Basketball season is officially underway in Omaha as Jim Flanery’s squad had its first official practice of the 2023-2024 season on Monday, while Greg McDermott’s got started on Tuesday. Each team returns their top three scorers and several more key contributors from a season that saw them both finish third in the Big East and earn a No. 6 seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
The Bluejay women bring back four starters in forwards Emma Ronsiek (13.2 ppg) and Morgan Maly (14.6 ppg) as well as guards Molly Mogensen (7.0 ppg) and Lauren Jensen (16.1 ppg) from a team that went 22-9 overall and 15-5 in Big East play against the 17th-toughest schedule in the country. The Creighton men returns three starters from last season’s historic run to the Elite Eight in leading scorer and two-time reigning Big East Defensive Player of the Year senior center Ryan Kalkbrenner (15.9 ppg, 2.1 bpg), junior combo guard Trey Alexander (13.6 ppg), and fifth-year senior sharpshooter Baylor Scheierman (12.8 ppg).
Creighton Women’s Basketball Practice Notes:
Jim Flanery and crew back at it for 2023-24. (Juszyk / WBR)
- Practice was designed to begin with a 5-on-0 refresher course on specific offensive sets, but senior guard Molly Mogensen led the blue squad out onto the floor and “checked up” the ball before the coaches had to clarify that, no, they were not in fact going live on the first drill of the season. Needless to say, this group is ready — maybe a little too ready — to get rolling.
- Sophomore guards Kennedy Townsend and Kiani Lockett played with a ton more confidence and feistiness than they had at any point last season. No “wait, what I am supposed to be right now?” moments.
- Senior guard Lauren Jensen looks and plays a lot stronger. Some of that weight is going to come off as the on-court hours ramp up, but she’s without question the strongest version of herself. Her trademark downhill playmaking was on display at times, but she was also more disruptive in the gaps defensively and had a couple screen assists for Emma Ronsiek and Jayme Horan to knock down 3-pointers during live reps.
- Third-year redshirt freshman Lexi Unruh practiced for the first time since last fall after redshirting as a true freshman in 2021-22. She has an intriguing combination of length, physicality, and defensive instincts, along with an improving perimeter shot that she showed off a time or two during Monday’s session.
5-on-5 Q&A with Creighton women’s basketball senior forward Emma Ronsiek
Q: Are you more excited that today is your birthday or that it’s the first day of practice?
A: “It’s a little bit of both. It’s always fun to be able to get back in the gym with the girls and the coaches. Especially with it being senior year you never know what’s going to happen with everyone next year and what the team is going to look like, so it’s just exciting to get out here. Practices are a little longer — 20 hours [per week], but I’m excited.”
Q: You all finished strong at the end of your freshman year, made the Elite Eight your sophomore year, and last year you got a 6-seed in the NCAA Tournament. You’ve kind of upped the ante every year. Do you have goals in mind for how you want this year to go?
A: “I think last year was a little bite in the butt with losing in the first round because we know we can go farther than that. Obviously, achieved big things my sophomore year, and even freshman year with COVID it was kind of a fever dream season — I don’t really remember all of it, but we did really well in the Big East Tournament and we built a lot of momentum off of that, so I’m just really excited to build off these past two years. Especially with six seniors coming back. We have a lot experience and we are helping out the younger girls every day with what we’ve been through these past three years. I’m really excited to get going and I think we are going to make a lot of noise in the Big East and in the NCAA Tournament.”
Q: Last year’s team was kind of self-policing because you were all relatively the same age and experience level. This year there are bigger gaps in experience between certain groups of players, so how does the leadership structure shake out this year, especially with the core four of yourself, Lauren [Jensen], Molly [Mogensen], and Morgan [Maly]?
A: “Yeah, I think it’s different for the four of us, and even Mal [Brake] and Jayme [Horan]. We all have different strengths when it comes to leadership. Some people like Jayme are really good at vocal leadership, Molly is good at positive reaffirmation, and Lauren and Morgan are really talented, so you want to listen to them, watch what they are doing, and follow up. I think each of us have a unique leadership skill set that the younger players can learn from and use to grow each day. You’re always going to have a different leadership style that you gravitate towards … what makes our class really special is it’s not just one person. You can look at any one of us, pick something that you really like and want to learn from.”
Q: How have you changed the most from walking into that first practice your freshman year to day one now as a senior?
A: “Freshman year I was kind of laid back and didn’t want to step on any toes. Obviously, I got to start and played some minutes, which was great — I was really happy for myself. This year, I’m demanding more of myself and demanding more of some of the other girls on the team just because I know we are talented, and I know that we can get this done. I just really want to see myself develop into that leadership role and I also want to do some better things offensively this year.”
