Episode One: A family and a legacy

In the first episode of From the Mall, we're getting you ready for basketball season with a hoops-only debut show.

Jahenns Manigat, BA'14, the former Bluejay basketball standout, discusses his favorite Creighton moment, the photo he has framed back home and his reasons for re-joining the program this year as a graduate assistant.

Then it's Jim Flanery, BA'87, who's about to begin his 23rd season as the Creighton women's basketball coach. Flanery talks about his ultra-competitive team, his leadership style and his time as a Creighton student.

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Meet our guests

Episode 1 transcript

JON NYATAWA

Welcome into From the Mall, a podcast where we share stories from the Creighton community that showcase achievements and impact. I'm your host, Jon Nyatawa.

On today's episode, our first one, we're excited to welcome Jahenns Manigat, a former BlueJay basketball player who's now back on campus as a graduate assistant with the men's program. We talked to Jahenns about his favorite Creighton memories and why he's back on campus.

Then it's Jim Flanery, the head coach of the women's basketball team. Coach Flanery shares his memories as a student on campus and some of the reasons why he's so excited for this year's squad.

Excited to welcome Jahenns Manigat onto the podcast. Jahenns, former Blue Jay basketball, standout part of some unforgettable teams here at Creighton, professional basketball player for a decade. That's crazy to say. 10 years and now is back on campus helping the basketball program as a graduate assistant, I guess a coach. Do the players call you coach?

JAHENNS MANIGAT

No, I haven't earned that credibility just yet. I'm hoping to get that via hopefully the start of the season, but guys call me Jay, Jahenns, whatever. Some guys have started calling me 12, which is what my former teammates referred to me as my playing number. Shout out to Austin, shout out to Josh Jones. Those guys kind of started that trend, but some of those guys heard about it and now you got Steven Ashworth calling me 12 and I still respond to it, so those guys already are figuring out their nicknames for me.

JON NYATAWA

I'm going to ask you why, what kind of led to you coming back, but I wonder just being back in the gym, what is that feeling like? This is the place where you spent, I mean, I guess technically you weren't necessarily in the McDermott Center now on that practice floor, but you were still, I mean, I imagine you're just, it's a flashback to what it was like in your college days, isn't it?

JAHENNS MANIGAT

Big time flashbacks because Coach Mac has built a culture based on the first team, which I was a part of, blessed to be a part of. He built that culture off of some of the practice habits that we had, so now coming back and watching some of the same drills that we're doing back then, obviously with the times, that kind of changes a little bit because we're getting better athletes and things of that nature now, but just to be back in that setting, it is a little surreal at times and then kind of walking and seeing my face on the wall, that also is something that I pleasantly enjoy every day, so that's been kind of cool.

JON NYATAWA

For people who don't know, in the McDermott Center, there's a big sort of wall mural in the practice facility, and Jahenns, I mean, it's a team huddle, basically. It's all the guys from the 20 13 14 team, but your face is there, you're there.

JAHENNS MANIGAT

Perks of being the hype guy. I'm in the middle of the huddles all the time trying to get the guys fired up and whoever took that picture, shout out to them. But it became kind of like the first design, I guess, that Coach Mac decided to put out there to kind of simulate team unity and what we're all about coming together of guys for one common goal. I'm happy to be the face of that. I don't necessarily think it's warranted or whatever the case may be. I was definitely a cog in that machine with the teams that I was a part of because we're such a great team and we were a united team. We didn't care who got the glory. We just wanted to win, and I think that image exemplifies that and I'm happy to, that didn't tear it down in these past 10 years, that team, they're never going to, no. Hey, you never know. I'm just saying I'm happy to

JON NYATAWA

Still up there. I guess the program has raised the bar. That's pretty impressive, a testament to the guys and Coach McDermott. But I mean fans know. Alumni know that team is always going to live in infamy in a positive way. Everyone's going to remember that group of guys and you were part of it. You spoke about the unity that you had. I think that's probably one of the special things. Other thing was just the role definition, you guys, I mean Doug McDermott was the star and one of the best college players ever. You guys had everyone around him, you included, sort of knew exactly how you're going to contribute to the team and then you just sort of attacked it and I'm going to be the best in my role, and I don't know. How did that come about? How did you guys define what you needed to bring and what your piece was going to be, how you were going to contribute to the team success and then do it so well.

