Ryan Nembhard earned the keys to the car that is Creighton’s offense soon after he arrived in Omaha, putting together a Big East Freshman of the Year campaign before suffering a season-ending injury. As a sophomore, he led the Bluejays to their first Elite Eight while playing the second-most minutes in the Big East.
Then he entered the transfer portal, leaving a Creighton team otherwise ready to contend for championships with a big hole at the point guard spot. Greg McDermott and his staff scoured the transfer portal for a replacement, showing interest in many of the top names at the position, but fit was always top of mind.
The staff honed in on Utah State transfer Steven Ashworth as that fit, and the feeling was mutual for the 6-foot-1 sharp-shooting floor general, who committed to the Bluejays on April 17.
Once he arrived in Omaha, he wasted no time getting to know his teammates and establishing himself as a Bluejay.
“Steven is an outstanding, phenomenal player,” redshirt freshman Jasen Green told Hurrdat Sports at Creighton’s local media day. “He just kind of fit in with this team like he’s been here for a long time, to be honest. His chemistry with all the players and with all the coaches already is just crazy for how short a time he’s been here. He’s going to be a really good addition for us.”
Ashworth didn’t open last season as a starter for the Aggies, but he quickly emerged as a difference-maker regardless and led the team with 16.2 points and 4.5 assists per game as Utah State went 26-9 and earned a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Now he’s brought that expertise and experience with him to Omaha.
“It’s been great,” Trey Alexander said. “He’s jelled right in. He’s just a winner, he’s a natural-born leader and he’s an everyday guy. Those are the type of guys you want on your team and the type of guys you want to go to war with. I feel like Steven is one of those guys that is worried about winning more than anything. That’s what the Creighton culture is about and that’s what we’re here for.”
Ashworth is a very different kind of point guard than Nembhard, who put a ton of pressure on the rim with his ability to get downhill in transition, isolation and ball-screen situations. Ashworth only attempted 39 shots at the rim playing in the Mountain West last season (compared to 141 for Nembhard, whose driving volume somewhat offset his average efficiency as a finisher). Even so, Ashworth is still an elite pick-and-roll point guard; he just goes about his business in a very different way.
Ashworth was one of the best pull-up jump shooters in the country last season, scoring 1.33 points per possession (ranked in the 99th percentile nationally) and shooting nearly 50%. He converted 52.6% of his pull-up 2s and 48.4% of his off-the-dribble 3s. Though his size and athletic limitations make it difficult for him to get downhill and finish coming off a screen, his ability to stop on a dime and knock down a jumper more than makes up for it. He shot 50% on 2s and a blistering 46.9% on 3s in the pick-and-roll.
He’s also tremendous at leveraging that shooting ability to draw attention to himself and open up the pass to the roll man, which makes him a great fit alongside Ryan Kalkbrenner.
“Steven’s a great player, high-IQ player, really smart,” Kalkbrenner said. “So I’m still going to catch a lot of lobs this year. He’s great and he’s fit in really easily on this team, so it’s going to be good.”
Beyond his pick-and-roll mastery, what makes Ashworth such a good fit for this roster is that he is just as good — and perhaps even better — off the ball because of his shooting ability. He scored 1.351 points per possession as a spot-up scorer (99th percentile) and shot 48% from 3 last year.
On all catch-and-shoot possessions last year, he scored 1.23 points per possessions (88th percentile) and shot 41.4% from 3 (36.6% on guarded looks and 45.7% on unguarded shots). He also shot 54.8% from 3 in transition. Teams won’t be able to help off him or he’ll make them pay, which opens up the floor for everyone else.
With Ashworth joining a backcourt already featuring Alexander and Baylor Scheierman, Creighton has three players who can initiate offense and set up teammates as well as knock down spot-up 3s at a better than 40% clip.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Scheierman said of playing with Ashworth. “He’s elite on and off the ball, which is kind of a little different than R2. Obviously R2 is a great point guard, but a lot of what he did was on the ball and having Steven be able to play off the ball allows Trey to come on the ball where he’s elite, and allows me as well. And Steven shot 43% from 3 last year, so he can shoot it at a high level. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Ashworth played alongside another combo-guard at Utah State in Max Shulga, who averaged 11.9 points and 4.0 assists while shooting 36.3% from 3 for the Aggies. The fit alongside Alexander, who is expected to play more on the ball this season, has been seamless.
Losing a point guard of Nembhard’s caliber to the portal — and eventually to Gonzaga — was a big blow to the Creighton program, but McDermott and his staff didn’t miss a beat finding a replacement. There will likely be a transition period as Ashworth adjusts to the step up in day-to-day competition playing in the Big East will provide, but he has the kind of skill set to elevate the Bluejay “Let it Fly” offense to another level.
