2025-2026 roster

[bluejayfan2054]

Thanks Jacob for the write up. Seems like Graves gives us a dynamic scoring option that we haven’t had at that position in awhile and hopefully Mac’s offense can improve his passing ability also. Interesting note on Greer also. Really makes me wonder how the staff fills these last few spots then as I think we really need another guard they can trust. Backup big man is an obvious need but if Greer can live up to the hype like McAndrew did, I feel like they may think they are pretty set at the 3/4 positions besides maybe a freshman/project transfer to redshirt.

[Realhoops]

Hell of a final 26 seconds of double overtime versus a conference bottom feeder, for sure. But that doesn’t inspire confidence in him as a primary ballhandler. I think most fans held their breath every time he touched the ball last season. Hoping for a productive offseason of growth.

Nope. I thought he was pretty solid all year in his limited minutes. I don’t remember ever “holding my breath” when he came in.

[Alphawalt]

Thanks Jacob for the write up. Seems like Graves gives us a dynamic scoring option that we haven’t had at that position in awhile and hopefully Mac’s offense can improve his passing ability also. Interesting note on Greer also. Really makes me wonder how the staff fills these last few spots then as I think we really need another guard they can trust. Backup big man is an obvious need but if Greer can live up to the hype like McAndrew did, I feel like they may think they are pretty set at the 3/4 positions besides maybe a freshman/project transfer to redshirt.

I for one think that in addition to backup big man, Jays need to get athletic transition slashing to the rim decent/good rebounding forward in the tradition of Jefferson and Neal. Having Neal last year proved to be a matchup problem for at least a few teams. Green could fulfill that role, but I don’t think he is quite the slasher, creator of shots. It would be nice to have a player like that to complement the team.

[cujaysfan]

Thanks Jacob for the write up. Seems like Graves gives us a dynamic scoring option that we haven’t had at that position in awhile and hopefully Mac’s offense can improve his passing ability also. Interesting note on Greer also. Really makes me wonder how the staff fills these last few spots then as I think we really need another guard they can trust. Backup big man is an obvious need but if Greer can live up to the hype like McAndrew did, I feel like they may think they are pretty set at the 3/4 positions besides maybe a freshman/project transfer to redshirt.

I for one think that in addition to backup big man, Jays need to get athletic transition slashing to the rim decent/good rebounding forward in the tradition of Jefferson and Neal. Having Neal last year proved to be a matchup problem for at least a few teams. Green could fulfill that role, but I don’t think he is quite the slasher, creator of shots. It would be nice to have a player like that to complement the team.

i think Greer might fill that role. although athletic - not to the level Neal is - JN was special that way.

[RyanHolmgren]

Hell of a final 26 seconds of double overtime versus a conference bottom feeder, for sure. But that doesn’t inspire confidence in him as a primary ballhandler. I think most fans held their breath every time he touched the ball last season. Hoping for a productive offseason of growth.

You and I had very different experiences then.

Nope. I thought he was pretty solid all year in his limited minutes. I don’t remember ever “holding my breath” when he came in.

[NateFunkyTown]

This would be my current breakdown of the roster, strengths, weakness, and remaining needs.

Strengths: Scoring/Offense, Shooting/Spacing, Positional Size, Depth, Experience

Weaknesses or Question Marks: Playmaking/Passing, Rebounding, Defense, Athleticism

Last season I think was a pretty decent outline for the type of depth/rotation I think McDermott wants to have moving forward. A 9 man rotation with a Big, PG/Combo Guard, Wing/CG, F/Wing as the primary bench pieces. I'll use conference play averages for this exercise because the Pop games and no Fedor games throw off the averages a bit.

We saw the big 3 of Kalk/Ash/Jamiya average roughly 35.7 minutes a game each. I think as (hopefully) the program continues to grow and the depth gets stronger—that number will come down probably around 3-4 MPG each. Keeps your best players fresh and allows your bench pieces more room to develop.

Here's how I'd break down the roster in tiers:

The Stars— Josh Dix, Owen Freeman- These two are guaranteed to play a ton. Less than Kalk and Ash played, but easily 30 MPG a piece (foul trouble and stamina permitting for Freeman). Dix is positionally versatile whereas I think Freeman is pretty stricly a 5 for us.