JAHENNS MANIGAT

It's a good question. Honestly, it kind of came with just being around each other off the floor. We kind of built that camaraderie off the floor of hanging out in each other's dorm, dorm rooms, playing video games, studying together, guys who were in business, we were all huddled up studying together for tests and all that stuff, and it kind of built a friendship off the floor that really lend itself to cohesiveness on the floor. And then, I mean, Doug being that great, he just established itself as the head honcho from the beginning. I remember even our incoming freshman year playing in our metro summer league here, I was on his team and I was like, wow, he's performing so well against these grown men. And I don't know if you guys remember at the time, there was a conversation of whether or not Doug needed a red shirt.

And I remember after our third summer league game, I'm like, he might be the best player on our team. I wasn't quite sure. We weren't practicing yet, but I just saw it every day from just working out and training with him, shooting with him. And then when it translated out on a summer league setting, I was like, this guy is incredible. And then lo and behold, October comes and we have two a days and he's the best player on the floor outright. And it just kind of made it easy for all of us to be like, okay, he's the man. Let's all see where we all kind of get in and fit in. And like I said, or the camaraderie that we built off the floor really helped with the cohesiveness on the floor because at that point we were all just so tied and close with each other. It was just a matter of figuring out the right formula for us to be able to win.

JON NYATAWA

I know you practice together, you take road trips together. Like you said, you're hanging out in the dorms, but I don't know if it feels a little bit unique to Creighton in that you guys, the bond that you have is so strong.

JAHENNS MANIGAT

I will tell you it is a hundred percent unique. And this is not hyperbole because I've played overseas for 10 years. I've met countless of American guys from name a college in the state. I've had a teammate that's played in those colleges, and when I talk about my experience here, they look at me in awe and a little bit in shame for themselves because they did not have the same college experience. They went to maybe a program that didn't nurture cohesiveness as much as we did family culture as much as we did. And when I will just randomly get a FaceTime from Doug, they can't believe that I'm still close with my college roommate. They literally have their college roommate's phone number deleted off their phone.

So it is unique to Creighton. I will say that Coach Mac did a great job of building that family tradition that we all kind of hold onto so dearly, and it makes it easy for a guy like me to come back and be a be a part of the team because I was never really plugged out of that system. I was always continuing to tap back in and getting to know the new guys and the transfers who were coming in and letting them know that, hey, this is a community that we've built and we don't want it to change, so we want to welcome you into his family.

JON NYATAWA

How special is it now to just be sort of back in working with Coach Mac with some of the coaches, Coach Merf was there when you were there, who else was, was there anybody else?

JAHENNS MANIGAT

Vanderloo, Vanderloo’s still here

JON NYATAWA

some of the people, the faces that you used to see now you see 'em every day.

JAHENNS MANIGAT

Yeah, it is been great. It's been a learning experience for me. Obviously as a player, you only think about what you got to do on the floor. Now I'm in the film room, I'm cutting up film, I'm trying to show players their mistakes, how they can be better. I'm trying to show 'em also, here are the things that you're doing well and we need you to do more of. So I'm getting a whole lot of background knowledge of how an organization like Creighton men's basketball actually works. And I think as players, we get so nearsighted with what we have to do that we don't understand that it's a bigger concept. There's a lot more people working behind the scenes. For you to be able to play on a Thursday night in front of 18,000 at I guess it's CHI Health now I'm losing track with all of that.

JON NYATAWA

It's changed.

JAHENNS MANIGAT

It was Quest, it was CenturyLink, now it's CHI. But yeah, that part of it's been a great learning experience for me and I'm finding, like I said, a new love for the game as far as the teaching aspect goes, and a broader understanding of exactly what makes a machine like Creighton basketball actually run. So for me, being an aspiring coach and someone who feels like I have a lot to teach in the future, I'm just trying to be a sponge out there and trying to soak up all the experience that I can from these guys who have done it at the highest of high levels. And Coach Mac's been a mentor to me, a father figure for me, and now he's back to being more of a mentor as I embark on this quest to being a coach one day.

JON NYATAWA

What's it like? You mentioned talent is maybe a little bit higher, it's elevated a hundred percent. Fans can see that, and I mean the results speak for themselves. Creighton just a couple of years removed from a Elite eight Sweet 16 last year. What do you think about these guys that you're working with? I mean, you got one of the best players in the country, Ryan in the middle there. I mean, have you suited up against these guys? That's probably a challenge.

JAHENNS MANIGAT

Yeah, it definitely is. And the speed of the game is certainly different from when I played and I thought we were moving fast. These boys, they are moving fast and you're kind of taken aback sometimes when you're watching it, especially from a former player standpoint. But there has been times where I've had to suit up and I've had to kind of teach 'em what a little bit, Hey, these can't teach our old dog new tricks. But I'm not as great as I once was. I'm as great once as I've ever been.

