Basketball Season is Here!!!
It is finally here! The 2016-2017 Creighton men’s basketball season is ready to get underway. On Sunday, the Jays played a closed-door scrimmage against the Missouri Tigers at the Century Link Center. This Friday the team will play their lone exhibition against the Wayne State Wildcats, a team that Greg McDermott coached from 1994 to 2000.
The Jays have been the walking wounded all offseason so expect to see Coach McDermott throw a lot of guys on the floor. Isaiah Zeirden, Zach Hanson, Cole Huff and Martin Krampelj have all missed practice time this offseason while recovering from injuries. Keeping those players healthy will be key in this exhibition game.
Since Bluejay madness did not take place this season, for a lot of fans this game will be the first glimpse of Kansas State transfer Marcus Foster, a player that should come in and be that go to guy the Jays have lacked the past two seasons. Since senior center Zach Hanson’s minutes will be limited to start the season expect to see a lot of redshirt freshman Justin Patton on Friday. Patton is another Bluejay that fans have heard good things about and are anxious to see.
Wayne State was picked 15th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll. The Wildcats return four starters and nine letter winners from last season. They don’t feature a lot of size with just one player at 6’9” or above but they do have some names on their roster that some local basketball fans may recognize. One of those names is freshman Tony Bonner from Abraham Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs. I’m obligated mention Bonner since I, myself went graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School and Wayne State College.
What you need to know:
Another player to watch for Wayne State is Matt Thomas. He is a volume shooter so watch him put up a ton of shots on Friday. The improved defense by Creighton’s guards will be tested in this match up. Another thing to watch will be the post play by CU, especially Justin Patton. With a huge size advantage let’s see if Patton can take advantage,
What you don’t need to know:
Wayne State College is of course located in small Wayne, Nebraska. Wayne State College is known as a school for teachers and a school for consuming alcohol. Wayne has a population of about 5,500 people. 3,500 of those people are students making it a college town and ghost town during the summers. The second weekend in July in Wayne is hopping however. That weekend is known as Chicken Days. A festival/party the town has been having since 1981. I wouldn’t recommend Wayne as a tourist destination but if you enjoy alcoholic beverages, food and very random games as entertainment then by all means check out Wayne in July.