With Baylor Scheierman’s Transfer, Creighton Can Stake Claim for Preseason No. 1

The coveted South Dakota State guard joins what was already a stacked roster in Omaha.

Baylor Scheierman, one of the most highly regarded names in the transfer portal, announced his commitment to Creighton on Wednesday. It’s a major addition to a Bluejays team that already had sky-high expectations for the 2022–23 season.

Scheierman, who spent the first three seasons of his college career at South Dakota State, entered the transfer portal just eight days ago and was immediately flooded with suitors from across the college basketball world. He heard from bluebloods like Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA, Gonzaga and Louisville in the hours after first putting his name in the portal, then gradually trimmed his list from 10 schools to a final five that also included Arkansas, Clemson, Duke and Nebraska.

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One source indicates to Sports Illustrated that the 6'6" guard could command more money through NIL than the $400k annually that Kansas State transfer Nijel Pack recently received at Miami. Scheierman has also entered his name into the NBA draft, and ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reported Monday that Scheierman received an invitation to the G League Elite Camp later this month in Chicago.

Still, should Scheierman indeed elect to enroll at Creighton, he’ll join a Bluejays team set to return several key pieces from a young group that overachieved in 2021–22. Freshman Ryan Nembhard looked mature beyond his years in his first season in Omaha, and there’s optimism he could blossom into one of the nation’s best point guards as a sophomore. Big man Ryan Kalkbrenner is arguably the best returning big man in the Big East, averaging more than 13 points, seven rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game last season. Plus, youngsters Arthur Kaluma and Trey Alexander each showed flashes of brilliance down the stretch. Kaluma posted 24 points, 12 rebounds and three assists in the NCAA tournament against Kansas and is considered one of the best returning NBA prospects in college basketball, while Alexander scored in double figures in both NCAA tourney games and tallied 14 assists compared to seven turnovers in them.

The lone remaining hole on the roster was an extra guard, and coach Greg McDermott filled it with perhaps the best player in the transfer portal. Scheierman’s elite shooting touch (he made 83 threes at a 47% clip in 2021–22), high-level playmaking ability (4.5 assists per game) and impressive positional size at 6'6" earned him NBA interest last season on a South Dakota State team that won 30 games and reached the Big Dance.

And with Scheierman now in tow, the Bluejays have a legitimate case to be the No. 1 team in preseason polls. Ranked No. 7 in SI’s Way-Too-Early top 25 released in early April, Creighton’s combination of returning production, experience and top-end talent positions it as one of the nation’s elite teams in 2022–23. It’s a remarkably fast turnaround for the program, which just over 12 months ago was set to lose all five starters, had just seen top recruit TyTy Washington Jr. flip to Kentucky and was dealing with the fallout from McDermott making a racist comment in a locker room speech. But Creighton signed Kaluma and Alexander in the late signing period last spring and has since built on that recruiting momentum with the addition of former Louisville commit Fredrick King and now Scheierman. Now, it could enter November as the top team in men’s college basketball.