Jahenns Manigat was the final recruit brought to Creighton by Dana Altman before he left for Oregon. The guard from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada visited Omaha the weekend of April 17, 2010, and signed a letter on intent four days later. Three days after that, Altman took the Oregon job, leaving Manigat in the lurch.
“Coming into this, you know that’s the nature of the business,” he told the Omaha World-Herald on April 27. “What is one day can be completely different the next. You have to adapt and adjust. That’s all you can do. I still intend on coming to Creighton. Hopefully, the coaches will get in touch with me, the sooner the better.”
Greg McDermott kept two signees — Manigat and Will Artino — while releasing another (Keith Denson) from his LOI and rescinding their offer to Tyrone Nared. Manigat has gone on to become a fan favorite, a team leader, his teammates’ biggest cheerleader, the emotional center of the team and a three-year starter. It would be tough to find a player that’s developed more over the course of his career than Manigat; under the tutelage of McDermott and staff, he’s turned into a great defender, a dangerous (albeit streaky) shooter, and a nice ballhandler.
He’s provided Bluejay fans with a ton of lasting memories. Here’s his ten best, as voted on by the editors of WBR.
Top Ten Games and Moments
A noticeably-lankier Jahenns Manigat shoots from three-point range against Alabama State in November of 2010. (Photo by Adam Streur for WBR)
#10 | November 12, 2010 | Three 3-Pointers in Creighton Debut
In his very first game at Creighton against Alabama State, Jahenns Manigat gave CU fans a glimpse of what he’d bring to the team over the next four years. He wasn’t the most athletic, he wasn’t the best shooter, he wasn’t the best defender, but he’d be damned if anyone would out-hustle him or beat him to a loose ball. Here’s what I wrote after that game:
“Jahenns Manigat, the freshman guard from Canada, made 3-5 from long range for 12 points in 22 minutes, but it was his energy off the bench — on defense, going after loose balls, keeping his teammates up when the game turned tense in spots — that while can’t be quantified with stats, is impressive for a freshman and gives the Jays another dimension they lacked last year.”
Jahenns Manigat celebrates a MVC Tourney win over Northern Iowa in March of 2011. (Photo by Adam Streur for WBR)
#9 | March 4, 2011 | Manigat Nearly Blows MVC Opener, Then Redeems Himself
In his first-ever MVC Tournament game, Jahenns Manigat came oh-so-close to being a goat. With Creighton leading UNI 60-57 and ten seconds remaining, Kaleb Korver rebounded an errant shot and fired it upcourt to a streaking Manigat. The Creighton half of the arena exploded, certain of a layup or a dunk that would drive the nail in the Panthers coffin, and to the loudest crowd noise of the afternoon, Manigat dribbled for what should have been a victory lap.
Instead, he missed it. The layup bounced around the rim, and was corralled by Jake Koch. Instead of a victory lap, it had turned into a nightmare. When asked what was going through his mind after the miss, at first Coach Greg McDermott joked. “After I wanted to strangle him?” Then he turned philosophical. “You’d like to put it away there, obviously, and he missed it. In that situation, you’re going to miss it one time out of 100, probably, and that just happened to be the one.”
In the huddle, they regrouped, because they still had a three point lead to protect. Wouldn’t you know it, Manigat would get his shot at redemption. “We talk about rear-view mirror all the time. You’ve got to put it behind you. It’s the next play. You’ve got to forget about the last play, good or bad,” Coach Greg McDermott said after the game. “We instructed them to stay on the floor and not go for shot fakes. It’s easy to listen to that. When you get out there and Kwadzo (Ahelegbe) is up to not leave your feet, that’s not easy to do. He defended it extremely well. He kept Kwadzo in front of him.”
Indeed he did. As Ahelegbe rose up to shoot at the buzzer, Manigat stayed in front, didn’t bite on the shot fake, and partially blocked the would-be tying shot. It was glorious redemption for the player who could easily have been the biggest goat in recent Creighton basketball history.
Jahenns Manigat looks to make a play in a 2010 Summer League game. (Photo by Patrick Marshall for WBR)
#8 | Summer, 2010 | Greeting Fans at Summer League
It’s hokey but my first memory of Jahenns Manigat comes from before he even played an official game for Creighton. In the summer of 2010, Dana Altman had just departed for Oregon after three straight NCAA Tournament-less seasons, the end of the P’Allen Stinnett Era was still a raw memory, and fan goodwill toward the program was at a low ebb. New coach Greg McDermott allowed his players to compete in the Metro Summer League, something Altman had put a stop to during his final years as coach, and that allowed fans to get up close and personal with new players such as Doug McDermott and Jahenns Manigat. McDermott played well, but it was Manigat who embraced the role of goodwill ambassador — chatting with fans before and after games, shaking hands, signing autographs, posing for photos, and thanking fans for coming out to watch them. He wouldn’t play a “real” game for four months but he was already becoming a fan favorite among those in attendance that summer.
