In a season where ordinary has been redefined, the Creighton men’s basketball team finally (knock on wood) appears to be on the brink of returning to the court for an actual game that will be played to completion for the first time since they claimed a share of the Big East regular season title on March 7th by defeating eighth-ranked Seton Hall in Omaha.
The Bluejays were originally scheduled to open the season in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic this past Wednesday, but positive COVID-19 test results within the Tier 1 group caused them to err on the side of caution and withdraw from the tournament. When they would officially open their season was still an unknown until a couple of days ago when it was announced that they will be hosting North Dakota State at CHI Health Center Omaha at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 29. Welcome to college basketball in the year 2020.
Along with bringing in some newcomers, Creighton also has plenty of familiar faces back from from a team that finished 24-7 overall, 13-5 in the Big East and ranked seventh nationally. Some of those familiar faces might be in new places, however, as they Jays are tasked with replacing Ty-Shon Alexander’s talents on the wing that saw him transform into one of the more effective two-way players in the entire country. Head coach Greg McDermott hopped on the Bluejay Beat Podcast to break down this season’s roster and offers his insight into how Creighton will go about filling the void left by Alexander, who signed a two-way contract with Phoenix Suns last Thursday after declaring for the NBA Draft in April.
2020-21 Roster Outlook
Key Departures: Ty-Shon Alexander (16.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.3 spg, 39.9% 3FG), Kelvin Jones (3.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 55.1% FG), Davion Mintz (missed all of last season; averaged 9.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.0 apg in 2018-19)
Key Returnees: Mitch Ballock, Sr. (11.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.1 apg, 43.5% 3FG), Damien Jefferson, Sr. (9.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 53.3% FG), Denzel Mahoney, Sr. (12.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 35.8% 3FG), Marcus Zegarowski, Jr. (16.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 5.0 apg, 42.4% 3FG), Christian Bishop, Jr. (8.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.1 bpg, 59.2% FG)
Key Newcomers: Antwann Jones, So. (4.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 34.1% 3FG as a freshman at Memphis in 2018-19), Ryan Kalkbrenner, Fr. (16.3 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 5.7 bpg; consensus Top 100 recruit; Nike EYBL Defensive Player of the Year)
2020-21 Schedule (subject to change)
Nov. 29 vs. North Dakota State
Dec. 1 vs. Omaha
Dec. 4 vs. Kennessaw State
Dec. 8 at Kansas
Dec. 11 vs. Nebraska
*Dec. 14 vs. Marquette
*Dec. 17 at St. John’s
*Dec. 20 at Connecticut
*Dec. 23 vs. Xavier
* – Big East Conference game
Watch or listen below to our roster break down with head coach Greg McDermott: