In the era of immediate transfers and NIL, it’s increasingly unlikely for players to stick around for four years at one school. Creighton’s move to the Big East has also meant their rosters generally have more players likely to leave early for professional opportunities. That makes legacy discussions about all-time Bluejays much tougher than they were, say, a decade ago (like when we tackled the topic in our “What’s in a Number?” series).
A recent tweet from former Creighton Associate Athletic Director Kevin Sarver had an interesting way of thinking about it. He wrote that with Ryan Kalkbrenner’s return, he was the “best 5-year Creighton Bluejay for sure.” Then he listed the best players, in his estimation, sorted by the number of years they played at CU.
- 4-year: Doug McDermott, Kyle Korver
- 3-year: Paul Silas, Bob Gibson, Bob Portman
- 2-year: Baylor Scheierman
- 1-year: Justin Patton
Interesting, isn’t it?
There’s little doubt in my mind that in two short years as a Creighton Bluejay, Baylor Scheierman made a case for being one of the best to wear the White and Blue — regardless of how long they played in Omaha. In 72 career games at CU, he made at least one three-pointer in 71 of them — after making one in each of his first 48 games as a Bluejay, on December 20 against Villanova he went 0-of-7. Then he made at least one in every game the rest of his career. That first 48-game streak extended his own program record, which he broke the year before (Ty-Shon Alexander’s 33 game streak had been the record before.) And his second 23-game streak ranks 10th best.
Late in his tenure, he became the first men’s player in Division I history to amass at least 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 500 assists and 300 three-pointers in a career. If his full collegiate career numbers had been compiled at Creighton, he’d rank either first or second in games played (162, 1st), three point attempts (912, 1st), three point shots made (356, 2nd), assists (580, 1st), rebounds (1,256, 2nd), and points scored (2,233, 2nd). And he’d rank in the top five in shots attempted (1,654, 4th), shots made (763, 4th) and free throw percentage (82.0%, 5th).
Scheierman was a really good player in his first season, averaging 12.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. His 306 rebounds ranked (at the time) as the 11th most in CU history and were the most since Benoit Benjamin’s 451 in 1984-85.
And he had 13 double-doubles in 37 games, with five additional games where he fell one rebound shy of a double-double. The 13 that he did get were tied for the most by any Bluejay in a single season since the great Bob Harstad in 1987-88. And one of the five “near misses” was his giant 12 point, 12 rebound, nine assist game in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament — had he recorded one more assist, he would have been the first Bluejay ever to record a point/rebound/assist triple-double.
But Scheierman was on another level in his second year. A highlight was when he got that elusive triple-double, a 15 point, 11 rebound, 11 assist game against Georgetown on February 13. He was brilliant all season, though, raising his scoring average by nearly six points, to 18.5 points per game; his rebounding average improved to 9.0 per game; and his assists to 3.95 per game. He scored in double figures in 34 of 35 games, and had nine in the other game (vs Providence on January 6).
He was a unanimous First Team All-Big East selection, named a Second or Third Team All-American by nine different publications, and was one of five finalists for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award. He led Creighton in scoring and led the Big East in three-pointers made (110) and rebounds grabbed (315). With the former number, he tied Ethan Wragge for the second-most made threes in a single season:
- 129 – Kyle Korver, 2002-03
- 110 – Ethan Wragge, 2013-14
- 110 – Baylor Scheierman, 2023-24
- 100 – Kyle Korver, 2000-01
- 97 – Ty-Shon Alexander, 2018-19
- 96 – Doug McDermott, 2013-14
- 95 – Marcus Foster, 2017-18
- 95 – Mitch Ballock, 2018-19
- 93 – Mitch Ballock, 2019-20
- 91 – Booker Woodfox, 2008-09
- 87 – Baylor Scheierman, 2022-23
And with the latter number, he laid claim to the 10th and 12th best season rebounding totals in program history, becoming the first “new” member of the school’s top ten list since 1985.
- 631 – Paul Silas, 1963-64
- 563 – Paul Silas, 1961-62
- 557 – Paul Silas, 1962-63
- 451 – Benoit Benjamin, 1984-85
- 385 – Bob Portman, 1967-68
- 362 – Dick Hartman, 1959-60
- 332 – Gregory Brandon, 1983-84
- 330 – George Morrow, 1980-81
- 317 – Elton McGriff, 1964-65
- 315 – Baylor Scheierman, 2023-24
- 308 – Bob Portman, 1968-69
- 306 – Baylor Scheierman, 2022-23
His 647 points are the 11th highest single season mark in program history. He had 16 double-doubles, and a streak of six straight that ranks as the school’s longest since Benjamin had 28 in a row in 1984-85.
In 10 games against NCAA Tournament teams, his numbers were just as good — he averaged 18.8 points and 8.7 rebounds, and in the tourney itself he averaged 19.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists. His 109 points in seven NCAA Tourney games rank fourth most in program history.
- 156 – Ryan Kalkbrenner, 2020-2024
- 137 – Trey Alexander, 2021-2024
- 129 – Doug McDermott, 2010-2014
- 109 – Baylor Scheierman, 2022-2024
He broke his own record for most made threes in a single NCAA Tournament (10, tied with Terrell Taylor and Marcus Zegarowski) by making 11 in the 2024 tourney. And he shattered the career mark of 16, jointly owned by Kyle Korver and Ethan Wragge, by making 21 of them.
Scheierman made giant plays repeatedly in his two NCAA Tournament appearances, including this three to seal a first round win over NC State in 2023:
One round later, he made a clutch three late in the second half as Princeton was desperately trying to make a comeback, part of a 21-point performance that helped the Jays to the Elite Eight.
And in the regional final, with the Jays trailing 56-54 and San Diego State set to inbound the ball with just 35 seconds to go, Scheierman stole the inbounds pass and made an uncontested layup to tie the game. The way that game ended doesn’t erase the brilliance of Scheierman’s play — and if the game had gone another way, it would be looked upon as one of the biggest defensive plays in program history.
But his signature moment came in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tourney. With 28 seconds to go and the Jays trailing by four, Scheierman rebounded a missed shot by Oregon’s Jermaine Couisnard and decided to manufacture offense — he started a comeback by putting his head down and barreling into the lane, drawing contact and a foul. His two free throws cut the deficit to 62-60. And when Oregon missed the front end of a one-and-one, it left the door open.
Opting not to call timeout, the Jays got the ball to Scheierman who took care of the rest, hitting nothing but net on a game-tying step-back jumper from eight feet out. It was a play designed to free him up for a three-point game-winner. But when the Ducks sniffed it out, he calmly pivoted and dribbled as close as could — and buried the biggest shot of his career. Given the stage and circumstances, it was the biggest shot by a Bluejay since Terrell Taylor’s buzzer-beater against Florida in the 2002 tourney. Given that it propelled this group of Bluejays to their third Sweet 16 in four years — and that it happened against their former coach, Dana Altman — you could argue it was bigger. Whatever your opinion, it’s a shot that will live forever in Bluejay lore, the signature play of one of the great Jays of all time.
So without any further ado, here’s a look back at some of his best moments at Creighton: