The Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team represents Creighton University of the NCAA Division I college basketball. It competes in the Big East Conference, which it joined following the Big East conference realignment in 2013. The Bluejays play their home games at CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. Creighton finished sixth nationally in home attendance, averaging 17,048 fans per home game in 2014–15.
Before joining the Big East, Creighton was a member of the Missouri Valley Conference from 1976 through 2013. The Jays were also members of the MVC from 1928 to 1948 and participated as an independent from 1948 to 1977 before rejoining the MVC. The Bluejays have won a record 15 MVC regular season conference titles and a record 12 MVC tournament titles.
The team has 27 appearances in the NCAA tournament. The Jays last played in the NCAA Tournament in 2025, and have won at least one NCAA tournament game each of the last four seasons.
Creighton reached the second weekend of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament for the first time in 2021, before losing to eventual runner-up Gonzaga in the Sweet Sixteen. In 2023, they reached their second Elite Eight Regional Final in program history before losing to eventual runner-up San Diego State.
History
Arthur Schabinger era (1923–1935) Arthur Schabinger took over the program after Kearney's graduation. He guided the team into its first conference, the North Central Conference, in 1923. His teams would win 4 titles in the league. In 1928, Shabinger would again guide Creighton to another conference, the Missouri Valley Conference. Creighton's winningest men's basketball coach for 75 years, Arthur A. Schabinger helped build the Creighton basketball program. Schabinger posted a 165–66 record as coach of the Bluejays from 1922 to 1935. Eleven of his 13 teams finished first or second in the league, including eight teams that won or tied for the title.
Eddie Hickey era (1936–1947) Eddie Hickey took over the program for the 1935–36 season. Hickey was reared in small-town Nebraska and graduated from Creighton University School of Law in 1926. Sawed-off at 5'5", Edward 'The Little Giant' Hickey was a dynamic chunky man who had quarterbacked Creighton university football in the Roaring 20's. He was enamored more by the game he could teach if not, obviously lacking size, play well. He was the head coach of both the football and basketball teams at Creighton Prep for eight years before moving to Creighton University.
Hickey was a master of the fast break and winning. He immediately led the Bluejays to the Missouri Valley title in his first season. Their fast break – 'controlled fast break' Eddie would emphasize sarcastically – featured an explosive movement that required the ball not to hit the floor. 'The Little Giant' would take Creighton to new heights by the early 1940s, with 1943 Consensus First Team All American Ed Beisser in the middle and his high powered offense. Hickey would lead the Jays to their first NCAA tournament and two National Invitation Tournaments, including a Final Four (Third-place game winner) in 1942, (when the NIT was bigger than the NCAA tournament). With his flair for 'run-sheep-run' basketball, Hickey and his teams were a good show in the Big Apple.
World War II would briefly suspend Creighton's basketball program and Hickey would return to coach for one year after the war before moving on to St. Louis. His 126–71 record and four conference titles in nine seasons at Creighton was followed by success in St. Louis and later Marquette. Edgar Hickey would go down as a hall of fame coach with a 36-year college career of 570–268.
Post-war era (1948–1959) The post-war era was full of change and mediocrity for the Jays. Future athletic director Julius 'Duce' Belford coached the Jays immediately after the war. Creighton would leave the Missouri Valley Conference and switch from Division I to Division III during this era. The Jays would not find success at this new level. Belford finished with a 56–83 record over six seasons. His successors would not fare better. Sebastian 'Subby' Salerno took the reins in 1952 and left three years later. Salerno finished with a 30–45 record. Theron Thomsen replaced Salerno and found some success. After eight losing seasons, Thomsen's 1956–57 Bluejays would post a 15–6 mark. However, the Jays would slide back toward mediocrity finishing 10–12 and 13–9 in the following two seasons. In 1959, Athletic Director Duce Belford made it a priority to bring back the once proud Creighton basketball program.
John 'Red' McManus era (1960–1969) John J. 'Red' McManus came to Creighton after a successful career of eight seasons at St. Ambrose Academy and a year as head freshman and assistant varsity coach at Iowa. The 1959–60 Bluejays were a far cry from the previous year's team. Whereas the team had previously utilized a slow methodical type of basketball, McManus brought a fast break offense and a box zone defense. Utilizing sharp recruiting and tough coaching, Red quickly had the Bluejays back on the road to becoming a national power. The 1961–62 Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team finished 21–5 and reached the Sweet Sixteen of the 1962 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, going on to win the third spot in the NCAA Regional. Paul Silas was the nation's top rebounder.
The 1963–64 Bluejays finished with a 22–7 record, a record for most wins in a season. All-American and team captain Paul Silas rounded his collegiate basketball career by leading the team back to the Sweet Sixteen in the 1964 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Silas, who guided the Bluejays to two NCAA tournament berths in his three-year career, led the nation in rebounding his sophomore and junior years.