So I think a couple of weeks ago we were doing some four on four drills and I kind of hopped in trying to be protective of some of our players who are going to be logging in heavy minutes. So they were out that day. I kind of hopped in order to fill in those spots and I played really well. And some of the guys who were watching on the sideline who weren't participating in that workout were like, Hey, we were kind of unfamiliar with your game buddies. When scouting comes around, we will know what to look forward to. So I'm still definitely enjoying, again, the competitive aspect is never going to be something that's going to be taken out of me. I just have to find new ways to channel that, which is obviously more into coaching, but every once in a while you got to lay him up. But let these young pups know old dog, he's got some tricks up his sleeve.

JON NYATAWA

I'm excited to see you on the sideline because I bet some fans are too. Just how hype is Jahenns going to get? Do you have to bring it down

JAHENNS MANIGAT

I'm not quite sure. I think you know what, however you see it, it's going to be authentically me. Okay, for sure. I think Creighton fans are so used to me, even at Doug's ceremony last year, I grabbed the mic and said, let's go. I couldn't help myself. So you're definitely going to see moments where I'm almost going to be on the floor even though I'm supposed to be the second row back behind the first row of coaches. I might jump over someone's head in order to clap up the team or whatever, but however you're going to see it. If I choose to be a little bit more calmer demeanor, understanding that this is what this role is needed of me to help the team be better, then that's what I'll do if I need to be the loud cheery guide. And that's also what I'm going to do.

I've always thought about it of approaching it from an ego-less standpoint and just soak yourself into what the team really needs. And that's what caught me on the floor in the first place. I came in, I was supposed to be a backup point guard that didn't necessarily work. I ended up starting at the two, not necessarily because that was my traditional position, but because I was taking charges, I was diving on the floor for loose basketballs, I was pumping up the crowd, I was helping my teammate in tough spots and that helped me gain a lot of trust from the guys. And it was exactly what that version of the team needed at the time. And as our team evolved, my role developed as, and whatever the team needed is what I was willing to provide. So that hasn't changed. I'm still going to be that guy, but just from a different role.

JON NYATAWA

Alright, I'm going to let you go, but before I do pop on your memory hat here and go in the way back machine, what are some of the best moments that you had on the basketball court during your Creighton career? Maybe one or two that really stick out.

JAHENNS MANIGAT

Number one for me will always be seeing Doug hit that 3000 ball that was just electric senior night against Providence. We're blowing him out. Doug gets to 3000. Did he go into that game thinking? No, I'm not quite sure what Doug ever went into a game thinking because all I know is by the second meet of time I would look up and he'd already have 21. And I'm just wondering how did 21 already happen in eight minutes? That was a routine for him, especially at home. So I'm not quite sure what his thought process was going into it. If you could have Doug up here and ask me that question, I would tune in and certainly find out. And I had a podcast before and I haven't asked him that question, so that's kind of dumb on my part to kind of forget to ask him that question.

But certainly him hitting that and seeing the crowd reaction and understanding all that went through that, all the labor, the tough workouts behind the scenes, the stuff that nobody sees that I was fortunate enough to be a part of just by proximity of being his roommate, being able to shoot with him and all that stuff, and him always talking about the vision, the goal that he had of himself. That was an inspiring moment for sure.

And then it's a mix between beating Wichita to leave the valley in the Missouri Valley tournament. We left the Missouri Valley to go to the Big East and we took the regular season crown and the tournament crown.

JON NYATAWA

And you beat Wichita, both of them. For both of em, right?

JAHENNS MANIGAT

Exactly. And what better way to leave a conference going into a new one than to win both those crowns and just kind of take it away with us, whoever, whenever the value started that next year, I remember telling the guys like, Hey, there's no defending champ. They got to figure it out all over again.

JON NYATAWA

That game was, you guys controlled a lot of that tournament championship game, but then Wichita kind came back at the end. You had to make a driving layup I think to seal it.

JAHENNS MANIGAT

Yeah, so that was

JON NYATAWA

Through traffic too. I mean that was tough.

JAHENNS MANIGAT

And if you Creighton fans remember layups were not quite my forte. So I had actually one of our fans frame that picture and sent it to me and I still have it hung up in my mom's basement back in Ottawa because that moment meant so much to me. And my mom always looks, I didn't kind of laughs a little bit because she also understand how big that moment was for me personally.

