Creighton Athletics Year in Review
McCormick Endowed AD Marcus Blossom Looks Back On Monumental Successes
Jon Nyatawa - Contributing writer for GoCreighton.com
I had such a blast these last several years chronicling the athletic achievements of Creighton student-athletes and coaches, and sharing entertaining stories with so many loyal Bluejay supporters who dutifully read my work. Sportswriting is no longer my full-time job. But I can’t just give it up! So I’m honored to share that I’ll be stepping into a contributing writer role for the Creighton athletic department. Be on the lookout at GoCreighton.com. I’ll be around to help document and capture the personality, spirit and successes of the Bluejay teams as they compete for championships. - Jon Nyatawa
Sleep is overrated. Especially in March. Especially when the adrenaline is surging because two of your new favorite teams are participating in arguably the most exhilarating sports weekend of the year.
So umm … yeah, sleep?
That wasn’t a priority when Marcus Blossom, Creighton’s McCormick Endowed Athletic Director, started making the necessary travel arrangements to ensure he didn’t miss a moment of Bluejay basketball action.
He mapped it all out as soon as the brackets were finalized. He’d be in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday for Creighton-San Diego State in the men’s tourney. Then, up early for a 5 a.m. flight to Chicago, where he’d rent a car to drive to Iowa City for a Friday women’s NCAA game between CU and Colorado. Then back to Fort Worth for Jays-Jayhawks Saturday. Then back to Iowa to watch Creighton play a road game against the heavily favored Hawkeyes Sunday.
Four days. Four games. Blossom had to be there for it all. That was a no-brainer, he said. His primary duty as an athletic director is to support and encourage – so he went along for the ride as the Creighton men’s and women’s basketball teams capped their impressive campaigns with memorable postseason runs.
“This is the fun part,” said Blossom, who was hired in fall 2021. “I’ve been there cheering (the student-athletes) on at their events, watching them compete, watching them have success and (watching them) really enjoy the moment and the experience that they have here at Creighton.”
That’s what these first 10 months have been about for Blossom.
Creighton’s athletic teams combined to produce one of the most accomplished years in the department’s history. And Blossom was the lucky one who regularly found a front row seat. There, he could celebrate the successes, yes. But he also could better understand why and how the student-athletes and coaches went about raising the bar.
Here’s a snapshot of what Blossom saw, a milestone-filled 2021-22 Creighton athletic season:
- The women’s basketball team made its first appearance in the Elite 8 as No. 10 seed and became just the fourth double-digit seed in the history of the NCAA women's tournament to reach the regional semifinals. The Jays beat Colorado, #8 Iowa and #10 Iowa State to get there.
- The men’s basketball team reached the BIG EAST Tournament title game for the second year in a row and nearly overcame key injuries to take down eventual national champion Kansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
- Freshman golfer Katherine Lemke won a 3-way playoff to become Creighton’s first individual conference champion and first NCAA postseason qualifier. She led the women’s team to fourth place at the BIG EAST Championship. The men finished fourth as well.
- The rowing team finished second at the West Coast Conference Championship, the best finish in program history.
- The men’s soccer team produced a six-game unbeaten streak late in the season to earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. Creighton beat #10 Missouri State in the first round.
- The volleyball team won a school-record 31 matches, secured an eighth-consecutive BIG EAST regular season title and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the 10th straight season.
- The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association honored Creighton for having the nation's best GPA in both men's cross country (3.76) as well as men's track (3.77), while also ranking second in women's track (3.83) and seventh in women's cross country (3.83).
- The five combined NCAA berths for the entire athletic department matched the highest total ever (2004-05). The six NCAA Tournament wins were the most since 2016-17 and the second-most all-time. Eight different student-athletes took home player of the year or freshman of the year awards.
Talk about a positive first impression on the new boss.
Said Blossom: “What I’ve learned is, I think we can be really good in a lot of sports.”
Competitors are never satisfied, though. Blossom is wired that way, too.
He’ll be leaning on a talented group of support staffers to work outside the spotlight so that the student-athletes can excel on their main competition stages – whether that means they’re fostering relationships with passionate donors and fans to boost fundraising numbers, or positioning Creighton to best adjust to future NCAA and BIG EAST legislation, or listening to student-athletes and coaches to maintain a family-centered culture that breeds success.
One of the highest-profile behind-the-scenes projects last year got finalized in March. Men’s basketball coach Greg McDermott signed a multi-year contract extension.
That was a top objective for Blossom the moment he took charge here at Creighton.
“Knowing that (McDermott) wanted to be here long-term – once I found that out, I immediately got to work on finding an agreement that worked for Creighton and worked for Coach McDermott,” Blossom said. “We’re excited about what the future holds in our men’s basketball program under Greg’s leadership.”
McDermott and a now-seasoned Jays roster has already picked up several early top 10 preseason projections from high-profile national college basketball analysts ahead of a much-anticipated 2022-23 season.
There’s plenty of optimism to go around the athletic department, too.
The women’s basketball team brings back much of its nucleus. Same goes for the volleyball team. Coach Krista Wood, an enthusiastic program-builder, was hired in May to take over the softball team. Seemingly every squad had a triumphant moment to build on last year.
Blossom’s fired up. To cheer more. To learn more. To see if Creighton can again set new standards of success in 2022-23.
“I think we can be even more successful than my initial thoughts coming in,” Blossom said. “Learning more (about Creighton) has really increased my expectations of where we can go.”
He’ll be focused on helping the Bluejay teams stay on the right course – even if it means sacrificing a little sleep every now and then.