Greg McDermott, Creighton Men's Basketball Coach

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Just use Instacart, Brian. Alrighty, rocking and rolling on this Wednesday. This is the Zach Gelb Show Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio. We all remember Creighton's run to the Elite Eight a year ago. The Blue Jays had an enormous victory last night for the first time ever in their program's history. They have taken down a number one team in the country, defeating the number one at UConn Huskies, who are the defending national champs, by a final score of 85 to 66. Now joining us is the head coach of the Creighton men's basketball team.

He's been the HC since 2010, and that of course is Greg McDermott. Coach, appreciate the time as always. Thanks so much for making a few minutes, and congratulations after a big win for your program last night.

Well, thank you very much. It was a great night for our program and our community. The arena was absolutely hopping last night. It was a lot of fun for everybody involved. A great win for our program, especially this time of year as you move closer to the Big East Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. We know this group is experienced. I'm not saying they needed more confidence, but when you get an enormous victory like that, does it just provide naturally some more confidence to your group?

I don't think there's any question, Zach. We've won some road games this season against some good teams, and I think that in itself probably gives you more confidence than anything when you could go into a very difficult place at Nebraska who hasn't lost a home game this year except us, going to Butler, going to Seton Hall, and find ways to win. I think that validates a lot of things that you're doing on a daily basis on the practice floor. Our home court's a great home court, and we've been fortunate to have a lot of success there, and last night certainly fell in line with that. Like you said, your program has had a lot of success. People have a lot of respect for you and what you've done at Kratum, but you've been there now for at least over a decade since 2010 to get that program's first win ever against a number one team in the nation.

How do you put that moment, especially being at home, into perspective? I think it's historic. Any time you're able to do something that's never been done, it's a really cool experience. I think for the guys on the team, they're never going to forget it. I think our fans that were at that game last night are certainly going to remember the experience last night. But it was a game between two really good basketball teams, and obviously UConn has certainly earned all the attention they've gotten this year in the number one ranking because of how well they've played.

Danny's done an unbelievable job retooling part of that lineup to get to the point where he's got a team capable of winning a national championship again. So we're really happy for our program, really happy for our guys and for our fans, but not surprised that we won. We felt like we had a good enough team to win that game. Were you surprised that you blew them out?

That was the surprising part, right? We shot it extremely well. We knew we were going to have to. If you're going to make a living of challenging Donovan Clingan at the rim, it's going to be a long night. We played more outside in than inside out. Usually Kalkbrenner is someone we try to establish. We try to establish the rim a little bit more.

We just stayed away from that last night and tried to make them chase us around the perimeter. And then defensively, you know, you can only scored under 70 points four or five times all season twice. It's been against us, you know, so we've had two defensive plans that have been executed by our guys that, you know, at least are going to give yourself a chance against an elite offensive team. Talking to Greg McDermott right now, you look at your three leading scores from a year ago, all back, Shireman, Kalkbrenner, like you mentioned, and Alexander.

They've all gotten better this season and you see it from a statistical standpoint as well. What did you kind of challenge those three coming off the elite eight run a year ago to kind of do this offseason to get those results that we're seeing now? You know, Baylor went through the draft process two years ago before he transferred here when he left South Dakota State. So he had been through that process. And when he made the decision last year to come back for one more year, it actually was a surprise to me because, you know, because when we recruited him, the plan was one year and he's going to go back to the draft. But Baylor really thought he could get better. He thought he could grow.

He thought he could be more impactful if he added some strength to his body and really transformed his body, worked to get his shot off a little bit quicker, and then tried to get a little bit more agile on the defensive end and he's done that. And our conversations with Trey and Ryan throughout the draft process, as they were, you know, trying to figure out what was going to be best for them and their career at that stage, at that point in time, if you're going to come back, you know, let's make sure we take advantage of it. Let's really work.

Let's get better. Let's make sure that when we go on the floor in November that everybody's seeing a better version of Trey Alexander and Ryan Kalkbrenner because of the work that you put in in the offseason. And to their credit, they've both done it. And, you know, those three have been terrific examples and mentors and leaders for this team. And then you add in Steven Ashworth, who's a natural leader in his own right. And, you know, we've been able to kind of grow as the season's gone forward.

Talking to Greg McDermott right now, his program got a victory last night up against number one, UConn. So when you get all these guys back, it's awesome, but then it's a new year. And I think that's always tough when you have so much success which you want because everyone feels like not only do you have to replicate it, but you have to take it even a step further. How did you guys, once everyone came back, started to put what happened last year in the rearview mirror and not get people caught up too much in last year to make this year a little bit different? You know, we lost some pieces with Nembhard and Kaluma deciding to transfer.

So, you know, we had to replace them, you know, with the portal and Steven Ashworth and then within our program at that power forward spot with Mason Miller, Isaac Trout transferred in for Virginia, and now Jason Green is playing really well. So I think our fans understood that it's probably going to take a little bit of time. But we were also, I believe, pre-season top 10-ish a year ago. So, you know, Trey Alexander, Baylor Shireman, Ryan Kalkbrenner, they'd already been through that and understood that while it's nice to get the attention in the pre-season and when you're playing buy games in November, December, it really doesn't mean anything.

