OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Ever since his famous dunk in double overtime against Oregon in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Jasen Green has seen more consistent minutes on the floor for Creighton.
With all the graduations and transfers in the offseason, he's now the longest tenured Bluejay on the roster.
WATCH KELSEY'S STORY:
Even before the first official tip off, Jasen Green has major goals for his team.
"With the amount of talent that we have, I feel like we have a good shot to make a really good run in the Big East and perhaps take home a Big East tournament championship," Green said.
The junior forward is no stranger to success, having won two state titles with Millard North.
After redshirting his first year with Creighton, Green has gotten used to playing almost anywhere on the floor.
"He's been a Swiss Army knife for us," Jays head coach Greg McDermott said. "Wherever we've needed to plug him in, whether it's the small forward, the power forward, he's played some center for us in the past. He's been a guy that we can count on in a lot of different ways."
"When I first got here I wasn't really able to guard guys as well as I am now, and now I'm able to guard positions one through five," Green said. "I feel like it's just the key part of any player to be able to guard as many positions as you can."
Fans know he's not afraid to get scrappy on the court, but this year he's going to be tasked with something new.
"This team in particular needs his voice," McDermott said. "He's the guy that's been around the longest. He needs to be the Steven Ashworth and Ryan Kalkbrenner of this team in the locker room, in the huddles, and that's something that he's working on because he's pretty laid back by nature. But this team really needs his voice."
This is especially important with nine newcomers on a 16-player roster.
"It's one thing to hear (feedback) from the coaches, but I feel like it's a lot better to hear it from one of your teammates because they're doing it, they know how everything works, how you should be moving," Green said. "So I take big responsibility in making sure everyone's comfortable."
But Green is confident the Jays will figure it out.
"The X factor for us is just going to be our togetherness and how hard we play because ... we have a ton of talent on our team," he said. "We have a lot of quick players, a lot of strong players and it's going to be about how well we mesh together and use each other's abilities."
Creighton opens its season against South Dakota Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the CHI Health Center.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.