Jahenns Manigat forces one of his four steals against Oregon in March of 2011. (Photo by Adam Streur for WBR)
#7 | March 28, 2011 | Manigat Key to Spoiling Altman’s Return
When Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks came to Omaha for the CBI Finals in March of his first season away from Omaha, it was his final Creighton recruit that was the key to the Bluejay victory. Here’s how Ott described the pivotal stretch, where Creighton increased a five-point lead to a 17-point cushion midway through the second half:
“Following a 3-pointer by Kaleb Korver to push the lead to 8, McDermott hit a 3 of his own to put CU up 11. He hit a layup after missing a 3-point attempt, and then made two free throws after a Jahenns Manigat steal. He capped a personal 9-0 scoring run off another steal and assist from Manigat, this one due to a marvelous effort from the freshman from Canada. Manigat dove to the court to force a steal near the time line and then, outstretched on the hardwood, somehow cortorted his body to roll a pass to McDermott, who was streaking down the wing near Creighton’s basket. McDermott, Manigat’s roommate, grabbed the ball and attempted a layup in seemingly one smooth move, and his shot was goaltended. Just like that, Creighton led by 17, thanks in large part to a guy Altman brought to CU (Manigat) and a guy who came to the Hilltop specifically because Dana left for Oregon (McDermott).
The freshman from Canada had a stellar game, scoring 11 points and grabbing 3 rebounds while dishing 7 assists and collecting all of Creighton’s 4 steals. He played 37 minutes, a career-high, and has established himself as an integral part of the immediate future of Creighton basketball. Everyone is in awe with Antoine Young’s play in this tournament — and rightfully so. But Manigat has been almost as impressive. He scored 17 points in the team’s first game against San Jose State, but recorded just 4 points in the next two wins combined. However, in those two games he still played 66 minutes and dished 8 assists to just 1 turnover while swiping 2 steals and recording a block. For the four games, he has 17 assists, 7 steals, 8 rebounds, and just 4 turnovers. He brings intensity to the court whenever he’s in the game — and energy even when he’s on the bench, which hasn’t been often in the past four games.”
Jahenns Manigat had seven assists in the Jays’ NCAA win over Cincinnati. (Photo by Adam Streur for WBR)
#6 | March 22, 2013 | Jahenns Has 7 Assists in NCAA Tourney Win
Against a tough, defensive-minded Cincinnati team in the 2013 NCAA Tournament, Jahenns Manigat was clutch at handling the ball. While fellow starting guards Austin Chatman (2 assists, 3 turnovers) and Grant Gibbs (4 assists, 5 turnovers) struggled with their pressure, Manigat thrived — dishing out a team-high 7 assists while turning it over just twice in 38 minutes. With Doug McDermott scoring almost at will, he did what was needed to help his team get the win, and on that day, it was controlling the ball and finding open teammates.
#5 | January 29, 2011 | In First Career Start, Manigat Scores Eight Points
A half-hour or so before tipoff against a feisty Indiana State team, the tweets and texts started pouring in: freshman Jahenns Manigat would start in place of Josh Jones, who was late for a morning meeting. No one knew how the freshman would respond to the sudden promotion. As Ott wrote after the game:
“He tended to get sped up when filling in a minute or two here for Antoine Young or Kaleb Korver or Darryl Ashford to this point in his first season. He spent more of his energy working the team into a frenzy during the pregame pump-up circle. He had to resign his spot to Wayne Runnels; Manigat needed to make an impact. Jahenns struggled offensively in the first half. He missed all four of his shots from the field but hit a couple of free throws. He grabbed a couple of rebounds and recorded an assist.”
After he settled down, Manigat played a good second half of basketball, and wound up the day with eight points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a charge taken. He’s been a fixture in the starting lineup in almost every game since.
Jahenns Manigat skies for a fastbreak dunk against Marquette. (Photo by Mike Spomer for WBR)
#4 | December 31, 2013 | Manigat Scores 16, Dunks on Marquette
In the Bluejays’ Big East debut, Jahenns Manigat played exceptional basketball, scoring 16 points to go along with his usual solid defense. The two combined for one highlight-reel-worthy play in the first half, when he jumped in front of a pass, intercepted it, then streaked downcourt to throw down his first career dunk.
Well, he grazed the rim anyway. There was heated debate on whether it could actually, technically, be classified as a dunk, and he laughed about it on the postgame radio show afterwards:
“Here’s what we’re not going to do (laughing). Until we get the photo finish at the end, at the top of my jump, if I touched the rim, then we can call it a dunk (laughing). But I’m not going to lie, you guys want to know what I was seriously thinking about? UNI, freshman year, MVC Tournament. I still remember missing that fastbreak layup. If I wasn’t trying so hard to slap the backboard I probably wouldn’t have missed it. But that shows the growth, right? (laughing) I had a good athlete trailing me, I just wanted to make sure I finished with a bucket. I told my teammates, you guys and all 18,525 fans lifted me up on that one. I couldn’t jump like that on my own!”
