013’s Connor Frankamp (Kansas verbal) and Travis Jorgenson (Missouri verbal) could be the best backcourt in all of AAU. When you add in the interior presence and skill of Tory Miller, KC GMC’s 16U team is one of the best in the Midwest. Tory Miller will be one of the visitors making a return trip to the Hilltop this week. To date, Miller has a Creighton offer as well as offers from Arkansas, Minnesota and Nebraska.
Along with Miller, there will be a slew of talented players from the class of 2014, including Nick Norton, Khadre Lane, Ezra Talbert, and Tyrone Taylor — who currently holds an offer from Creighton. The 5’9” Norton (pictured at left) controls the floor and likes to set-up talented wings like Lane and Taylor to attack the basket or hit an open outside shot. Talbert is an athletic forward who can get to the rim and also hit jumpers.
Norton plays high school ball for Rock Bridge, a school that should be familiar to Creighton fans, as past Creighton recruits Ricky Kreklow, Justin Miller and Travis Jorgenson also attended. Kreklow’s top three were Creighton, Minnesota and Missouri. He ultimately chose to be a Missouri Tiger, which didn’t last long as he then transferred to Cal. Miller and Jorgenson both played point guard before handing the reigns over to Norton.
Lane and Taylor were both present in Omaha at the Century Link Center in mid-February. In addition, Taylor was also present for the NCAA selection show viewing party for Creighton in March. Lane, at 6’5”, is as powerful as he his skilled and a force in the paint. Taylor, at 6’2”, is a lefty lights out shooter who can also handle the ball. He is slippery in the lane and also has a good mid-range jumper.
At 6’7”, Talbert’s video is reminiscent of what current Jay, Avery Dingman, looked like in high school. Talbert does not look very athletic but he out jumps taller defenders, while also possessing a perfect stroke and deep range.
Although Creighton has yet to land a 2013 recruit, it is important for the Jays to lay the ground work for future recruiting efforts. Other KC GMC players from the class of 2015, Drew Lock and Jimmy Whitt, have already listed Creighton as a school of interest. The staff will also look to bring in other players from the KC area due to the depth of talent in the region.
Ultimately, whatever happens over the summer, it is clear that the staff has placed an emphasis on recruiting heartland talent. This focus is exciting for Jays fans to see, as this has been a key ingredient in many of the past successful Creighton teams from the Altman era — and hopefully from future teams during the Mac tenure.
