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Photo Showcase: Grant Gibbs

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CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — A scary thought for Creighton fans pondering Saturday's matchup against Northern Iowa is that Grant Gibbs and Doug McDermott easily could be wearing purple and gold instead of blue and white.

McDermott's story has been well-documented, about how he committed to Northern Iowa as a senior at Ames High School. McDermott was all set to play for Ben Jacobson until his father took the Creighton job, leading him to ask for and receive a release from his letter of intent in order to become a Bluejay.

Gibbs? He also could have been a Panther — not once but twice. Jacobson was the first coach to offer a scholarship to Gibbs, who grew up about 40 minutes from the McLeod Center, where Creighton and Northern Iowa will square off Saturday in a 4 p.m. game.

When Gibbs was looking for a place to transfer in the spring of 2010 after leaving Gonzaga, Northern Iowa again entered the picture. Two days before he needed to start summer school in 2010, Gibbs was still undecided between Creighton and Northern Iowa.

He eventually picked Creighton, partly because of McDermott.

"I look like a genius now, but I just felt like Doug could be a really good player," Gibbs said. "That kind of turned the tide for me. If there was a determining factor, Doug was it."

The rest is history, as Gibbs and McDermott have become key components in what could be a historic season for the Bluejays. They enter Saturday's game 21-2 and ranked 13th. At 11-1, they own a one-game lead in the Missouri Valley Conference with six games to play.

McDermott is Creighton's leading scorer. Gibbs is the Bluejays' leader. The 6-foot-4 junior sets the tone on and off the court. Creighton coach Greg McDermott likes to say that Gibbs is an agenda-setter, a presence in the locker room and on the court. His teammates elected him one of the Bluejays' captains even before he played a game.

Gibbs tries to downplay the impact he's had on a team that a season ago lacked strong leadership. Greg McDermott doesn't.

"I calculated the votes for the captains, and I know what his teammates think of him," the coach said. "The only person that didn't vote for Grant Gibbs is Grant Gibbs."

The Bluejays bring an 11-game winning streak into Saturday. Their closest call came in a one-point victory at Missouri State but it was Northern Iowa that might have thrown the biggest scare into Creighton. The Panthers led most of game before the Bluejays pulled out a 63-60 victory.

The Creighton players expect another brouhaha in front of a sellout crowd Saturday. That's why they're glad to have Gibbs on their side.

"I've told him that I would hate to play against him," Creighton guard Jahenns Manigat said. "You've seen how he scraps for a loose ball or how he's always trying to get the best of an opponent.

"He's one of those guys that would get under my skin. He's a competitor and he plays as hard as he can. Even though he's been a little limited by his body, he's still been able to play tremendous for us."

Brings intangibles

Greg McDermott has one up on his former assistant and good friend Jacobson in that Gibbs has only broken his heart once.

Gibbs is Jacobson's kind of player, a hard-nosed competitor whose intangibles measure as great as his basketball skills. The former is what first caught Jacobson's eye when Gibbs was in high school at Linn-Mar, a short trip down Interstate 380 from Cedar Falls.

Gibbs reminded Jacobson of Brooks McKowen, a boot-tough player known to get under the skin of an opponent or two while leading Northern Iowa to three straight NCAA tournaments.

"Brooks was a guy that played really hard and had a toughness about him," Jacobson said. "Because of that, we won some situations and won some close games. Their games aren't identical but certainly the intangible stuff is there with both Brooks and Grant."

Jacobson might have been the first to offer a scholarship to Gibbs, but he wasn't the last. McDermott, then at Iowa State, joined the recruiting hunt for the 6-foot-4 point guard who led his school to an Iowa Class 4-A championship as a junior.

"He was a huge priority," McDermott said. "We were very aggressive with him throughout the process. Probably more than anything what attracted us to him was the intangibles he brings to the table that impact a program in positive ways.

"At that point in our Iowa State program, we desperately needed a guy like him."

Unfortunately, McDermott and Jacobson found themselves fighting an uphill battle. Gibbs grew up a Gonzaga fan, and when the Spokane, Wash., school joined the recruiting fray, it was basically game over.

Gibbs had told his middle-school teachers that he would one day play for the Zags. He committed in November 2007, shortly before the beginning of his senior season at Linn-Mar. Before he did, he called Jacobson and McDermott to inform them of his decision.

McDermott remembers the conversation and a subsequent one he had with Gibbs' mother, Jody. She was an Iowa State graduate, and McDermott admits he recruited mom almost as hard as son.

"She wanted Grant close to home, but she also knew that he grew up a huge Gonzaga fan," McDermott said. "We understood what we were fighting but her preference was that he stayed at Iowa State.

"When Jody and I talked, she was a little distraught. As was I. She was crying. I wasn't, but I was close."

Chasing his dream

When does a young man know he's made a mistake?

In Gibbs' case, he said he knew almost immediately that Gonzaga wasn't the place for him.

"That sounds bad, doesn't it?" he said.

Gibbs is still uncomfortable talking about his Gonzaga experience but reading between the lines of carefully chosen comments, one gets the impression that there was friction between him and his teammates, as well as his coaches.

Complicating matters was that the Iowa boy was 1,600 miles from home.

"Location plays a factor eventually because when things start going wrong, there's no one there for you," Gibbs said. "I kind of liked being out on my own and doing my own thing. It wasn't like I got super homesick.

