Grant Gibbs began his career at Gonzaga, redshirting in 2008 and playing in 24 games as a freshman in 2009. Frustrated at his nagging injuries, he looked to transfer closer to home, and when Greg McDermott took the Creighton job in 2010 Gibbs opted to join him. He sat out the 2010-11 season, then hit the ground running in 2011. He was voted a team captain before ever playing a game, a testament to his stature among his teammates, and his steady grasp of the game made him a de facto coach on the floor even in his earliest games in a Bluejay uniform. His ability to dish out assists while not turning it over is almost unparalleled in the annals of CU hoops, and his cunning in close games has been a key factor in the Jays’ success the last three years.
He’s been an integral part of many of the best moments in his career. Here’s his ten best, as voted on by the editors of WBR.
Top Ten Games and Moments
Grant Gibbs looks to make a pass against Northwestern in a December, 2011 game. (Photo by Adam Streur for WBR)
#10 | December 19 and 22, 2011 | 22 Assists in Two Games
Even early in his first season at Creighton, Grant Gibbs had a unique ability to get the ball to his teammates in position to score. In just his tenth game, he nearly had Creighton’s first point-rebound-assist triple-double in their win at Tulsa, finishing with nine points, seven rebounds and 10 assists. Then three nights later at home against Northwestern, he set the CenturyLink Center Omaha record with 12 assists, a mark that tied for sixth-most in Creighton single-game history and was the most by a Bluejay in ten years. In doing so, he became the first Bluejay with consecutive games of 10 or more assists since Duan Cole in 1990.
After the Tulsa game, WBR’s Patrick Marshall examined the “Gibbs/McDermott Connection” and found that two-thirds of McDermott’s 102 baskets to that point had an assist, and of those, half were from Gibbs. To be exact: Gibbs had 59 assists through the Tulsa game, and 34 of them had been to McDermott. You can see their connection in the highlights from that win over the Golden Hurricane.
Grant Gibbs throws down his first career dunk. (Photo by Adam Streur for WBR)
#9 | January 15, 2012 | First Career Dunk
Creighton’s 90-71 blowout of Southern Illinois in January of 2012 would have been a run-of-the-mill conference win over a struggling opponent if not for two milestones — Doug McDermott scoring his 1,000th point and Grant Gibbs throwing down his first career dunk. Fittingly, the dunk was a McDermott/Gibbs Connection, but in reverse. After catching the ball on the perimeter from Antoine Young in transition, McDermott drew two defenders. Meanwhile, Ethan Wragge put a pick on another SIU defender (two, actually) and Gibbs rolled to the hoop. McDermott zipped a pass to a streaking Gibbs, who exploded for the dunk. It was met with incredulous excitement by pretty much everyone in the arena, most of whom believed he wasn’t capable of dunking due to his injury history and relative lack of leaping ability in general. On Bluejay radio, Nick Bahe was no less surprised, exclaiming, “Meet me at the rim, Mr. Gibbs!”
Scroll to about the 1:30 mark on the highlight reel to check it out.
#8 | July 2, 2013 | Sixth-Year Granted
It was considered a longshot by most observers, but over the summer the NCAA granted a sixth year of eligibility to Grant Gibbs. He’d spent two seasons at Gonzaga before transferring to Creighton, but redshirted his first year there — a season that coincided with an injury that would have kept him off the floor anyway. Then after his freshman year, he transferred to Creighton, and during the year he was forced to sit out because of the transfer, he had knee surgery for another injury that would have kept him off the floor anyway. That was the crux of the appeal for a sixth year, and the reason for the NCAA granting him a rare exemption.
The news was delivered to him in person, and in a pro move, videotaped by Rob Anderson. It’s an all-time classic.
#7 | January 13, 2012 | Gibbs the Instigator
Grant Gibbs has always had a little Eddie Haskell in him — seeming to take great joy in subtly pushing an opposing player’s buttons until he boils over with frustration and hurts his team. It’s happened time and again during his career. Sometimes the opponent simply picks up a dumb foul or two, sometimes the opponent tries to show Gibbs who’s boss and makes a terrible decision with the basketball, and sometimes…well, sometimes the opponent snaps.