JON NYATAWA

Did the lane just open up? I know you're trying to run the clock out?

JAHENNS MANIGAT

Well really the play was for I think Doug-Grant high pick and roll, which was killing the whole game. Well in the second half I think Doug will be the first to tell you he didn't have the best performance that game, but he's still our go-to player and that's who we want to run the ball to down the stretch. But Austin was denied. I came and caught the ball and initially my thought was let's just find a way to get it back to Grant so I can spread and if they double off those guys, I'll be able to knock on the open three hopefully. But they were denying Grant understanding that he was going to be our trigger guy and they were denying Doug understanding, do not let Doug take that last shot.

So before I knew it, as I'm just trying to survey the floor, trying to find different ways to get the ground, the defender just kind of jumped on one side and I saw the lane open up, like you said, and it closed quicker than I thought that it would. But I was still able to just have enough of an extension with my arm and enough arc on the ball to just have it softly touch your backboard and go in. And then it was a matter of getting a stop.

So that memory for sure, but also the very first BIG EAST game against Marquette was maybe one of my better games. If I remember correctly. I think I had like 16, six and six had

JON NYATAWA

And a dunk

JAHENNS MANIGAT

And my one and only career dunk. That's right. If you could call it that, a rim grazer of all rim grazers

JON NYATAWA

The rim moved.

JAHENNS MANIGAT

Shoutout to the people at CenturyLink at the time who probably lowered the rim when I took off and then put it right back so that the video even couldn't catch it. But I think again, leaving the Valley and then entering the BIG EAST and having two of my better games in my career, those are two fond memories for me amongst the thousands of just road trip hanging out with the guys traveling all over the states competing, taking the losses on the chin, bouncing back the next day in practice and understand that we have to be better. Those are the moments that I really cherish that people didn't get to see. But the moments that people got to see was definitely those two games in particular.

JON NYATAWA

And I think Coach McDermott has talked about your group before, just the way you guys not only kind of established the culture but also just made an impact nationally and kind showed people what Creighton was capable of and helped usher the program into the Big East. You guys are a big part of that and a lot of the success that Creighton is having now is kind of a testament to what you guys did and building off the success that you guys had. So fans won't forget the other game that you didn't mention, surprised you didn't, was the Nova one. now I know that was kind of Wragge’s game.

JAHENNS MANIGAT

I mean, yeah, that's a Wragge bomb game to the fullest. I was just suspected at one point for sure. Are they really going to let him keep, okay, I guess they're going to let him keep shooting these deep threes. Yeah, no, that was, and that was also my career high. Nobody, I had 19 that game, but I was so completely overshadowed with what Doug and Ethan were doing that, which again, I love it. I absolutely love it. Those guys put in the work and they deserve that shine.

I was just happy to be there and be a part of it and to humble Villanova in that way. I like to say that we were the cause of them restructuring things in order for them to win two national championships in I think the next three or four years if I'm not mistaken. But a guy like Josh Hart was a freshman that year and he learned a hard lesson about doubling off Ethan Wragge and now he's in the NBA as one of the better defensive players and a hustle guys. I like to think that maybe we taught him a thing or two, I'm not sure. Maybe hadn't, yeah, Jenkins couldn't get on the floor. He was a freshman on that Villanova team while we were there. And then a couple years later he hits a game winning NCAA tournament clenching shot from damn near half court. So I like to say that we whip those guys into shape. That's the way that I like to think about it.

JON NYATAWA

If you didn't light a fire under those guys, you lit a fire under Coach Wright. Because Jay Wright would talk about that game

JAHENNS MANIGAT

Was also when we did the same thing to 'em when they came over here to Omaha too. And it was a completely different game plan. I'm not even sure if I scored that game, but we still ended up beating in by 20 or 30. I think we just had their number that year for whatever reason, we were kind of hoping that another BIG EAST team would get him, but they didn't lose anybody else. We were the only ones who got 'em. So ended up being second in the BIG EAST that year and then losing a problem. All that. Let's conclude this because if we talk about the Providence BIG EAST tournament loss, I might shed a tear on the podcast real quick.

JON NYATAWA

Alright, well Jahenns, thanks for your time. Appreciate it. It was great to catch up with you and yeah, thanks for coming up.

JAHENNS MANIGAT

Of course. Appreciate you.

JON NYATAWA

Excited to welcome Head Women's basketball coach Jim Flannery, been at Creighton. Well this is your 23rd year as the head coach, right? Jim, I'm sure you've learned a lot and had a lot of great experiences, but what about this year's group excites you the most? What are you excited about for this year's team as we're kind of at the doorstep of the season?

