Four months removed from a last-second defeat in the Elite Eight, and (roughly) 100 days before the 2023-24 season tips off, Creighton returns to the floor this weekend in the Bahamas. By NCAA rule, schools can take overseas trips once every four years, and this will be the fourth time Greg McDermott has taken the Jays abroad following trips to the Bahamas (2011), Italy (2015) and Australia (2019).
McDermott has historically been strategic in his planning of these trips, conducting them with teams either led by inexperienced underclassmen or faced with a large influx of talent expected to contribute immediately. The 10 extra summer practices leading up to the trip can expedite the growth curve for teams like that, and they’ve taken full advantage each of the previous three times under McDermott.
The 2011 trip offered a first look at newcomers Grant Gibbs and Austin Chatman, though it was understandably dominated by a guy named Doug McDermott. He scored 27, 29, and 26 points in the three games, foreshadowing what was to come in a stellar sophomore season. That team wound up taking the MVC Tournament title, and then winning the program’s first NCAA Tourney game in a decade.
The 2015 adventure to Italy was the first time Maurice Watson, Justin Patton, Khyri Thomas, Martin Krampelj and Cole Huff took the floor for the Jays. And though Marcus Foster was prohibited from making the trip by the NCAA because transfers were not allowing to go on road trips — even offseason foreign trips — he was in those 10 extra practices in Omaha before the trip. And after missing the postseason the year before for the first time in almost 20 years, that team spent most of the final month on the NCAA Tourney bubble and wound up advancing to the NIT Quarterfinals.
And in the summer of ’19, sophomores Ty-Shon Alexander, Mitch Ballock and Marcus Zegarowski took steps toward becoming the team who would win the regular season Big East title that season — and then advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1974.
At first glance, it seems like the 2023-24 team doesn’t have a lot in common with those groups. It’s led by a trio of experienced players with trophy cases full of individual and team honors. But with new point guard Steven Ashworth and freshman Isaac Traudt expected to play big roles and in need of reps with their new teammates, the extra practices could shorten the growth curve come November.
“The positive is the (new guys) now know the terminology, so when we get back to it at the end of September it’ll be much easier for them,” McDermott said this week. “I think they now have an understanding of the positioning, they have an understanding of the pace that we want to play with, and the spacing that we want to try to have each possession. But have they even come close to putting it all together? Not even close. But this has been a great great summer for them. It’s been the most encouraging thing in this set of practices.”
Specifically calling out his new point guard, McDermott said that Ashworth has organically fit into the lineup better — and certainly quicker — than they expected.
“We really haven’t had to try to make that happen. He and Trey work really well together,” McDermott noted. “One guy’s on the ball one possession and the other guy’s on the ball the next possession, and rather than me have to dictate that, it’s much better that they’ve figured that out on their own.”
As for the inevitable comparison to the player he’s replacing, Ryan Nembhard, McDermott said there’s really not much of a comparison to make beyond the position they play.
“They’re different players. Totally different players,” McDermott said. “Steven has played a lot more during his life off the ball than R2 did — he had the ball in his hands really all the time. And R2 got into the paint and created some things that Steven probably isn’t going to be able to do. But while R2 was a good shooter Steven is an elite shooter.”
McDermott added that there’s a transition period for shooters coming into CU’s system, specifically in adjusting to the fast pace they play at. Baylor Scheierman and Francisco Farabello experienced that a year ago. That’s another area where the 10 summer practices could pay dividends in the fall.
Sophomore big man Fredrick King hails from the Bahamas, and this trip gives him the opportunity for a triumphant homecoming. Looking stronger and bigger than when we last saw him in March, King talked with the media after Tuesday’s practice about his excitement to go home. Noting that he excitedly called him mom as soon as he found out the Jays were heading to the Bahamas — spoiler alert, she was thrilled — he talked about what the trip means.
“It’s a blessing because I don’t really get to go home a lot,” King said. “I’ll cherish this moment to play in front of my family, my friends and everybody.”
King has spent a lot of time in the weight room, but that’s not the only growth he’s experienced. He says he feels more confident on the floor, and that the game has started to slow down for him.
“I feel more natural on the floor,” King said, “and don’t feel like I’m gonna make a mistake. I’m not scared of that (now). It’s great to see myself growing and getting a lot of confidence.”
Jays fans should expect to see a lot of King, Traudt, and newcomers like Johnathan Lawson and Josiah Dotzler — and not much of their stars.
“You know, we’ll experiment a lot and I’m not going to play our more veteran guys all that much,” McDermott said. “We’ll have a lot of different lineups out there. I mean really, to me, the value in the trip is the practices that we had. Whether we win or lose the games and how we play doesn’t make a whole lot of difference to me. The team bonding that goes with a trip like this — that takes priority over winning and losing.”
Game schedule:
Game 1 | Friday, August 4
Opponent: Bahamas Select
Tip: 5:00pm Omaha time
Streaming on FloSports
5’10” point guard Domnick Bridgewater hung 47 points on VMI last week to open the Bahamas tour, making 15-of-27 from the floor and 13-of-15 from the line. 38-year old forward Jaraun Kino Burrows (6’8″, 220 pounds) used his experience and size to score 25 in that game on 11-of-15 shooting. A year ago against Kentucky during their trip to the Bahamas, Burrows scored 16 on 6-of-10 shooting and caused problems for the Wildcats.
Also of note: Eugene Bain, a 6’5″ guard who played at both North Platte College and Bellevue University in Nebraska a decade ago, is listed on their roster but did play in the VMI game.
Game 2 | Sunday, August 6
Opponent: BC Zalgaris Kaunas (Lithuania)
Tip: 10:00am Omaha time
Streaming on FloSports
Zalgaris’ roster is stocked with former college and NBA players, and they’ve routinely been one of the top EuroLeague teams. They won the Lithuanian league with a 36-8 record last year, the 11th time in 12 years that they’ve been crowned the champ.
They’re led by Kevarrius Hayes, a former Florida Gator, and Keenan Evans, who played on Texas Tech’s 2018 Elite Eight squad and averaged 10.8 points per game for Zalgiris last season. Another name CU fans might recognize: former Iowa State guard Naz Long, who joins Evans in the Zalgaris backcourt.
Game 3 | Tuesday, August 8
Opponent: Obras Basket (Argentina)
Tip: 10:00am Omaha time
Streaming on FloSports
Obras is led by 6’1″ combo guard Pedro Barral, a speedy player that led them in assists and was second in scoring a year ago. They take a lot of threes, with Joaquin Rodriguez hoisting the most; he was their leading scorer a year ago.
All three games will take place in the Imperial Ballroom of the Atlantis Resort, site of the annual Battle 4 Atlantis. The games will be played by FIBA rules, which means there will be a different ball, four quarters that are 10 minutes in length, a shorter shot clock, a longer three-point line and the ability to goaltend the ball after it hits and rim, among other changes from what the NCAA uses.