During a January, 2012 game at Illinois State, Gibbs talked back-and-forth with Johnny Hill all night and in the game’s waning moments, Hill couldn’t take it anymore. As Gibbs came up court with the ball, Hill literally shoved him in the chest, sending Gibbs flying wildly into the scorers table. He was assessed two technical fouls and was ejected from the game, then continued jawing at Gibbs and had to be restrained by his teammates. (That sequence is at roughly the 5:00 mark of the highlight reel)
After the free throws, several Redbird fans threw debris onto the court, including a mini basketball. Gibbs picked it up and held it high where the officials couldn’t help but notice it, then walked it over and handed it to one of them; this of course infuriated the fans even more, because it led to another technical foul being assessed. Gibbs truly embodies the old saying that if he’s on your team, you love him, but if he’s on the other team, you despise him, and that was never more evident than that January night in Normal.
#6 | December 1 and December 6, 2012 | Gibbs’ Behind the Back Pass to Wragge
Two early December blowouts in 2012 showcased Gibbs’ passing ability and innate knack for knowing where his teammates would be at any moment. On December 1, they blew out St. Josephs 80-51 thanks to nine assists and no turnovers by Gibbs. Here’s what Ott had to say after the game:
“After 40 minutes, the Jays shot an identical 57% from the field in both halves. They hit 48% of their three-pointers, with McDermott knocking down 5 of his 7 attempts. The aforementioned offensive explosion doesn’t happen without Gibbs and Chatman. Playing against a team that has all sorts of size and length advantages against the Bluejays, Gibbs and Chatman were nearly flawless in their distribution and facilitation of Creighton’s offense.
Gibbs recorded 9 assists without committing a turnover, pushing his assist-to-turnover ratio to 48-8 for the season (6:1). That’s absolutely ridiculous, but also undeniably necessary for the Big Blue Machine to function. McDermott is the team’s star, its best player. But so much of what Doug does wouldn’t happen without the savvy and skill that Gibbs brings night in and night out. He’s Creighton’s most valuable player, and if left to a vote it probably wouldn’t even be close.”
Late in the game, he made one of his best passes — behind the back to a wide-open Ethan Wragge for a three-pointer (at the 4:30 mark in the highlight reel).
Later that week against Nebraska, he was even better, dishing a season-high 10 assists while scoring 5 points, grabbing 5 boards, and committing just 1 turnover. He also earned two large tiger-stripe scratches on the side of his face, which were indicative of the physical and catty nature of that season’s edition of the in-state rivalry game (though the scrum that caused the scratches was nothing compared to the scrum with Terran Petteway in the 2013 edition of the game).
Grant Gibbs returned from injury to play against DePaul on February 7, 2014. (Photo by Mike Spomer for WBR)
#5 | February 7, 2014 | The Return
On January 7, Grant Gibbs injured his knee in a game at DePaul, and when he had to be helped off the floor most people assumed the worst — that with less than 20 games remaining in his career, this was a career-ending injury. He was battling under the basket for a rebound and got tangled up with DePaul’s DeJuan Marrero; the play resulted in Gibbs hitting the court awkwardly, grimacing in pain. He laid on the court with his jersey covering his face for several minutes before being helped off the floor, unable to put any weight on the leg. It was a heartbreaking scene.
That made his return a month later even sweeter. One month to the day of the injury, versus the same team he’d suffered the injury against, he removed his warmups and made his way toward the scorers table about two minutes into the game. You could hear the precise moment fans in different parts of the arena realized what was happening, because an excited rumble overtook the arena…and when he checked in during a stoppage in play at the 16:59 mark, the resulting noise shook the arena. Even DePaul coach Oliver Purnell noted the significance of the moment and applauded the return of the senior to the lineup.
And what a return it was. 30 seconds after checking in, he threw an assist down the baseline to McDermott for an easy layup. On the very next possession, he threw an assist to McDermott for a three-pointer. It was like he’d never left. Gibbs played 21 minutes, with seven points, eight assists, five rebounds and a steal. He looked timid his first few minutes on the floor, constantly adjusting his knee brace during stoppages, and during one sequence opting not to dive on the floor for a loose ball. But as the game wore on and he played more minutes than planned due to foul trouble and Devin Brooks having the flu, he got back into the flow and played a spectacular game.
#4 | March 16, 2012 | The Inbounds Pass off the Back
There’s no more Gibbsian play than inbounding the ball off the back of a defender to himself, leading to an uncontested layup before the defense knows what happened. It’s the kind of play you make in your driveway when you’re ten years old, but no one does in a Division 1 game either because they don’t have the guts to try it, or because they don’t even notice the opportunity. Not Gibbs. He’s done it at least six times by our count, including on the sport’s biggest stage — in the NCAA Tournament.
