For 16 years, Creighton men’s basketball has raised money and awareness for the fight against cancer and the importance of early detection with the annual Pink Out game.
Inspired by his wife Theresa’s fight against breast cancer in 2005, Coach Greg McDermott has made the Pink Out game one of the biggest events on the Creighton calendar since his arrival in Omaha in 2011. To date, Creighton’s Pink Out efforts have raised $1,1234,251.20 and counting, with this year’s auction adding $43,535.28 to that total prior to donations received at the game itself.
This year, the event holds particular meaning for two newcomers to the team preparing to experience the Pink Out for the first time: senior Josh Dix and sophomore Blake Harper.
“The Pink Out, it’s a special day,” McDermott said. “I think it really hits home this year with some of the stories on our team with a couple of our guys. I really appreciate the way the community has embraced it. I’m sure we’ll have a great crowd.”
Harper lost his mom, Linda, to breast cancer in 2023, when he was just a junior in high school. Harper still vividly remembers watching a hype video in the locker room during his visit to Creighton and seeing all the pink. On Saturday, he’ll get the opportunity to experience it firsthand.
“I’m excited,” Harper said. “Coming on my visit here, that’s kind of one of the big games that was on the schedule. This Pink Out every year and just seeing the environment and the cause that it’s going to, it’s kind of a big day for me and Josh really, kind of going through the whole thing with breast cancer and cancer just in general. This one kind of hits the heart a little bit, and we’re kind of playing for something a little bit more.”
As part of the Pink Out, Creighton auctions off the pink-trimmed jersey for each player on the roster, and the winners earn the opportunity to put the name of a loved one who is fighting or has fought cancer on the player’s shooting shirt. After the game, the players meet with the people who placed the winning bids for their jerseys.
Harper is looking forward to seeing CHI Health Center Omaha decked out in pink Saturday — and to experiencing the “Stand Up to Cancer” moment during the under-8 timeout where the fans have the opportunity to recognize the loved ones whose battles and perseverance have inspired them.
Blake Harper thanks a teammate against South Dakota on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, in Omaha, Nebraska. Photo by Brandon Tiedemann.
“I think the pink jerseys are the best in the country, so it’s a beautiful sight to see for sure … It’s definitely going to bring out a little bit of emotion in me,” Harper said. “I feel like I haven’t done anything like this, ever. I kind of just play it up top in my mind, but kind of for it to be all around me, it’s definitely going to hit something different in my heart. I know I’m not the only one, so that’s kind of the beautiful thing about it. There’s kind of everybody going through something and some struggle, just kind of coming all together and just supporting Creighton basketball.”
This season has been a bit of a roller coaster for Harper, who transferred to Creighton after averaging 19.5 points as a freshman at Howard. He started the first nine games before moving to the bench. After playing 34.4 minutes per game for the Bison, he’s down to 19.7 minutes and 9.3 points per game as a Bluejay. Even so, Harper said it’s “night and day” comparing the player he was when he first arrived to who he is now. Both the competition level he’s facing and the expectations within the program are dramatically different than what he was used to, but after a rocky start, he’s embracing the journey.
“Just kind of refiguring my mind and my priorities on the basketball court, I would say, and also at the same time, knowing that I’ve got teammates and coaches around me that believe in me and that are coaching me to be a better version of myself,” Harper said. “Throughout the start of the season, I was taking the coaching more personally, not taking the message and more taking the delivery. But I feel like now I’m getting more comfortable getting my feet under me, so that’s why I’m excited to keep showing up.”
Dix and his family are going through the cancer fight right now. His mother, Kelly, is battling the disease, which played a big part in the Council Bluffs, Iowa, native — and former Iowa Hawkeye — transferring close to home for his senior season. Dix said he’s received understanding and support from everyone in the program as he’s balanced basketball and family.
