Jays courtin’ multiple PG’s…in pursuit of Excellence!
” The sneer is gone from Casey’s lip, his teeth are clenched with hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate;
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow.
Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out. ”
Snippet of “Casey at the Bat” – Ernest Lawrence Thayer
“But on the Hilltop there is Jubilee, as the HussBuss is Rollin’ mightily!”
Coach Huss is resetting the bar…establishing a new baseline, the ‘new’ Normal. In reaching-recruiting 6 high level PG’s (5 in the ESPN top 50), he is announcing intent to move the program to a higher level…into uncharted territory for lil’ Creighton. 3 top Pgs visiting within the last 3 weeks: #20 Pemberton, #30/31//33 Gordon, #39 Davis. Davis to Ohio St, Pemberton to Mich St, and now Gordon to the Jays!
This isn’t breaking news…not even top flight evening news. This is a periodic pulse of a growing program. Creighton has made big reaches, and steady strides before. This is another in that periodic series of program “stretches”…setting the tone for the next level.
Willis (Reed) brought in a Top 5 talent in Big Ben in ’82. Barone brought in Gallagher in ’87. Altman brought in Buford in ’95, Creighton failed in the 2006 Russ Westbrook recruitment & in 2010 in the Anthony Stover recruitment – both attempts to bump recruiting up to the ‘next level’. The Mac Era bumped up recruiting incrementally, Patton -2015, Ballock-Epperson-TyShon-2017, Zegarowski-2018; though most gains continued via transfers (Echenique, Gibbs, Foster, Watson, Hawkins, Scheierman, Ashworth, Traudt, Erhunmwunse, etc), until the 2021 Class / #12 nationally/247 (Kaluma-Nembhard-Alexander-Miller). Along with 2020s Kalkbrenner / Andronikashvili (#35 class), this team reached the Elite Eight and was one bad call from the Final Four! New heights indeed on the Hilltop. The 2022-26 recruiting classes ranked: 44 – 70 – 20 – 123 – 59 , and were heavily laden with transfers.
The program has hit new heights…and plateaus, before. Apke bringing us back to MVC conference play after 30 years as an independent. Barone re-establishing CU as a NCAA Tourney team. Altman’s sustained run of 16 years of steady, consistent excellence. Another 16 years of excellence and of escalating heights under Coach McDermott’s tutelage. But, it’s not enough to win 20 and make the dance these days. One dreams of more than Altman’s 21-22 W’s or Mac’s 23-24 W’s per year. More than making routine Sweet Sixteen’s and one lone shot at an Elite Eight. Thirty-two years of ‘good’ is… well… good.
But there are plenty more milestones, plenty more goals to achieve on the Hilltop. Multiple Big East / BET titles, a few more EE’s, and a handful of Final Four shots. Always room for a few more undefeated seasons (1917-18, 1918-19), and a few more 2-loss seasons (1916-17, 1919-20, 1923-24, 1924-25, & 1942-43). CU’s never had a 30+ W season, nor a Helm’s, AAU, NIT, or NCAA basketball championship. Plenty of milestones and goals left for my Jays to achieve! Plenty of room in the trophy cases and in the CHICO rafters for Final Fours and National Championship paraphrenalia! Hah!
Huss’ 1st recruiting class is currently ranked 7th-ESPN/6th-247.com nationally with the addition of #30/31/33 (ESPN/Rivals/247) PG Micah Gordon, and #65 PF London Dada, and is still a work-in-progress. Coach is a Jays homer, and is as tough / hard as 2-week old French bagettes!
Recruiting News!!!
2027 – Micah Gordon (Plainfield, NJ PG) has commited to the Bluejays! Highest ranked recruit in the modern rankings era. (Ctr Benoit Benjamin remains Creighton’s highest ranked recruit of all-time. Ben was 1st-5th in the 1982 Class (depending on sources), 1982 McD’s All- American.and Parade AA. Creighton – 1982-85; 1985 NBA Draft, 1st Round, #3, to the LA Clippers. Fifteen years in NBA.)
Welcome to the Hilltop, Micah!
Jim Harvey, a,k,a, @gtmoblue
#RollDamnJays