He explained the dunk to the media the next day, and his teammates (and coaches!) had fun ribbing him about it. Judge for yourself.
Jahenns Manigat made five three-pointers at Southern Illinois. (Photo by Mike Spomer for WBR)
#3 | February 14, 2012 | Manigat Makes Five Threes in Win at SIU
Coming off three straight losses — a buzzer-beater at Northern Iowa, a disappointing defeat at Evansville, and a blowout loss at home to Wichita State — the Jays needed someone, anyone, to provide a spark in their next game. When Doug McDermott picked up two early fouls and spent most of the first half on the bench, his roommate, Jahenns Manigat, took over the game. He made his first three attempts from three-point range, and went 5-6 for the game in scoring 17 points.
It was all part of a record-setting night, in which the Bluejays followed his lead and set an MVC record by shooting 77.5% from the field (31-40) and 85.7% from three-point range (12-14).
Jahenns Manigat harassed Cal’s Allen Crabbe into 6-26 shooting. (Photo by Mike Spomer for WBR)
#2 | December 12, 2012 | Manigat Shuts Down Crabbe
In a virtuoso defensive performance, Jahenns Manigat hounded the Pac-12’s leading scorer, All-America candidate Allen Crabbe, into 6-for-26 shooting from the floor. He face-guarded Crabbe the entire night and frustrated Cal’s offensive star in a way few defenders were able to that season (or ever). In the first half Crabbe went 0-9 from the floor, his only points coming on two made free throws. Whether it was behind the arc or on mid-range jumpers, wherever Crabbe went, Manigat shadowed him, never allowing him a clean look. It was particularly impressive because in order to attempt to free Crabbe for a shot, Cal ran multiple screens on every possession — and yet Manigat was tough enough to fight through them while remaining in position to contest the shot.
“I tried my best to stay right behind him, to chase him as hard as I could, and to make his shots as challenging as I could without fouling him,” Manigat noted on the AM590 postgame show after the game. ”Watching the tape on Crabbe, we knew all of his tendencies. He kind of has a tendency to kick his legs out a little bit when he shoots, and Coach Mac told me to watch out for that so I could avoid it and not foul him.”
For almost all of the 32 minutes Manigat played, he was literally chasing Crabbe around, fighting through screens, sprinting back and forth from sideline to sideline, non-stop. Oh, and he had 11 points, six assists and five rebounds, too.
Jahenns Manigat’s drive to the bucket clinched the 2013 MVC title game. (Photo by Adam Streur for WBR)
#1 | March 10, 2013 | Manigat Clinches MVC Title with Drive
It’s fitting that the greatest moment of Jahenns Manigat’s Creighton career came in the midst of his greatest game in a Bluejay uniform, which was also one of the biggest games his team had played at that point. In the 2013 MVC Championship game, he scored 16 points in 39 minutes, had five rebounds, played tremendous defense, and scored the game-clinching basket. Not bad for a days work, eh? Here’s what Ott had to say the day after the game:
“Manigat, a streaky shooter his entire career, missed his first two three-point attempts Sunday. He also turned the ball over twice in the first 16 minutes. But when Manigat connected on a deep trey to break a 24-24 tie with just less than 3 minutes to go in the first half, something clicked. Well, almost. He missed his first three-point shot in the second half, too. But then, really, something clicked. He drilled consecutive threes to help push Creighton’s lead to 9 right before the under-16:00 media timeout. He’d add his final three-pointer with just about 5 minutes to go in the game; it gave the Jays a 13-point lead, their biggest of the game. And all the while, whether he was knocking down shots or not, Manigat was doing work on defense and doing what he could on offense and on the boards to get the Jays a victory.
Manigat scored a season-high 16 points. He scored 15 points in his previous four games combined. Manigat tied a season high with 5 rebounds. He didn’t commit a turnover in the second half. He played a team-high 39 minutes, too, all of which were spent hounding WSU players defensively.
Three years after he missed a game-clinching layup against UNI, in the same city but on a significantly more important stage, Manigat made magic happen. With 3:32 to play, an Austin Chatman free throw gave the Jays a 66-55 lead. During the next 3:11, Wichita State scored 10 straight points, pulling to within 66-65 thanks to an Armstead three-pointer. Coach Mac called a timeout to set up a play. So with about a 7-second differential between game clock and shot clock, the Bluejays needed a quality look. What they got was a Wichita State defense that took them out of sync. Manigat ended up with the ball, and he managed to find a crease near the lane through which he elevated and hit a leaning layup. Perhaps he needs a greater degree of difficulty when faced with a shot near the paint?”
Manigat’s unexpected drive to the rim gave Creighton a three-point lead, forcing Wichita State to attempt a three to tie it instead of being able to win it with a basket. Malcolm Armstead’s desperation three at the buzzer missed, and the Jays had won their second straight Arch Madness title.