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LOCATION: Omaha, NE
CONFERENCE: Missouri Valley
LAST SEASON: 22-9 (.709)
CONFERENCE RECORD: (t-2nd)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 2/3
NICKNAME: Bluejays
COLORS: Blue & White
HOMECOURT: Omaha Civic Auditorium (9,493)
COACH: Dana Altman (Eastern New Mexico '80)
record at school 76-68 (5 years)
career record 159-135 (10 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Greg Grensing (SW Texas State '79)
Len Gordy (Arizona '77)
Kevin McKenna (Creighton '93)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 7-14-15-18-22
RPI (last 5 years) 214-161-138-89-34
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in NCAA second round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Dana Altman's bachelor's degree from Eastern New Mexico and master's degree from Western State were in business administration. One glance at the five-year rebuilding job he has done as Creighton's head basketball coach suggests a college major such as mechanical engineering or architecture would be more appropriate on his resume. Check out these year-by-year records the 41-year-old native of Wilbur, Neb., has posted in his five seasons in Omaha: 7-19, 14-15, 15-15, 18-9, 22-9. Altman has taken a down-and-out program that missed qualifying for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament for three consecutive years (1992-95) and built it into a winner. Altman's efforts received national attention last season. First came the MVC Tournament championship, then an NCAA Tournament bid and finally, a 62-58 upset over Louisville in the first round of the NCAA. The Bluejays were finally eliminated by national powerhouse Maryland, 75-63, in the second round of the South Regional. "We've done a real solid job (in year-to-year improvement)," Altman said. "Last year was a good year for us. A lot of people put in a great deal of work to get our basketball team positioned to do what it did. We received great support from the administration, the athletic director and the community. It's good to see all those people rewarded for having faith in our coaching staff." Of course, now that those dizzying heights have been reached, it is debatable which will be the more substantial achievement getting there or staying there, especially with the graduation of honorable mention All-American Rodney Buford, now a member of the NBA's Miami Heat. Buford, a 6-5 small forward, was the all-time leading scorer in Bluejays' history and the primary cog in the ascent of the program. Also departed are two other major contributors center Doug Swenson (11.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 52 blocks) and sixth man Corie Brandon (7.2 ppg) to a team that led the conference in scoring (76.0) and rebounding (36.3).
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT B BENCH/DEPTH C
FRONTCOURT C+ INTANGIBLES C+
The holdovers from the Bluejays' blessed 1998-99 season will certainly benefit from the success they enjoyed in winning the MVC Tournament and an NCAA Tournament game. But their star, Rodney Buford, is gone to the NBA and a lot of inexperience is stepping in for the league's leading shot blocker, Doug Swenson. The backcourt starters are excellent, but the Bluejays are dangerously thin behind them. There is less quality among the frontcourt starters, but more possible options for Altman if the newcomers in the post produce. Asking for anything close to last year's 22-9 record, particularly in a league that has improved by leaps and bounds the last couple of years, would be foolhardy. But Altman has a knack of getting the most from his talent, and a first-division finish is not out of the question. |
"Those three guys, along with (reserve forward) Cliff Bates, added a lot to our ballclub and will be missed greatly," Altman said. "But we have three starters back, including both guards, which makes you feel pretty good. There are some good guard combinations in our league, but Ryan Sears and Ben Walker are right up there with them." Sears (8.7 ppg, 4.0 apg) is an unselfish 6-0 junior point guard who posted a phenomenally low turnover rate of 1.9 per game. Walker (9.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg), a 6-2 junior, is a more athletic, physical backcourt presence who led the Bluejays in scoring in both of their NCAA Tournament games. "With Rodney gone, Ben and Ryan are going to need to take a little bit more of the scoring load," Altman said. "We'll have to do it by committee, but it'll start with them." Senior Matt West (3.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg), a 6-4 swingman, is the only other guard returning with much experience. Senior walk-ons Dan Kolder (0.9 ppg), 6-2, and 6-1 Jason Ourada (0.4 ppg) played sparingly and won't be counted on for any substantial role this year. Two freshman guards 6-3 Terrell Taylor (Bridgeport, Conn./Central HS), who averaged 25.1 points per game last season, and 6-5 Sean Blocker (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central HS), who sat out his senior season for disciplinary reasons may see some action behind Sears and Walker. The frontcourt is much deeper. Donnie Johnson (5.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg), a 6-7 senior who started half the Bluejays' games, battled injuries in the early part of last season, but averaged 7.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in the final 11 games. He is joined by 6-8 senior Nerijus Karlikanovas (6.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, .480 percent on three-pointers), a Lithuanian left-hander who was chosen to the MVC all-bench team, 6-4 junior Justin Haynes (2.2 ppg, 1.3 rpg) and oft-injured 6-9 junior Alan Huss (1.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg). John Klein, a 6-5 sophomore walk-on (0.7 ppg, 0.8 rpg) rounds out the inside returnees. "The ability of Donnie, Nerijus and Alan to step up and play will really be a big part of how we do," Altman said. "Those three guys will be the gauge mark of what kind of season we have. Nerijus had some ballgames where he stepped up and made some baskets for us, but he needs to rebound a little better." Two recruits should shore up the inside: 6-11, 220-pound junior Livan Pyfrom (Eastern Oklahoma JC), a native of the Bahamas, averaged 14.0 points and 8.6 rebounds as a sophomore. And Joe Dabbert, a 6-10 210-pound freshman (Bailey, Colo./Platte Canyon HS), led the state with a 5.1 blocked-shot rate, while scoring 16.5 points and grabbing 12.9 rebounds per game. They were brought in to cushion the blow of losing Swenson. "Pyfrom is really athletic, but being from the Bahamas, he hasn't played that much and lacks some skills," Altman said. "Dabbert is thin but should be able to help us depending on how Livan comes along." Besides the big guys, the recruit who may have the most impact is 6-6 freshman forward Kyle Korver (Pella, Iowa), a sharpshooter who averaged 24.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game on .520 percent shooting from the field last season. Michael Grimes (Florissant, Mo., Hazelwood Central) is a 6-7 freshman who averaged 22.1 points and 11 rebounds. Altman believes he will be a good player in time. One scheduling positive for the Bluejays is home games against Iowa, Nebraska and Tulsa. "Our league needs us to beat teams like that from bigger conferences," Altman said. "That's what gave our league notoriety last year when we beat Iowa and Oklahoma State and Southwest Missouri beat Missouri. Beating up on schools our own size or smaller doesn't do us any good." Creighton's first visit to the NCAA Tournament in eight years spawned an interest in the program that Altman encountered far beyond Omaha. "You do notice a difference in (recruited) kids knowing who we are," he said. "It definitely helps to play nationally televised games. Our win over Louisville was big, as was our loss against Maryland. (The recognition) doesn't get you the player, but it at least gets guys to listen to you a little bit." And that kind of success also creates higher expectations among the townfolk, whose allegiances have always begun with Nebraska football. They had their heads turned last winter by the kids wearing short pants and playing with a round ball. "You'd rather have those higher expectations than not have a chance," Altman said. "I'd rather have people wanting us to do well and being a little upset when we don't. There's a lot more accountability for us that way. "We've got a group of fans who have been tremendously loyal, fans who hung with us when we were pretty bad. Now there are more people starting to get involved now that we've won some games." If you build it, they will come. Altman has constructed quite a program at Creighton. Now comes a new challenge keeping it at a high level.
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