In the 2012 tourney against Alabama, Creighton was behind 48-41 with 8:45 to play. Inbounding the ball underneath his own basket, Gibbs noticed the Alabama defender had his back to him, so he threw the ball in, bouncing it off the defenders’ back, then scooped it up and laid in a basket. It all happened so quickly that CBS’ crew of Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg weren’t certain what had happened initially; when they saw the replay, Nantz started to explain what he thought had occurred and then stopped, laughing at the absurdity of what had actually happened. You talk about guts of steel — to make that play, in that situation, on that stage? Yeah.
(You can skip to the 3:15 mark of the highlight reel to view the play.)
Grant Gibbs puts Creighton ahead with 11.8 seconds to play in regulation against Illinois State. (Photo by Mike Spomer for WBR)
#3 | March 4, 2012 | Gibbs Scores Five Points in Overtime, Leads CU to Title
Playing for the 2012 Arch Madness title, Creighton had to outlast a spunky Illinois State team that was playing for their NCAA Tournament lives. Doug McDermott was brilliant, but it was Gibbs that stepped up to make play after clutch play, taking advantage of all the defensive attention focused on his teammate. As Ott wrote following the game:
“Leading the charge among the supporting crew was Grant Gibbs, a player who chose Creighton over Northern Iowa as his transfer destination after leaving Gonzaga because McDermott was winding up in Omaha instead of Cedar Falls. To a man, the Bluejays — with McDermott the most vocal and frequent advocate — give Gibbs credit for keeping the team loose all season and facilitating much of the offense through his off guard position. On Sunday, two days after one of his least impressive games of the year, Gibbs (career-high 20 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, no turnovers) proved his teammates profits.
Gibbs made just about every play he could have to keep his team in the game and push them over multiple obstacles to a title. Three-pointers that kept Creighton close in regulation. Two free throws late to keep Illinois State from getting the stop they needed at the stripe. The first basket of overtime — a three — that allowed the Jays to open the extra period with momentum. He crashed the boards hard, even while getting fouled but not getting calls. He routinely outfought taller, bigger Redbird players for long caroms and loose balls.”
#2 | March 2, 2013 | The Rainbow Three
There’s nothing quite like the pressure of winner-take-all game — Wichita State and Creighton were tied atop the standings on the final day of the season, and the winner would take the regular season title while the loser would be the runner-up.
Ahead 55-52 with 11:37 to play, Doug McDermott checked out for a quick breather. Gibbs found Ethan Wragge for a three to put them up 58-52, and then Wragge made a second three moments later. Gibbs threw an assist to Austin Chatman on the next possession for another three, whipping the crowd into an absolute frenzy and forcing Gregg Marshall to take a timeout. Gibbs had assisted on two three-pointers in 90 seconds and made the pass that set up the assist on a third, but he’d add a three-pointer of his own at the 7:28 mark. Off a wild crosscourt pass from Chatman that nearly sailed over his head out of bounds, he launched a high-arching three from the corner that seemingly stayed up in the air for 10 seconds. It swished through the net, and when it came out the bottom Creighton had a 69-54 lead.
For the game, he had 12 points and eight assists, but it’s that rainbow three that’s the most memorable play he made that afternoon. It’s at the 5:03 mark in the highlight reel.
#1 | March 18, 2012 | “The Wink”
Six minutes into their 2012 NCAA Tournament game against North Carolina, Grant Gibbs the Instigator had perhaps his finest moment. While fighting for the ball under the UNC basket, he slapped at it in a manner that John Henson didn’t appreciate — namely, hitting his injured wrist. He shoved Gibbs and was immediately assessed a technical foul. It was what happened afterward that made it the most memorable thing Gibbs has done in a Creighton uniform, though. As he walked back up the court to shoot free throws, he winked at the Bluejay bench — a moment caught live by CBS’ cameras. It enraged Tar Heel fans, and when Kendall Marshall was injured later in the game it was all the evidence they needed that CU was a dirty team.
Roy Williams didn’t share that sentiment, of course. He understood full well what Gibbs’ intent was — to get Henson riled up and off his game. On his Monday night radio show the day after the game, he commented, “If you’re asking me would Roy Williams wink at the bench after drawing a technical, probably not. But Michael Jordan would.”
(Scroll to the :45 mark for the technical foul on Henson.)