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?
#9 — What can we expect from Creighton’s newcomers?
For better or worse (mostly better), Creighton’s ‘active’ roster the past few season has seen tremendous continuity. Minutes were hard to come by, what with an All-American like Doug McDermott playing as much of every game as possible. Same, too, for established point guard Austin Chatman and his trusted backcourt mates Jahenns Manigat and Grant Gibbs.
Newcomers looked at incumbents like those guys and had to battle for whatever playing time they could on back-to-back-to-back NCAA Tournament teams. Some guys sat and left (Andre Yates, Nevin Johnson, Darian Harris). Some guys sat and watched (Toby Hegner, James Milliken, Isaiah Zierden). Some guys spelled the starters in spot duty (Devin Brooks, Zach Hanson).
It’s not a newsflash, but only one of last year’s entrenched starters is back. Greg McDermott and the coaching staff will surround Chatman whatever combination of players they think will help the senior reach his fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament. Those lineups are likely to include, to varying degrees, newcomers that Creighton fans haven’t seen play competitively in the white and blue.
For Rick Kreklow, the time is now.
The 6-foot-7 G/F senior graduate transfer is no stranger to competitive college hoops. Kreklow started his career at Missouri, where he played in 32 games (2.1 ppg, 1.3 rpg). He transferred to California, where he redshirted then battled injuries for his sophomore (9 games total) and junior years (5.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg in 24 games) of eligibility.
With a degree in hand and Mike Montgomery giving way to Cuonzo Martin on the Cal bench, Kreklow came to Omaha for one last year of collegiate basketball.
Sure, he’s learning Mac’s system. But it isn’t like he can cut his teeth a bit this year and transfer knowledge (and another offseason worth of familiarity) to a second season. This is it. Kreklow is a talented player who can shoot and play multiple spots on the floor. There’s a need for that. But there also isn’t much time to waste in getting Kreklow comfortable with what Creighton runs and how they run it.
For James Milliken and Toby Hegner, the real fun begins.
James Milliken drives during a 2013 exhibition game (WBR/Mike Spomer) $ CLICK TO BUY $
Talk about two different paths to playing time. Milliken came to Creighton from junior college before last season, the heir apparent to some of Grant Gibbs’ vacated minutes. But with Gibbs receiving a waiver to compete for the Bluejays, the 6-foot-2 guard from North Carolina redshirted instead of starting the clock on his two remaining years of collegiate eligibility.
Hegner, meanwhile, was a 6-foot-10 true freshman forward last season staring up at a roster loaded at his position. With players like McDermott and Wragge ahead of him, Hegner also sat out last year as a redshirt, refining his shot and his game.
The Bluejays will need both Milliken and Hegner to score; someone has to make up for the missing production from one of the nation’s most prolific offenses the past few years. And with a year of experience with what Mac’s team is, both Milliken and Hegner would seem to be part of the equation if Creighton is going to outperform their second-to-last place preseason rank in the Big East.
Toby Hegner on the court with Jahenns Manigat in a 2013 exhibition game (WBR/Mike Spomer) $ CLICK TO BUY $
For Leon Gilmore III and Ronnie Harrell, the real question is will they play?
I’ve stopped trying to guess, sight unseen, whether freshmen will redshirt. Why? Because a few years ago, I saw a skinny frosh named Doug McDermott and thought, with Kenny Lawson and other returnees in the frontcourt, OK, he’s sure to sit out his first year.
Leon Gilmore III (left, in white) and Ronnie Harrell (right, in blue) square off in 2014 Metro Summer League action (WBR) $ CLICK TO BUY $
I’m glad I was wrong then. And I won’t make even the slightest guess as to whether Creighton’s two highly touted freshmen will sit and learn in 2014-15 or jump into the deep end.
Both Gilmore III and Harrell are top-150 recruits. At 6-foot-7, both have the ability to stretch defenses. Harrell’s a decorated shooter (154 3FG in three varsity seasons, shooting nearly 40%). Gilmore’s a decorated hustler (9.0 rpg and 2.3 spg as a senior, 6.6 rpg and 2.0 spg as a junior).
Plus, there’s opportunity galore with the current roster. Had Gilmore III and Harrell been trying to crack last year’s lineup, the redshirts couldn’t have been broken out fast enough. But with the players ahead of them on the roster not exactly having produced extensive results in a large sample size, perhaps the best case scenario is that their talents and pedigrees help them adjust to the college game more quickly and push the returning Bluejays in the process.
But are they physically strong enough, mentally tough enough, to play right now? Don’t know.
For transfers Cole Huff (Nevada) and Mo Watson Jr. (Boston University), their impact on the 2014-15 Bluejays will occur on the practice courts.
Creighton transfer Mo Watson Jr. (WBR/Adam Streur) $ CLICK TO BUY $
Regardless of redshirts, let’s pretend for a moment that Gilmore III and Harrell are in the second wave of the roster. Then throw highly touted transfers Huff and Watson Jr. onto the court with the two true freshmen. That’s gotta be the makings of one of the best practice squads in the country, right?
Huff, a lean but strong 6-foot-8 forward, was the second-leading scorer for the Wolfpack last year as a sophomore (12.4 ppg). He averaged 5.4 rebounds per game, too, and was Nevada’s best three-point shooter by percentage and makes.
Watson Jr., a 5-foot-10 muscled sparkplug point guard, ranked third in the country with 7.1 assists per game on a team that made the NIT. He can do it all; dish, defend (2.1 spg), and score (13.3 ppg). According to GoCreighton.com, Watson is one of only six guys since 1997-98 to post a year with at least 150 two-point field goals, 225 assists, and 50 steals. You’ve heard of the others: Trey Burke (Michigan), Jonny Flynn (Syracuse), John Wall (Kentucky), Kyle Anderson (UCLA), and Jay Williams (Duke).
That’s heady stuff. Should Huff and Watson Jr. be eligible this season, Creighton’s outlook would arguably be completely different.
But for now, these two traditional transfers will need to bide their time while helping the Bluejays prepare and improve every day.