Traudt Coming Home

by Mike SautterMar 31, 2023College Basketball

Isaac Traudt is coming home. Well, not to his hometown, but close enough.

Traudt, a former 4-star prospect, announced Friday that he will transfer to Creighton.

“I wanted to be closer to home and I really like their style of play,” the 6-10 forward said of the Bluejays. “They have had a lot of success in the past decade and I just want to be a part of that.”

Traudt committed to Virginia in August of 2021 and redshirted during the 2022-23 season. Although he never announced a top five publicly at the time, Traudt chose the Cavaliers over finalists Creighton, Gonzaga, Michigan State, Nebraska and North Carolina.

The previous relationship with CU coach Greg McDermott combined with the winning tradition made Creighton the right choice in his mind.

“I talked to Coach McDermott frequently during my first recruiting process,” he said. “When he called Monday after I entered the portal it felt like we picked up where we left off.”

The Creighton coaches want their forwards to be versatile. Traudt’s ability to stretch the floor while playing with his back to the basket is something he said McDermott likes about his skillset.

“He sees me filling a need at the position,” Traudt said of the conversations with McDermott. “He sees me in their interchangeable three or four man position.”

The decision to leave Virginia wasn’t easy. Homesickness and leaving the support system Traudt grew up around took its toll as his freshman year progressed.

“I tried not to think about it too much during the season but towards the end of the season I felt like it was in my best interest to get closer to home,” he said. “The main thing I learned was the value of relationships. When you leave your home state and family you don’t realize how much your family and home state mean to you. I will never take that stuff for granted again.”

Getting closer to home was Traudt’s priority when he entered his name in the transfer portal on Monday. He knew he had two options: Nebraska and Creighton. Both schools were willing to go through the song and dance of unofficial visits and campus tours again but he decided he didn’t need to go through that process. After all, he visited both campuses enough during his recruitment in high school.

CU’s long term success – not just the school’s first trip to the Elite Eight this season – and the Omaha community support ended up being deciding factors.

“It was nice that they made it so far,” Traudt said. “Even if they had lost in the first round it wouldn’t have changed anything for me. It was really nice to see their success and how the Omaha community rallied around them.”

McDermott had a clear message for Traudt when he called his new coach and said wanted to be a Bluejay on Wednesday night.

“He was really excited when I called and told him I wanted to be a Bluejay,” Traudt said.

A consensus national top-100 commit, Traudt finished high school as the No. 64 overall prospect in the 2022 class according to the 247Sports composite, a ranking that combines 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN national rankings. He is ranked as the No. 67 overall prospect by Rivals and No. 51 by ESPN.

Without playing a minute for the Cavaliers this season, Traudt was tabbed as a 2023-24 ACC Preseason Freshman of the Year according to 247Sports, which also ranked him as the No. 23 overall player in the transfer portal. On3 ranked him as the No. 2 power forward in the portal.

Earlier in the week, redshirt sophomore John Christofilis announced he was entering the portal, opening up a scholarship for Creighton to offer to Traudt.