I’m curious (worried?) about a few things in the weeks leading up to the start of the 2014-15 Creighton Bluejays men’s basketball season. So, I’m asking some questions and avoiding most answers, all in an attempt to avoid biting my nails off the cuticle waiting for the season to start.
#10 — Can the Bluejays stay healthy?
The Creighton Bluejays men’s basketball program has been far from the portrait of perfect health in recent seasons. Certainly the Josh Jones Story is the most memorable, for all the wrong reasons.
From Ethan Wragge’s nagging injuries to a scary night in Chicago last January, the Bluejays training staff has been busy.
Still, McDermott avoided major injuries during his storied four-year career. Point guard Austin Chatman has started every game the past two seasons, following a similar two-year streak by his predecessor at the point Antoine Young. For as little as he practiced, Gibbs was able to gut through games and finish with the fourth-most assists in Creighton history. And Jahenns Manigat managed to start every game during his final three seasons on the Hilltop, a feat Chatman hopes to replicate this year.
Austin Chatman
Creighton’s Austin Chatman (WBR/Mike Spomer) $ CLICK TO BUY $
Unfortunately for Bluejays fans, the 2014-15 season starts with concerns about the health of Chatman’s knee. Everyone is saying he’s all right after arthroscopic knee surgery in early October. By all accounts, any sluggish play is more the result of Chatman knocking the rust off than showing lingering injury issues.
Still, Creighton fans haven’t had to worry about injuries to the point guard since the oft-sidelined Josh Dotzler was trying to overcome fluke injury after fluke injury. And in a season that’s already penciled in by many to be one of flux for Greg McDermott’s program, Chatman holds the key to consistency on both ends of the court. His health is of primary concern for everyone curious about how Creighton will fare during Life After Doug.
Isaiah Zierden
Isaiah Zierden knows knee injuries all too well. The redshirt freshman was coming into his own as the homestretch of Big East play sent Creighton to Xavier last March 1. He left that game with significant trauma to his right leg after dislocating his kneecap.
Isaiah Zierden vs. Xavier in 2014 (WBR/Mike Spomer) $ CLICK TO BUY $
Zierden has toiled to return from the injury, which kept him out of the Bluejays’ remaining regular season games, their three-game run through the Big East Tournament, and two NCAA Tournament games in San Antonio. He rehabbed for months, serving as guinea pig for many of Dan Bailey’s new toys in Creighton’s Championship Center.
“Right after the injury, there’s the disappointment,” Zierden told the World-Herald. “Then, I really got after it. I talked to my dad, I talked to some players that had knee injuries. It was all about the mindset of what can I do to get back. It ended up that I feel I can jump a little higher and I’m a little more explosive and I might be a half-step quicker. I seemed to have gotten a little more athletic.”
Reports from practice indicate Zierden will play a big role in helping Coach Mac and the Jays avoid a rebuilding year. His intellect, protection of the ball, and shooting ability should prove valuable alongside Chatman and the oft-rushed Devin Brooks. But in order to contribute to the best of his abilities, Zierden must be fully healed from his gruesome trip to Cincinnati.
Geoffrey Groselle
Geoffrey Groselle (WBR/Adam Streur) $ CLICK TO BUY $
Geoffrey Groselle’s afflictions haven’t been pinned to one freak play like Zierden’s. Instead, the redshirt junior has suffered from persistent pain since early in his Creighton career.
In fact, because of poor health, you could make the case that Groselle’s signature play so far in a Bluejays uniform was being used as a prop during the 2011 Bluejay Madness event.
The 7-foot Groselle stood in the paint while fellow freshman Texan Austin Chatman skied over him to slam a ball during the dunk competition.
It would prove to be the signature exposure to Groselle Creighton fans would experience during the 2011-12 season, one he would spend redshirting and recovering. Since then, Groselle has played in only 96 total minutes in two seasons. That’s in large part because of his inability to stay healthy. The big man’s been sidelined and stricken with lower leg problems, including the Achilles tendons in both feet.
Groselle’s better, too, at least compared to seasons past. He’s been able to string together effective play in preseason practices.
“I couldn’t jump last year at all. I couldn’t get off the floor,” Groselle told the Omaha World-Herald. “Yeah, I’m 7-foot, but if you can’t move, if you can’t get up and down the court and jump, you can’t do anything. Now, I can actually get off the floor. I can play my game, and that feels good.”
In a league full of powerful post players, Coach McDermott needs Groselle to at least offer serviceable minutes in rotation with Will Artino and Zach Hanson. With only past experience to recall, forgive Creighton fans for not being convinced that Groselle is ready.
Rick Kreklow
Someone who should be good to go, though, is newcomer and one-year Bluejay Rick Kreklow. Still, if his history is any indication, the graduate transfer from California will try to shake the injury bug that’s plagued him since he moved to Berkeley.
Kreklow played in 32 games as a freshman at Missouri, then transferred to Cal. By the time his redshirt sophomore season rolled around, Kreklow could play in only nine games due recovery from and then re-injury to a right foot issue. In fact, he didn’t play against the Bluejays when Creighton visited the Bay Area in December 2012. And he missed last year’s game at the CenturyLink Center, another CU win over Cal. It was one of 11 games Kreklow sat out in the middle of what would be his final season for the Bears.
But Kreklow gets one more year to hopefully play injury-free. He opted for a change of scenery for his senior season, getting immediate clearance to qualify at Creighton thanks to securing an undergraduate degree from Cal. If he and the rest of the Bluejays can limit their time spent with trainer Ben McNair to merely maintenance, Creighton’s hopes for a successful 2014-15 season will markedly improve.