McManus would continue to coach at Creighton until 1969. He would go down as the third-winningest coach in school history, leaving with a 138–118 mark. Red McManus was a colorful character, with a mean streak who was always a respected gentleman off the court. He rebuilt the Jays' schedules into coast-to-coast clashes with the nation's top basketball powers. His teams got NCAA post-season tourney bids in 1962 and 1964, and his players included professionals Paul Silas, Neil Johnson, Elton McGriff, Bob Portman and Wally Anderzunas. McManus resigned after building a schedule of national prominence-the job he was hired to do.
Eddie Sutton era (1970–1974) One of college basketball's legendary coaches, Eddie Sutton got his first Division I head coaching job at Creighton. Sutton left College of Southern Idaho in 1969 to coach at Creighton. It was with the Bluejays that he made his first coaching appearance in the NCAA tournament in 1974. With a patient passing offense, he led the Bluejays to an 82–50 mark between 1969 and 1974.
Sutton's career coincided with the apex of the Travelin’ Jays Era. Red McManus coined the phrase "border to border and coast to coast" in 1959 when he began the Travelin’ Jays era, but it was under Eddie Sutton that the philosophy really bore fruit and gained the Jays national recognition. During his last three years at Creighton, the Bluejays played in 36 cities and 20 states, logged more than 65,000 miles in the air, made a South American jaunt (entertaining the Chile national team at home in exchange), and visited Hawaii. Sutton was a Tulsa native, and in 1974 a bidding war commenced between Oral Roberts, Duke, and Arkansas for Sutton's services. Arkansas won the battle, announcing Sutton as their new head coach on March 27, 1974.
Over a 37 year coaching career, Sutton compiled an 804–328 record, putting him eighth on the all-time Division I wins list. He became the first coach to lead four schools to the NCAA Tournament, taking Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma State.
Tom Apke era (1975–1981) Assistant coach Tom Apke took over for the departing Sutton. Apke planned to run the same defensive schemes Sutton had: namely, a fierce man-to-man base defense, with a 2–3 zone as a change-up. The offense was where major changes were made. Apke looked to run a fast break at every opportunity, taking advantage of every shot opportunity. The news media was pessimistic as Apke entered his first season. Prognostications grew even worse after Mike Heck, Creighton's first 7 footer and a rising star, suddenly died because of an enlarged heart after the first game of the season. The 1974–75 Creighton Bluejays rallied after Heck's death and ended up reaching the 1975 NCAA tournament finishing with a 20–7 record.
Apke led Creighton back to the Missouri Valley Conference in 1977 after 29 years of independence. He found instant success winning the 1978 conference regular and conference tournament titles and advancing to the 1978 NCAA tournament. The Bluejays would continue winning at a high level again returning to postseason play in the 1981 NCAA tournament.
After the 1980–81 season, Apke accepted the head coaching position at Colorado. Apke spent 17 years in all at Creighton – four as a player, six as an assistant coach and seven as head coach. He is the only coach in school history to have led Creighton to the NCAA Tournament in his first season with the team (1974–75). A team captain on Creighton's 1964–65 team, Apke went on to coach the Jays to a 130–64 record from 1974 to 1981. Three of his teams went to NCAA tournaments and another to the National Invitation Tournament.
Willis Reed era (1982–1985) Sutton and Apke's departures upset Creighton officials who yearned to make the program 'big time'. Officials hinted that the new head coach would be a 'big name' hire. Former New York Knicks great Willis Reed fit the bill. After being fired in 1978 after a season and a fraction as the Knicks' coach, Reed was determined to prove himself as a coach. Reed accepted the position at Creighton, generating controversy in the Bluejay community.
Longtime assistant coach Tom Broshnihan, who had been around since Sutton, was seen as the rightful heir to the Creighton head coaching job. A sizable segment of the fan-base criticized Reed as lacking experience in college coaching and recruiting. High school basketball in Nebraska produced a record number of prospects prior to Willis Reed's first season. Reed was unable to sign any of the blue-chips, including Ron Kellogg and Dave Hoppen. It did not help that Reed was breaking the color barrier, becoming the first black head basketball coach at Creighton.
Coming off Tom Apke's impressive 21–9 season featuring an NCAA appearance, Reed's inaugural 7–20 mark added fuel to the fire. Reed proved himself as a recruiter that off-season. Considered by many scouts to be the top prospect in the country, Benoit Benjamin was sought by 350 colleges. Benjamin came from a single-mother home and looked for a father figure, preferably a college coach who had played center. Fortunately for Creighton, coach Willis Reed was a former seven-time NBA All-Star center with the Knicks and a member of the Hall of Fame.