Like, you have to hook it up. You have to really be married to daily improvement and daily growth if you want to be playing your best basketball in March. And so I don't think the expectations were a negative to this group at all. And, you know, we played in a game last year against San Diego State where we're one possession away from the Final Four. And, you know, their focus has really been understanding and making sure the rest of the team understands the importance of one possession because we were one possession away from the Final Four, and if we get back in that spot, you know, we want to try to kick that door down. The transfer portal at NIL has changed the way of college basketball, college football, college athletics.

You mentioned Steven Ashworth and some other transfers as well. It's kind of like speed dating to try to find the right fit for your program. You don't know if it's going to work.

You hope it's going to work. When you guys are looking to bring in people via the transfer portal, how do you know if someone has a chance of being a right fit for your squad? Yeah, I mean, for us, you know, Isaac Trout, we recruited out of high school, and, you know, I'd recruited him for a few years, so we were very familiar with his skill set and, you know, what we think he's going to be able to bring to our program long term, which we're very excited about.

You know, when Nembhard decided to leave, it was a surprise. So when you try to fill in a spot like that, you know, there's a lot of things at play. Certainly you need someone that's talented enough. But with us, because we play a very unselfish brand of basketball, the culture fit is really important as well. And finding someone that would complement Trey Alexander, not take away from Trey Alexander. So a ball dominant point guard was not someone that we were in the market for because part of what we talked to Trey about when he went through the draft process is putting the ball in your hands more, you know, showing people what a great decision maker you are. That was a little more difficult to do when he was on the floor with Ryan Nembhard, but it's really happened seamlessly with Steven Ashworth. So there's a lot of things that go into play and, you know, with us, it was finding the right person for that point guard position as much as the right player.

And, you know, Steven Ashworth has been absolutely terrific. You've adapted. I know there's been some legendary coaches in football and basketball to walk away recently, and a lot of people feel like that's because of the changes in the sport. At the age of 59, do you still love this sport? Do you still see yourself coaching like for maybe another five, ten years or more than that? Yeah, you know, I love practice.

You know, I love teaching, and that's why I got into it. I love the relationship piece of my job, and if we ever get to the point that it becomes all transactional, that's probably the point that, you know, I really think about walking away if relationships don't matter anymore. But in our program, they do, and not just coaches' relationships with players, but it's our staff relationships. It's players' relationships with one another, and being able to put together a group of guys that truly likes to celebrate each other's success.

And to me, that warms my heart in coaching when I see that, that, you know, teammates are really, really happy when something good happens to one of their buddies. So as long as we can keep accomplishing that and bringing in the right people, you know, this has never really seemed like a job for me in the 35 years that I've done it. So I don't really want to start working now. Do you feel like this is your last stop? Because I know the history with Ohio State, naturally your name gets thrown right at the top of their list with their vacancy. Do you think Creighton is your last stop as a coach?

I mean, you never say never. You know, obviously I met with them the last time and had a tough decision to make at that time. But I've always said that, you know, if I had my choice, it would be to end my career at Creighton. And the last thing I'll ask you, Coach Greg McDermott here with us after his team's sensational victory over UConn. When you were going through all that madness when the game was ending, trying to get back to your locker room and all that euphoria is unfolding, just what was going through your mind in the moment fresh right off that blowout victory?

Well, as you said, I'm 59 years old. I was trying to get the hell out of the way so I didn't get ran over. I'm not quite agile enough to dodge those bullets when those students kept flying on the court. But, you know, we haven't had many court storms during my time here. You know, we've had a pretty good basketball team. So there, you know, the Seton Hall game in 2020 when we got a share of the Big East title was the last time we've had a court storm in our building.

So it doesn't happen very often. And to see the joy on those students' faces, and there was a few adults out there jumping around as well, was pretty cool. But, you know, the scene in the locker room to celebrate with a group of guys that has really given you everything that they have was really special and certainly a night I'll never forget. Coach, your team's fun to watch. Excellent victory last night. Congratulations and appreciate you. I know it's a busy day. Make it a few minutes for us. Thanks, Zach.

Anytime. You got it. There he is. Greg McDermott, the head coach of the Creighton Blue Jays, off a very impressive victory last night up against Danny Hurley's squad, the defending national champions in UConn.

And I can't wait for the Big East tournament, and I can't wait for March Madness as well. But that was a fun moment that kind of serves as an appetizer for all the mayhem that's going to go down in a few weeks. Okay, we'll take a time out.

We'll come on back. We got a few Would You Rather questions when it pertains to some NFL quarterbacks moving forward for the next five to ten years. But let's get the latest CBS Sports Radio update in first with the act man, Rich Ackerman.

A peanut butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners-up get nothing, one retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter. But you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort, coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. There's joy in every journey. 24 Santa Fe available early 2024. The app or wherever you get your podcasts, you'll be glad you did.