We are profiling each member of the 2011-12 Creighton men’s basketball team. Join us weekdays from now until the men’s exhibition opener against Rockhurst for an introduction to this year’s Bluejays, from freshmen to seniors.
See all of our 2011-12 Creighton men’s basketball profiles
Jahenns Manigat collected four steals against the Ducks (WBR/Adam Streur)
Perhaps the Missouri Valley Conference should adopt a new honor, dubbed the All-Energy team? Reserve spots for guys who may not score a lot of points or grab a bunch of boards, but instead bring effort, hustle, and enthusiasm to their teams.
Because these attributes aren’t as cut and dry as traditional basketball stats, it is difficult to figure how they factor into a team’s winning percentage. But if Doug Elgin and the Valley’s Powers That Be wanted to create a new team, they’d have a hard time picking a captain other than Creighton’s Jahenns Manigat.
Manigat, a 6-1 sophomore guard, earned his fair share of honors following his freshman season in 2011. A member of the league’s All-Freshman and All-Bench teams, Manigat cracked the starting lineup the last week of January and started in 16 of the Bluejays’ final 17 games last season. And while his scoring average nearly doubled during that stretch (from 3.6 to 5.4 points per game), arguably the most important attribute he brought to the team as a freshman was his energetic and positive attitude. He even led the team in charges taken (15).
So how did Manigat himself rate his first season at CU?
“I think it went pretty well,” he told WBR. “At first I think I struggled to find my rhythm, but I trusted the coaches and my teammates and things improved as the year went on.”
The stats back it up. In his first 22 games, Manigat scored 3.4 points per game, grabbed 1.5 rebounds per game, and snagged less than one steal per game. In his last 17 games (including 16 starts), he scored 7.9 points, snared 2.6 rebounds, and swiped 2.5 steals per contest.
Other people noticed, voting Manigat to the All-Frosh and All-Bench teams.
“It was an honor to be recognized, especially as a member of the All-Freshman team,” Manigat said. “But those are individual awards, and while they are nice, we need to focus on the team and improving as a team.”
And so Manigat, like his other teammates, put in the time this offseason to improve and build off the momentum they gained at the end of last season.
“I worked on my defense and ball handling,” Manigat said when asked what he turned his attention to most in the time between his freshman and sophomore seasons. “I have also been working on shooting on the move. Last year, I had a lot of shots that were set. I need to improve on my release and on taking shots on the move.”
He had the opportunity to put that work to use during the Bluejays’ trip to the Bahamas. Manigat averaged 7.3 points per game and made 6 of 13 shots from 3-point range during the trip.
“The trip was a great opportunity for the younger guys and the redshirts to really bond with the other guys,” Manigat said. “My key takeaway from the trip was my ability to be there for the new guys. I was there to help on and off the court and I would like to carry that over into the season.”
When asked about other goals for this year, Manigat is quick to mention the team’s before his own.
“We want to get better as a team. We want to win the league. We want to win the conference tournament. And we want to make the NCAA Tournament.”