2020 Team Preview: How Good Are The Creighton Bluejays?

The Creighton Bluejays weren’t primed for a big season last year, that was until they absolutely demolish San Diego state which moved them up to 66 on the rankings. They followed that up with a few more solid performances and found themselves at number 38 on the rankings after the first five games. After that, they went 11-2 to finish the season, picking up a few statement wins and improving the ceiling for this team greatly. They are hoping to follow that excellent season up with another terrific year despite losing a few big names.

Offseason Changes

Much like what happens every offseason, there is going to be a lot of turnaround for the Bluejays. They lost Jordan Scurry and Kelvin Jones to graduation, with Jones being their interior presence last season after the injury to Jacob Epperson. However, they also lost Ty-Shon Alexander, their biggest loss of the offseason. He was the full-fledged leader of this basketball team but ultimately decided to skip his senior year in order to attend the NBA draft.

Epperson will be returning this year after his season ending injury, he suffered last year and is primed to be a huge boost for this team. Along with Epperson, they picked up Antwann Jones from Memphis. Jones had left Memphis after finding out about the situation with James Wisemen and Penny Hardaway. They also get new freshmen Rati Andronikashvili and Ryan Kalkbrenner.

There weren’t any changes in the head coach position which means that Greg McDermott will get to coach his 11^th season for Creighton. McDermott has a career record of 231-116 with the Bluejays.

The Bluejays Will Succeed If…

Their offense doesn’t suffer from a major offensive drop off. They were a top three offense in the entire country last season and are expected to take a little bit of a hit this year. They will need to endure their losses and continue their efficient offensive play.

The Bluejays Will Fail If…

Their defense doesn’t pick up the slack. They were rated as the 78^th ranked defensive unit last season but should improve once Epperson returns to the lineup. Expect this unit to improve quite a bit if Epperson get a ton of minutes but if coach McDermott turns to Christian Bishop at the five spot, their defense wont improve much from last year.

Prediction

Last year this team was able to crush expectations as they jumped out to a very hot start. This year, their may not have as much success, mostly due to the loss of Alexander, who was the heart and soul of their defense without Epperson. They are still a very talented team that is looking to drop off a bit on the offensive end but should vastly improve on the defensive end if Epperson can make as big of an impact as he is projected to. They will definitely make the tournament but shouldn’t make it that far.

Prediction: Lose in the Round of 16