The Potential Stars—Nik Graves, Jackson McAndrew, Fedor Zugic- I think these 3 are all guaranteed heavy rotation players and there is the potential that one or multiple could have a Jamiya Neal-like breakout season next year. I'd expect these 3 to range in the 18-30 MPG range. The range is so wide because there's no guarantee it does or doesn't click for these 3 next year.

The Athletic Wings Tier—Jasen Green, Hudson Greer - I know some are very high on Green's potential and maybe think he should've been included in the tier above this one. I just don't see the offensive upside really. That being said, Green is a great defender and rebounder and clearly needs to play a ton on this team. He also may even need to start. I expect Green to be similar to his role last year in that 18-24 MPG range. Greer is athletic, smart, skilled and coming from a program that really coaches up it's HS kids well. I don't want to get myself too excited for him, there will be an adjustment period, but he brings much needed athleticism on the wing. I think he plays 12-18 MPG next season.

The Intriguing Role Players— Isaact Traudt, Ty Davis- These two have some real talent but are a bit specialized. Traudt is an absolutely elite shooter and has good size for the position, but is slow footed and doesn't rebound as well as he should for a guy his size. He also doesn't add much defensively. With the shooting talent on this roster, I do wonder if both Traudt and Creighton would be better served by him moving on and the Jays targeting more of an athletic/defensive PF in the Green mold. Traudt is talented and deserves the opportunity to stay if he so chooses though. Davis has some great PG skills and seems to have a great handle on what Mac wants at the position. The questions will be is he too small, can he shoot well enough for his size, and can he defend? I go back and forth on whether Davis will be a key member of the rotation this year or in a similar low minutes role to last year. I lean that he will earn the true backup PG spot this year.

If you made it this far my takeaways are there really isn't much room for many more rotation players. Obviously everyone is in agreement Creighton needs to add a legitimate backup center. I personally feel it needs to be an upgrade to what King has been in recent years, especially with the drop off from Kalk to Freeman. This is the most important remaining addition.

Outside of that, you could talk me into two positions, backup PG and backup PF. This is if and only if you are bringing them in to essentially replace or compete for Davis and Traudt's spots at the end of the rotation. Creighton made the final 8 for that Wichita St. PF, he is a guy who strikes me as a better fit for what this team needs than Traudt. If he were willing to compete for that backup spot, that would be a nice target. At PG I could see them targeting a veteran with some size to man that Farabello role or another young PG to compete and develop alongside Davis. I have no idea what this guy wants in terms of NIL or role, but I think Andrew Mahaney from UConn is a name in the portal who would be a great fit. Down year last year, but he has the skillset Mac likes and I think he fits Creighton's system better.

Ultimately I think the Jays are in a great spot and have pretty little left to do in terms of filling out the rotation. The only real "need" is that backup C position. Go target some young guys to develop for future years on the scout team and let's make another deep tourney run.

[go_jays]

"Davis has some great PG skills and seems to have a great handle on what Mac wants at the position. The questions will be is he too small, can he shoot well enough for his size, and can he defend? "

Davis is 6'4". How big does a PG need to be? I think Davis suffered from Freshmanitis.. he was a little inconsistent. But when he was on, he was distributing, making plays for others and showed an ability to get to the rim. Shooting needs a bigger sample size. But I think he cold really blossom this year, given the chance.

[JayPak]

Davis is plenty big and strong and there’s no reason he can’t defend. Needs to get his shot going and tighten up the handle. Has the mental toughness. Think they’d want to keep him.

[NateFunkyTown]

Davis is plenty big and strong and there’s no reason he can’t defend. Needs to get his shot going and tighten up the handle. Has the mental toughness. Think they’d want to keep him.

Yeah good note I have no idea why I remembered him being smaller out there like 6’1”. That ones on me for sure. Makes me feel better about that backup PG spot that’s a huge backcourt.

[cu8493]

You have to keep in mind that Davis was was not getting starter's practice minutes running the offensive or defensive game plan each week. He likely spent much of his time either running with the scout team or watching the starters, with more limited work on Creighton's schemes prior to each game. Put that on top of the fact that he is a freshman who is new to the program and likely had limited time last summer to learn Mac's schemes, and one can't help but be slow when he gets into a game where he has to be thinking too much about the scheme and keys he needs to be reading. Look how long it takes even experienced transfers who are getting almost all of the starter's time in practice to catch on, let alone someone who is mostly learning by watching the starters practice. IMO, TD has the handle and the headiness to be a quality player for us. He is nothing like Schtolzberg. His shooting will improve with playing time and confidence that comes from it.