Seeing his jersey hoisted into the rafters never crossed Doug McDermott’s mind when he first arrived in Omaha. His goal after flipping his commitment to Creighton to play for his dad was simple.
“I just wanted to leave the place different than what it was when I got there,” McDermott told reporters during a recent Zoom meeting.
Consider that mission accomplished. Thirteen-and-a-half years after his arrival and nearly 10 years after his final game, Creighton will honor its all-time leading scorer by retiring his number ahead of the team’s Big East opener against Villanova on Wednesday.
When McDermott first set foot on campus, Creighton was a Missouri Valley team that had never advanced past the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Today, the Bluejays are a top-15 program nationally with terrific facilities and a perennial Big East contender with runs to the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight in the past few years.
McDermott, who guided the Jays into their new conference and sparked the program’s rise to new heights, finished his historic career with 3,150 points and is currently in his 10th season in the NBA.
“All those long nights in the Old Gym back when we didn’t have a practice facility, really just grinding, trying to make it a better program and trying to make it to where I am today,” McDermott said. “Those were my goals and anything else would come with that. This is just a huge honor. I think it’s more of a reflection to the guys that I was with. I hope it’s a celebration of those groups and not just a single number and my jersey because I wouldn’t have had the career I had without those guys and those coaches.”
McDermott admittedly isn’t one who enjoys the spotlight centered squarely on him. Former athletic director Bruce Rasmussen said after McDermott’s career ended that nobody would ever wear No. 3 at Creighton again, but it’s taken a decade to get him back on campus to make the jersey retirement official. Schedules finally lined up and Doug said his dad, Greg, convinced him on a golf course at some point to let the program properly honor him alongside the likes of Bob Gibson, Paul Silas, Bob Portman, Bob Harstad and Kyle Korver.
“It’s a special deal,” Greg said. “That doesn’t happen very often. There aren’t very many hanging up there in our history, so for him to be included in that as of Wednesday is pretty remarkable and a special night for him. He doesn’t really like this stuff and fully recognizes that without his teammates, none of that would have been possible, and he played with some really, really good dudes that understood the game and understood his skill set. And they all got along great, that’s what made it pretty cool. And a lot of those guys that aren’t busy on Wednesday will be here in the building and be on the floor with him when it happens.”
Greg himself will also be there to watch his son’s jersey hoisted into the rafters of the building he’s called home for the last 14 years. The ceremony will take place half an hour before tipoff against Villanova to give the coach time to participate without interrupting pregame preparations.
“I’ll stay centered on Villanova but I’m also going to enjoy that five or six minutes,” Greg said. “Dads don’t get that chance very often and we don’t get him back here a lot. Obviously, his job kind of conflicts with what we’re doing here. So it’s been hard to get him in this building. He watches every game and he makes side bets with his teammates that played at other Big East schools, but we just haven’t got him back much. So to have him in the building and properly celebrate what was an incredible career will be will be pretty emotional and I think a lot of fun.”
Doug is looking forward to sharing the moment with his parents as well, and hopes to attend a similar ceremony for Greg at some point down the road.
“It should be emotional for sure for me,” Doug said. “Obviously I’ll have my parents out there with me. I’m trying to avoid it being an award or just a night for me because it really is about them. It’s about everyone in that building, really, that’s made it all possible. So it’s going to be awesome just to be able to stand there next to him knowing what he’s accomplished, and I think his name should be up there in the rafters at some point down the road for what he’s done for the program.”
The elder McDermott told the story of a then-6-foot-1 Doug considering quitting the game to become a manager after a particularly difficult AAU trip. Knowing he had gone through a growth spurt himself in high school that led to his game taking off, Greg convinced Doug to stick with it, which turned out to be pretty good advice.
“He knew the drive that I had and he kind of just talked me off of it and I’m glad he did because from that that moment forward, I was as locked in as I’ve ever been,” Doug said. “I got back, was on the sophomore team at Ames High and was a sixth man on my junior-year team that won the state title. I still just had that chip on my shoulder, seeing Harrison [Barnes] do what he did in high school and all these big time coaches coming to watch us and still really not getting recruited at a high level. I think if it weren’t for those moments throughout my career as a young guy, I don’t think I’d be where I’m at today or that we’d be having this night in Omaha.”
Greg called Wednesday a “full-circle” moment for himself and their family.
“From watching him really struggle with the game, even as late as a freshman in high school, to totally falling in love with the process of getting better and watching his game grow over the course of his high school and then college career,” Greg said. “While being here at every game was pretty cool, it’s all the other stuff — being in practice every day and helping him grow, helping him develop and watching him interact with his teammates is something that I always cherished. To celebrate it one more time, I’m sure it’ll be a little misty, maybe, but also a lot of fun and really a cool thing for Doug.”
Doug was expecting to redshirt when he first arrived on campus, but frontcourt injuries and a successful closed scrimmage against Colorado led to him starting from day one, averaging 14.9 points and 7.2 rebounds during an all-conference campaign. He upped his game as a sophomore, putting up 22.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while shooting 60.1% from the field. He averaged 23.2 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting 49% on nearly four and a half 3-point attempts per game as a junior, earning MVC Player of the year and first-team All-America recognition both seasons.
Rather than departing for the NBA Draft, McDermott decided to return to Creighton for his senior season as the school transitioned into the Big East. Against the toughest competition of his career, he had his best season, leading the country in scoring at 26.7 per game while maintaining his unheard-of efficiency. He was the consensus national player of the year, guiding Creighton to a 27-8 record and a second-place finish in the Big East alongside fellow seniors Ethan Wragge, Grant Gibbs and Jahenns Manigat.
“Without that team, we’re not in the Big East today,” Greg said. “We had sustained success with that group. Doug was coming back off of back-to-back all American seasons. I’m just not sure we would have been attractive enough to be the farthest-west school in an eastern league had it not been for that group. So first of all, I don’t think we’re here without them.
“And secondly, the momentum we got from that first year, finishing second, that Marquette game is still one of the cooler events that we’ve had in this building. You could feel the energy in here for that first Big East game and, for us to finish second, get to the title game, have a high seed in the NCAA Tournament, really set the stage for things to come that it was going to be possible at Creighton to be successful in a league as good as the Big East.”
Doug highlighted the game at Villanova when Wragge went off for 27 points on 9-of-14 from 3, the senior day game against Providence that saw him scorer a career-high 45 points to surpass 3,000 for his career, and the New Year’s Eve Big East debut against Marquette as games that stand out from his senior year.
Among the current Bluejays, senior Ryan Kalkbrenner thought McDermott’s jersey had already been retired. Aurora native and fifth-year senior Baylor Scheierman, who was in middle school during Doug’s playing days, remembers one thing about the all-time great.
“Just a lot of buckets man,” Scheierman said. “Just a lot of buckets. Obviously one of the best scorers in college history. So that’s probably the biggest thing, just a lot of buckets made.”
Redshirt freshman Isaac Traudt, a Grand Island native, said McDermott was one of his favorite players to watch growing up, especially with his small-town roots.
“It’ll be awesome,” Traudt said. “Obviously well deserved, of course. He’s one of the best to ever play here and had an unbelievable Creighton career. We’re excited to have him, it’ll be awesome to have him in the building. Glad they were able to make it work for him during this time.”
On Wednesday night, Doug McDermott will take his place among Creighton royalty, making official something that has been in practice since he took off his Creighton jersey for the final time. No one will ever wear No. 3 at Creighton, because there will never be another Doug McDermott.