“The coaches are great,” Dix said. “They all know. Mac’s great. If I have something going on that I need to go to or something with my mom, he always lets me. They know that that’s bigger and more important than basketball right now. They helped me all through it. My teammates are super supportive, always asking how she’s doing and stuff. It’s awesome.”
On Saturday, he’ll see that same support from over 17,000 people as No. 2 UConn comes to town. Dix said he’s never played in a game like the Pink Out before. Appropriately, his No. 4 jersey was this year’s top seller, with a $3,800 winning bid.
“I’ll have a lot of family there, so that will definitely mean a lot, getting support from everyone,” Dix said. “A lot of people go through the same situation, dealing with cancer and stuff like that, so it affects a lot of people, and I think that this basketball game just brings a lot of people together.”
Dix is the only Bluejays to start every game this season. He’s leading the team in points, steals, free-throw percentage and minutes played. He’s guarding the other team’s best player every game and has been one of the best individual wing stoppers in the Big East. Despite all his contributions — and perhaps, at least in part, because of them — he’s been mired in a shooting slump for much of the season. The career 41.9% 3-point shooter at Iowa is at 31.9% as a Bluejay, including just 26.3% in league play after a 0-for-9 outing against Marquette. Despite the percentages, his coach isn’t worried.
Josh Dix and head coach Greg McDermott pose together after Dix surpassed 1,000 career points. Photo by Brandon Tiedemann
“Josh comes to work every day, same approach, gets his extra work in,” McDermott said. “He’s a great teammate. I would argue that the Marquette game, he maybe got as good of looks from the 3-point line as he has all year, and he just didn’t knock them down. When you’re a shooter like Josh, you have no conscience. You just keep on shooting. I think he’s going to have to have a huge impact tomorrow if we expect to be successful.”
Their shared experiences have formed a strong bond between Harper and Dix, who have held many deep conversations over the past few months. Harper said there’s “nothing subtle” about the way they support each other and discuss what fighting cancer looks like for those most affected.
“It’s life,” Harper said. “That’s my guy. I was just with him last night. We were just talking about things and just chopping it up. I feel for Josh, because I feel like I was just in the same predicament. I feel like that’s my boy, and we’re so vulnerable with each other. Just in this past year, we became so close that I feel like I can talk to him about anything and he can talk to me about anything. I just feel like when we’ve got that brotherhood relationship, especially when that goes on the court, I feel like we just get stronger and tighter.
“I love Josh. It’s going to be a big game for both of us. I feel it, so the emotion’s going to be in the air tomorrow.”
Nearly everyone has experienced the horrors of cancer in some way, but rarely has a Creighton team featured players so close to the fight, adding a bit more juice to a game that already means a little more year in and year out.
“Blake was young and he was an only child,” McDermott said. “We talk about the impacts that cancer can have on families; our guys have experienced it firsthand, knowing Blake’s story and Josh’s mom going through it right now. I think it hits home a little bit more. I think tomorrow will be a little bit more meaningful, probably, in our locker room because of those stories. It’s easy to talk about it when it’s someone else. When it hits home like it has those two families, obviously, it carries a little bit more weight.”
Creighton will accept further donations at the game, with the Nebraska Cancer Specialists committing to match the funds raised, up to $30,000. The money benefits the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge, which provides a free home away from home for cancer patients and their caregivers in Omaha. The Pink Out isn’t just a fundraiser, though. The pink carries a message McDermott believes in wholeheartedly.
“The reason we started this is to scream from the top of the mountain the importance of early detection in the fight against cancer, so trying to make sure that people that have put off screenings, make sure they get that taken care of,” McDermott said. “I’ve said it before, if one person goes and gets a screening because of the Pink Out and they catch it early and are able to treat that cancer, then it’s worth what we’re doing. Obviously, we’re raising money for the Hope Lodge, and that facility has been an incredible addition to our community and we have to keep it up and running at a high level, and this event certainly does that.
“But it’s the need for early detection, that’s why we started this, and that’s why we’ll continue to screen that from the top of the mountain.”
