What are people’s thoughts on Greg McDermott on a national level? All of Creighton’s better teams with Greg all failed to reach the Sweet 16, whether it be from living and dying by the 3 or injury, i.e. Mo Watson. This year’s team surprised a lot of people and probably was some of his best coaching, but up until this year it felt like every offseason you’d hear the same people saying it was time for a new direction. Like when Loyola made its run there was the “Bring Porter home” crowd. — Dominic P.
That was way harsh, Tai. Maybe this is the national perspective, or maybe it’s the perspective of someone without a rooting interest, who doesn’t live and die in the day-to-day details of the program, but McDermott has done a pretty great job at Creighton, has he not? Remember, when McDermott arrived, Creighton was still in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bluejays had been very good at various points under Dana Altman, but they went to the NCAA Tournament just twice in Altman’s final seven seasons. Four years after McDermott arrives, they’re good enough to be asked to join the Big East, which elevated the program to a place where its fans can be reasonably upset about not getting past the Sweet 16, as opposed to being thrilled to be that deep in the bracket in the first place.
This is not to say McDermott has done a flawless job. His teams are rarely as good defensively as genuine contenders need to be. But they are usually very good offensively, they’re fun to watch, they win more often than not, and they just captured a share of the program’s first Big East title — in a really good year for the Big East. That seems pretty good to me.
Where does the Big East rank now in conference hierarchy? Behind only Big 10 and Big 12 and on par with ACC? — Tristam O.
This stuff totally changes year to year. Consider the Big Ten of 2017-18, which had four bids and a Nebraska team that went 14-4 in league play couldn’t get in the tournament. Then consider the Big Ten of this season, which was an absolute buzzsaw. In terms of top-to-bottom quality, I don’t think there’s a huge distinction between the Big East and any one of those leagues in the long term. Some years are better than others — but the Big East is a really, really good league.
Source: Part of a Q&A Pertaining to the The Big East From The Athletic