Q: I know you’ve always been a gym rat, so there really isn’t an offseason for the type of player you are. What did the summer entail for you in the time you spent trying to get better?
A: “I just realized that I can be one of those players who can stretch the floor. I can bring up the ball, and obviously Morgan can as well because she’s really talented. I just want to be one of those players that can facilitate the offense, can get plays ran for her, and can do X, Y, and Z. I focused on my point guard skills this summer with shooting and just honing in on playing cool, calm, and collected. I worked a lot with [assistant coach Chevelle Saunsoci] individually, and I think I got a little stronger as well. I just want to be one of those all-around players who can facilitate and get plays called for her.”
Creighton Men’s Basketball Practice Notes:
Greg McDermott and staff got things started for the men (Juszyk / WBR)
- The Jays started the season as they always do with implementation of the playbook. Only this time they were at game speed with few stops and do-overs. They are already much further ahead on retention of offensive sets at this stage than any Creighton team over the last decade-plus.
- Good luck finding someone on the roster or the staff who didn’t believe that Tuesday afternoon was the best day of Isaac Traudt’s very young Creighton career. The freshman out of Grand Island, NE transferred in from Virginia last spring and hit the ground in a dead spring on his first official day of practice as a Bluejay. The 6-foot-10, 235-pound forward cashed four or five 3-balls, mostly out of pick and pop plays with Utah State transfer point guard Steven Ashworth and threw down an easy dunk after diving to the basket to make himself an easy option for a driver.
- Speaking of Ashworth, the fourth-year guard played with impressive pace and precision with the ball in his hands. He seems to have a high-level grasp on where he needs to be and also what his teammates are doing around him.
- Trey Alexander apparently had flubber on the soles of his Grinches on Tuesday: https://x.com/BluejayMBB/status/1706802418162520481?s=20
- Redshirt freshman Jasen Green was extremely active on the backboards on both of the floor, and even in situations where someone else ended up with the rebound, he was still often beating his man to the spot.
5-on-5 Q&A with Creighton men’s basketball senior guard Baylor Scheierman
Q: Where does first day of practice rank among the best ways to spend a birthday?
A: “I was saying before that all my years in college, the first day of practice has always been on my birthday. I’m not going to say I’m excited to have a different experience next year, but… I’m excited to have a different experience next year.”
Q: Last offseason, you skipped the draft process and announced relatively early after the season that you were coming back. How did that offseason play out for you and what did you do with the extra time?
A: “I chose to do that because of going through the process the previous year and realizing the toll it had on me physically and mentally. Being able to be here all spring and all summer allowed me to just work on my game. Me and(video coordinator Lucas Vargas)were in here every morning six out of the seven days of the week, I was with [head coach of athletic performance Jeremy Anderson] a lot. I just worked on a lot of the things that I wanted to, and I was able to do it kind of on my own terms. It brought a lot of joy to me to just be able to be here, work out, see the guys, and be close to home. It was a lot of fun, to be honest.”
Q: Is this the year that you and Francisco Farabello start a podcast?
A: “We talked about last year, and this past summer we talked about with Let It Fly — they kind of wanted us to do a little something during the College World Series and we talked about starting our own podcast to kind of just recap the games and everything that goes on. We’re definitely interested in it!”
Q: Is the outside noise quieter this year regarding expectations given that you all have a better idea of what to expect with the questions you are going to be asked and the way the team will be perceived externally and because of how many of you came back to “finish the job” in a sense?
A: “I think so. That’s a big reason I came back was just to have that opportunity, while at the same time be more comfortable with everything. For me personally, coming into this year I’m very calm, very cool, and I understand where I’m at. The outside noise kind of got to me a little bit last year with the expectations I had coming in of shooting percentages and all this and all that. Coming in this year, I know what the coaches expect. I know the confidence they have in me. I know the work I put in during the offseason to feel comfortable in my role. Now it’s time for the fun part of just coming out and playing.”
Q: I know he can’t do any on-court stuff yet, but how would you grade Mitch Ballock as graduate assistant so far?
A: “It’s really fun to have him around. He was around a lot last year kind of just practicing with us, but he’s been here all summer working out. Then once he found he was going to be the GA — obviously he can’t be on the court yet, but it’s just another mind with not necessarily similar games, but similar enough that I am able to pick his brain about certain things. He’s able to help me out and it’s been great to have him around so far and even more excited for what’s to come.”