Creighton men’s basketball entered the 2025-26 with high expectations after a well-regarded transfer portal haul and exited it with a disappointing 16-18 record, the program’s first sub-.500 finish since 2014-15.
The first major offseason domino fell before the offseason even began, with Coach Greg McDermott announcing his retirement prior to the College Basketball Crown. It’s Alan Huss’ program now, and he’s tasked with getting the Bluejays back to the winning standard McDermott established throughout his career in Omaha.
As the transfer portal officially opens on Tuesday, it’s worth reflecting on this year’s campaign and what the staff may have learned from how the season turned out.
Off the top, it’s worth acknowledging that some things outside the staff’s control dramatically shaped how this season played out. The thing about sports is you always need a bit of luck on your side to win big, and Creighton certainly didn’t have that this season.
First, I can report that Fedor Žugić’s eligibility uncertainty impacted the way the staff assembled the roster. Had they known he would be eligible, the coaches likely would have taken a different approach to rounding out the roster after targeting Freeman and Josh Dix as the stars of their transfer class (as in recruiting one fewer player and devoting resources differently).
Even bigger were the injuries. The knee injury Owen Freeman suffered in the spring after signing with Creighton (and how it has continued to impact him to this day) completely derailed the season. The staff brought him in to fill the massive void left by Ryan Kalkbrenner’s departure, knowing his limitations but believing in his interior scoring ability and hoping to work on his weaknesses to get the most out of him. Instead, he missed the entire offseason while recovering then was a shell of himself upon returning to the practice court.
Jackson McAndrew’s foot injury was another massive blow. A second-year leap could have positioned the talented sharp-shooter to be Creighton’s leading scorer, or at least among the team’s leaders, and instead he played just four games before shutting it down to have surgery. McAndrew and Freeman were supposed to be among the team’s three best players, and the Bluejays got almost nothing from them this season.
Additionally, Hudson Greer missed a significant chunk with an injury, Jasen Green played through a shoulder injury much of the season, Austin Swartz missed some time and Freeman was in and out of the rotation dealing with a variety of issues. It’s hard to find consistency as a team when the coaches have to adjust the rotation as frequently as they did this year.
Add in Dix’s mother passing away midseason and it’s not hard to see why Greg McDermott said he was proud of how this team stuck together this season, even if the desired results didn’t materialize.
Injuries aside, the final product of this team was consistently less than the sum of its parts, thus the 16-18 overall record that included a win over a team that played for the national championship Monday night in UConn. The team wasn’t totally bereft of talent, but the pieces never clicked consistently and there was far too much overlap in areas of weakness.
McDermott acknowledged in the preseason that this year’s team would have to win a lot of shootouts based on how he and his staff constructed it. Replacing a generational defensive player like Kalkbrenner is nearly impossible. However, the Jays ended up finishing 73rd in adjusted offensive efficiency.
The staff assembled a “Let it Fly” team (23rd in 3-point rate at 48.2%) that shot the ball at an average level (167th in 3-point percentage at 34.1%). Freeman was supposed to balance out the offense a bit with his mastery in the post, but that didn’t materialize for reasons mentioned above.
Perhaps the biggest issue, however, was the point guard position. From Maurice Watson Jr. to Marcus Zegarowski to Ryan Nembhard to Steven Ashworth, McDermott put together a strong run of point guards who truly fit his offensive vision. Add in off-guards who carried a heavy load offensively like Marcus Foster, Ty-Shon Alexander and Trey Alexander and the Jays have had strong backcourts throughout their run of success.
Nik Graves’ best games led to some of Creighton’s biggest wins this season, but in making the leap from the American to the Big East, he wasn’t able to access that high level of play on a consistent basis, and his playing style wasn’t a good fit for how Creighton has traditionally played from a tempo, skill and decision-making standpoint. Dix was the team’s best player this season, but the struggles at the point guard position pushed him into a role he wasn’t quite able to fill while maintaining the incredible efficiency he displayed at Iowa.
McDermott anticipated some defensive struggles, but it turned out even worse than he had likely hoped for. The Bluejays finished 100th in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom. Take it from Jan. 6 onward, and Torvik has Creighton’s defense ranked 170th across its last 19 games. The Bluejays’ season ended when they gave up 87 points and 53% shooting to a mediocre offensive team in West Virginia in the College Basketball Crown semifinals.
The coaches threw everything they could think of at the wall throughout the course of the season and none of it worked, at least not for more than a game or two. The roster simply lacked the pieces needed to compete on the defensive end.
Beyond Dix, I’m not sure you can name a Bluejay who had even an above-average defensive season. Creighton lacked rim protection at the center spot and foot speed on the perimeter nearly across the board. On top of the physical deficiencies, most of the Bluejays struggled with the mental aspect of defense in terms of anticipating where to be when and executing the game plan. No matter how much time the coaches spent on it, it didn’t really get any better.
The coaches spent the entire season trying to instill winning habits into a group of transfers who hadn’t won in college at their previous stops. The staff won’t be in position to have their pick of the litter from the top programs, but I wonder if Huss and company will put a bit more emphasis into finding transfers who have seen what it takes to win in person on a daily basis this cycle.
This year’s roster simply wasn’t good enough on either side of the ball, but that doesn’t mean the team is bereft of talent or that Huss needs to flip the whole roster heading into 2026-27. Continuity is still a valuable thing in college basketball, perhaps now more than ever. Huss’ first priority is retaining the players he views as program cornerstones, for both 2026-27 and beyond. McAndrew, Greer and Green seem to fit that bill.
Huss’ presence as coach-in-waiting this season also gave him the opportunity to work with the players on a daily basis, granting him more insight into which players can fit into his vision and who might benefit from more time in program. That applies to both role players and those with potential to be something more.
The emphasis this offseason must be on assembling a roster that puts everyone in a position to play to his strengths. A point guard who can run the offense the way Huss wants it run (depending on how the staff feels about incoming recruit Katrelle Harmon’s readiness to play), a rim-protecting center and perimeter defense/athleticism should be the priorities as the portal opens. Add those pieces to what the team could have coming back and I think the picture looks a lot different than what we saw this season.
