Creighton men’s basketball relied on a small, veteran rotation a year ago. Six players averaged double-digit minutes, three of whom are gone.

Despite the return of a two key starters in Ryan Kalkbrenner and Steven Ashworth, the Jays will look very different in 2024-25. Coach Greg McDermott added a pair of transfers and a talented freshman class, but internal development could play a significant role in shaping the team’s identity as well.

In talking to people within the program, two names kept coming up as offseason standouts: in-state products Jasen Green and Isaac Traudt.

Traudt, the Grand Island product who spent a redshirt year at Virginia before transferring to Creighton last year, was listed at 235 pounds in 2023-24. He averaged 8.8 minutes per game, contributing 2.9 points and 1.2 rebounds while shooting 42.1% from 3. At 6-foot-10, he started the season at the four spot but played more back-up five down the stretch of the season.

Traudt didn’t feel the mass he had added during his year away from live games was good weight, however, and dedicated his summer to strength and conditioning with Jeremy Anderson, Creighton’s head of athletic performance.

“I wanted to make some changes to my body, be able to move better,” Traudt said. “I worked with Jeremy, talked to Coach about it, and I lost almost 20 pounds. So I feel like that’s helped quite a bit with moving laterally and running up and down the floor at a faster speed.”

Green missed the start of the season thanks to a preseason injury, but he appeared in 25 games and averaged 1.6 points and 1.7 rebounds in 7.2 minutes per game during his redshirt freshman season. The 6-foot-7 Millard North product filled the back-up four minutes down the stretch of the season as Traudt slid to the five, providing a different look at that spot with his length and athleticism.

However, Green was also focused this offseason on getting into ideal physical shape to maximize his versatility.

“I’ve slimmed up a little bit,” Green said. “I’m down to around the high 220s, Last year, throughout the season, I was like 235, a little higher than that. But I’ve slimmed up. There’s a lot more definition there, but I’ve lost a couple pounds so I can move a lot better, I can guard a lot more positions, and I can jump a lot higher.”

Green is expecting to guard centers in certain lineups, but he also wants to be fluid enough to defend perimeter players. His playing time spiked down the stretch, averaging 10.6 minutes over his last 11 and seeing his most substantial playing time in Creighton’s last two NCAA Tournament games. Green played 35 minutes against Oregon and Tennessee, totaling eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and 15 rebounds.

Ashworth saw a spark in Green late last season and said the sophomore has only built off that success over the summer. Green said he’s worked harder than he ever has and he wants the fans to see that work pay off on the court.

“He’s been incredibly motivated this offseason, and I think when we start playing, people will see another pretty substantial jump in his skill set, in his game,” McDermott said. “I think it gave him confidence and it really motivated him in the offseason to continue to work and grow his game. But I think we got a sneak peek at what he’s capable of. He can impact the game on both ends of the floor, plays with a lot of energy.

“And Baylor Scheierman led the Big East in defensive rebounds. You get used to that after a couple of years, and somebody’s going to have to fill that void, and I feel like Jasen could be one of the best rebounders on our team.”

Green’s redshirt freshman year saw him play a variety of roles — going through rehab, playing mostly in garbage time, filling spot minutes here and there and finally playing a key rotation role  — but he learned to take the same approach regardless.

“My biggest takeaway was that no matter who you are on the court, you can always contribute something,” Green said. “I wasn’t the best scorer or the best defender on the court all the time, but I did all the little things that could keep me in the game. And that’s something that’s going to stick with me, regardless, forever. Because even if I become the best scorer on the team or if I become the best defender or whatever, I’m still going to do the same things that I did last year towards the end of the season.”

Green only attempted seven 3-pointers in his 179 minutes on the court, making two of them (both in Creighton’s win over No. 1 UConn in Omaha). Outside of strength and conditioning, becoming a viable threat from 3-point range was Green’s primary focus over the offseason.

“That’s probably what I was lacking the most last year,” Green said. “That’s probably one of the roles that I need to start playing a lot more is just being a great shooter, and that’s what I’ve been doing a lot during the offseason, and it’s been showing during our workouts and stuff. I’m shooting at a much higher percentage than I was last year.”

Traudt and Green played together during their last season of grassroots basketball in high school, and the two have been workout partners all offseason. Traudt’s been one of the team’s best shooters, and he’s seen the progress in Green as well.

“We pretty much worked out with each other every single day,” Traudt said. “In a lot of the shooting workouts last year, his percentages weren’t great, but then this summer, they were really good. So he’s made a lot of progress there.”

Green said he felt confident heading into last season before the injury that sidelined him for the start of the season. The success he had late and the results of his offseason efforts have only bolstered that confidence.

“I’ve been putting a lot of work in over the offseason, doing everything that I need to do to prepare myself for this season,” Green said. “So I think that I’m in a great position. I’m right where I want to be at, and I’m only going to go up from here.”

Creighton also wants to see Traudt playing with confidence. The coaches believe in his offensive ability and want to see him hunting shots every second that he’s on the court. His height and shooting touch make him a tough matchup for opposing defenders within Creighton’s system.

“It means a lot knowing that your coaches want you to shoot the ball and actively hunt shots,” Traudt said. “It just gives you more confidence to go and do so. It kind of reminds me what I’m what I’m here to do is to hopefully make some baskets, so just being confident in doing that.”

Green and Traudt bring different skill sets to the table, but Creighton will need contributions from both this season to help replace the production of the departed Scheierman and Trey Alexander. If the offseason reports are anything to judge by, the two in-state products are ready to answer that call.