"But when things started going wrong, there was no one there to talk to and that eventually kind of became the downfall."

It didn't help that the player that Gonzaga coach Mark Few gushed over was never really healthy. Gibbs redshirted his first year after tearing the labrum in his shoulder and undergoing surgery.

When he did get on the court, a severe case of tendinitis in his knee hampered his effectiveness. He played 24 games during the 2009-10 season, averaging nine minutes, 2.2 points and 1.9 rebounds a game.

By the end of the season, Gibbs knew he wouldn't be coming back to Spokane. He asked for and was granted his release.

"Grant has decided to pursue other options," Few said in a statement, "and we wish him well in his future endeavors."

Generally, when a player decides to leave, the coaching staff either tries to talk him out of his decision or it helps him pack. In Gibbs' case, it was more of the latter.

"There was a pretty big disconnect at that point," he said. "I think both sides knew it was pretty inevitable, and I don't think they really cared that I was leaving."

While Gonzaga didn't live up to his dreams, Gibbs has no regrets in chasing his to Spokane.

"That's where I wanted to go and if I knew if they ever offered me, I was going to go," he said. "If I had been more mature about it and listened to more people, I would have realized that wasn't the right fit in any facet.

"But I can't blame myself. I was a kid chasing his dream."

Finding his niche

Gibbs weighed his options after deciding to transfer, and the decision narrowed to Northern Iowa or Creighton, Jacobson or McDermott.

McDermott had left Iowa State to take over at Creighton in April 2010. Having missed Gibbs once, he didn't want it to happen again. This time, McDermott had an additional prize to sweeten his recruiting pitch.

"I think the relationship that Grant and I had during his recruitment in high school helped," Greg McDermott said. "But I think the relationship Grant developed with Doug really was the difference. I think he felt that Doug was going to be a pretty good player.

"I think Grant saw the pieces here that had the makings of a very good basketball team."

Gibbs committed to Creighton, knowing he would have to sit out a season to satisfy NCAA transfer requirements. He also had to get healthy, twice undergoing surgical procedures on the tendinitis problem in his knee.

By the end of last season, Gibbs finally could practice. His work with the scout team left McDermott and his staff convinced they had a player to fill the primary deficiency Creighton displayed a season ago. The Bluejays were a notoriously poor passing team in McDermott's first season.

Passing was Gibbs' forte. Even though the coaches planned to use Gibbs at the small forward-big guard spot, they figured he could utilize the skills honed in years of playing the point guard position.

They also felt Gibbs' mix of scrappiness and composure would come in handy on a team that had the tendency last season to back down when confronted by adversity. It took but six games this season to convince the coaches they were right.

Playing in one of college basketball's toughest environments, Creighton fell behind San Diego State by 17 points in the first half. The Bluejays were on the verge of unraveling. Gibbs refused to let them.

"Grant kept his calm when there were 12,000, 13,000 fans up in arms in the stands and we were getting our tails kicked," McDermott said. "It's one thing to hear from the bench that we're going to get back into this thing.

"But the reality of it is that when you're on the floor, you're looking for someone. Grant's that guy. He's done a remarkable job of just keeping an even-keel approach."

Creighton rallied to win 85-83 to stay unbeaten. Seventeen games later, the Bluejays have lost just twice.

"He does the little things that have helped make us tougher," Manigat said. "On the court, everyone sees the plays he makes. Off the court, he's been the web that connects us.

"Guys see the way he holds everybody accountable, the way he portrays himself. Just having him as an example has helped the younger guys mature on and off the court."

Gibbs supplies glue

Gibbs comes into Saturday's game averaging 7.9 points and 4.5 rebounds. He leads the team with 133 assists and 27 steals. He's been a guy who has dirtied many a stat sheet, providing the Bluejays with a lot of little contributions that add up to big things.

"He just has a really good feel for the game," Jacobson said. "He can deliver the ball in all the right places and on time. He just does a lot of things that we talk about as coaches that help teams win."

Gibbs' emergence as a playmaker has taken pressure off Antoine Young, who no longer has to run the offense and look to score from the point. Gibbs has been particularly effective in getting the ball to Doug McDermott, the country's third-leading scorer.

Greg McDermott has joked that his son should buy Gibbs a dinner or two for all the times the guard has delivered a perfectly served pass.

Like his coach, Gibbs said it's funny how things work out. He chased a dream and wound up being miserable. He ended up in Omaha and is having the time of his life.

Getting a chance to play again has re-energized Gibbs.

"There was a time when I thought I wouldn't be able to do this," Gibbs said. "So first and foremost, just being out there and playing has been the best part about this season.

"But it's also been something just to be around this group of guys. We've been through some difficult situations. It's been a lot of fun."

Gibbs was asked if it would be as much fun if Creighton wasn't flying as high as it has through the season's first 23 games. A sly smile gives away the answer before Gibbs can.

"I know one thing, we'd still be having fun," he said. "This is a good group, and we've been fortunate that we've had a lot of things go our way.

"Regardless, this is a group that sticks together."

And it's Gibbs who has supplied a lot of the glue.

"The shot in the arm he has given us," Greg McDermott said, "has met or exceeded all of our expectations."

Contact the writer:

402-679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

twitter.com/PivOWH

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