The Creighton Bluejays men’s basketball team has been prominent and notable for most of the past 30 years, and it’s primarily due to the coaching of Dana Altman and Greg McDermott.
From 1994 to 2010, Altman coached the Bluejays to seven NCAA Tournaments and five NIT appearances, racking up 327 wins.
After the 2010 season, however, Altman left Creighton to take the Oregon Ducks head coaching job. He still holds the Oregon job today. Creighton turned to then-Iowa State Cyclones coach Greg McDermott to replace Altman, in a move that some questioned at the time. Iowa State had just one win over a ranked opponent in McDermott’s four years as head coach. Would he be able to achieve success at Creighton?
In the 14 years since, McDermott has repeatedly proven that he can absolutely achieve success. McDermott has had just one losing season in his time with the Bluejays. With Wednesday’s victory over the Houston Baptist Huskies, McDermott notched win number 328, passed Altman, and became the winningest coach in program history.
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Congratulations to Head Coach Greg McDermott on win 328 with the Jays!#GoJays x @cucoachmac pic.twitter.com/E5vkVgztC0
β Creighton Menβs Basketball (@BluejayMBB) November 14, 2024
Aided by son Doug McDermott, one of college basketball’s most prolific scorers, Greg McDermott led Creighton to the NCAA Tournament in 2011 and 2012. The school jumped to the Big East before the 2013 season. In the time since, they’ve been one of the conference’s most successful programs.
Except for a 14-19 finish in the 2014-15 season, Creighton has won 20+ games per season in the Big East. They’ve also won the conference twice, once in 2013 and once in 2020. He’s taken the school to the NCAA Tournament nine times. He’s also responsible for three of the school’s six all-time Sweet Sixteens and one of the school’s two all-time Elite Eights.
This season may be another special one for McDermott and the Bluejays. They’re 3-0 to open the season and are No. 14 in the AP Poll. They were picked to finish second in the Big East this year behind the back-to-back national champion UConn Huskies.
Creighton returns to action on Saturday night when they host the Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos.
