The Creighton Blue Jays remain one of the top teams in men’s basketball this decade.

Over the past four seasons, the program has reached the NCAA tournament, including last season when it reached the regional semifinals (Sweet-16) before falling to the Tennesee Volunteers.

As the team looks to return for the fifth straight season and battle the reigning national champions, the UConn Huskies, for a shot at their first Big East title, the Blue Jays will once again be on their best night in and have to perform. night out.

On Thursday, Creighton head coach Greg McDermott spoke with NBC Sports to discuss the upcoming season and how his program is navigating the new landscape of college sports through NIL.

“It’s constantly changing and I think it seems like it changes a little bit every year. Obviously the transfer portal or immediate transfer eligibility would have been a huge change in itself. Name, image and likeness on their own would have been a huge change, but both at the same time is insane.”

Creighton have been well into the Transfer Portal this past season to fill some gaps in their roster, especially from players who have progressed to the professional level. Players who have been a big part of the Blue Jays’ success in recent seasons, such as Baylor Scheierman, who was drafted by the Boston Celtics last summer, are no longer on the roster.

They went out and brought in two top transfers: Jamiya Neal from the Arizona State Sun Devils and Pop Issacs from the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Despite the need for a strong NIL when acquiring players through the portal, McDermott continued to focus on acquiring players he could have a good relationship with.

“We have tried to adapt. We have tried to adapt as best we can to remain competitive. I still think that relationships are important at the end of the day, and I think guys want to be coached, they want to grow, they want to get better. They want to be held accountable, even though they may not think they want that.

“If your culture is strong, I think that’s how you retain players. Obviously NIL is part of that, and you have to be competitive in that market, but I also think you have to have a culture where it’s fun, where guys feel like they belong, and then it’s much easier if you have one. conversations in the spring, when guys are trying to decide whether to keep going.

No one is debating the Blue Jays culture as strong. McDermott convinced Ryan Kalkbrenner to return to Creighton for another season rather than try his luck in the NBA. The 7′ 1” senior is only the third player in Big East history to win the Conference Defensive Player of the Year three times.

Creighton opens its season Wednesday when it hosts UT Rio Grande Valley at the CHI Health Center in Omaha.