JIM FLANERY

Well, I think just how much they've invested and how mature they are. I think that's a big piece. We had a big team dinner last night and just to look around the room and see how much experience there is and maturity and just the longer a groups taste together, the more committed they become, I think. And we have five seniors who've been with us. Lauren joined us. Lauren Jensen joined us in year two, but so this'll be her fourth year with the other four, and then we added two other fifth year seniors.

But yeah, I just think when you have a group that's been together long enough, they value their own journey, but they also want the best because of the relationships that they have with those teammates. And I think you worry less about their resiliency because they are invested in each other. They're not just, yeah, they have their own personal goals, but I just think that that sort of commitment to one another is ought to be really special on this year's team. And we have talented basketball players too, and just people who push each other and practice. They're highly competitive. And we had a little section in practice the other day where one team was ahead 17, nothing during one of our drills. And the other team was really quiet at the end of that section. And it's funny to see how competitive they are even in practice.

JON NYATAWA

Yeah, well, they've been around each other. Maybe that's part of it because they know each other well. They can know how to sort of ramp up that competitiveness. But I mean they've accomplished a lot already. That group in Elite eight, three straight NCAA tournaments, top 25, I mean you guys could been kind of right in the mix of the top 25 rankings for the last couple of years.

Is it exciting too, I mean, women's kind of been on a rise lately and your program has also paralleled that trajectory of interest and excitement going into the year. How much do you pay attention to the growth of the sport and does it impact the way that you're building your program?

JIM FLANERY

Yeah, I mean you referenced that it was my 23rd year at Creighton, and just as you asked that question, I'm glad it's here, but I wish it would've happened 15 years ago because I just think people have been missing the boat on and the game has evolved even in those last 15 years that I'm talking about. But I just think that people are now recognizing how good the product is and how easy it is to invest in young women who play at such a high level. And so I think that's a big piece. But yeah, I think we're in a great place right now. Like you said, I mean Caitlin left, but you've got Juju and Paige Bueckers and Hannah Hidalgo, and these players are going to be potentially more household names than on the men's side because they stay four and five years. Where on the men's side, a lot of times if you're really, really good, you're gone in a year or two. And so I think that's going to help the growth of our sport. And I ran into Marcus, our athletic director, Marcus in the hall yesterday. He said, Hey, season tickets we're already past where we were last year, where he said three or four years ago, 70, 80% ahead of where we were. And that's a tribute, two things that our particular program has been successful. But to your point also that the sport has grown and I think there is a greater interest in investment in women's athletics.

JON NYATAWA

Just being around your program a little bit and knowing some of the people that they really compliment your leadership style, how much you value the culture piece of it and embracing the family atmosphere. Where do you think that part of it comes from? Because you're competitive, you want to win, but you also know that the experience for the players matters too, and the people that you work with as well, your assistant coaches, your staff, you want everyone to be vibing and having a good time. I don't know how you found that right balance, or maybe it's always you're trying to find it, but where do you think that came from for you?

JIM FLANERY

A couple things. One is as you get older and you coach, you become less of a, oh, I got to prove to people that I can do this rather than, like you just said, I enjoy the job and how lucky am I that I get to coach basketball for a living. I get to wear sweats and dry fit shirts and coach and it's not perfect every day, but I just think of gratitude for what you get to do and not, people talk about having a chip on their shoulder a lot. I think that's okay some, but I think it's just important to kind of embrace that you love the job and most of it. I don't love all of it, but I love most of it. And to your point, then I think it allows me to be less paranoid about empowering my assistants because the older I get, the more my weaknesses become apparent to me.

There's things I can't do, there's things I never probably was very good at, and there's things I know I'm getting worse at because I'm getting older. So you're more willing to empower, you're more willing to stay in your lane and just provide help and be like you're saying a little bit more, go with the flow and just be not jump on everything as a crisis. I think that's what I see from coaches on times, younger coaches is everything becomes a crisis and they're hyper all the time. And that wears on staff, it wears on players. If coaches on edge, if the head coach is on edge all the time, that doesn't just percolate through the players, it percolate through the staff and then player to staff, staff after the player. And so I think just getting to the point where you've done it long enough that you're not paranoid, you're not insecure about that, and you're honest and reflective about the things you don't do well so that you can kind of stay out of the way in those areas.

And Creighton's a great place. I mean, it's not perfect, but I feel like when you talked about their whole experience and I went to school here, I want them to have relationships with their professors and I want them to have relationships outside of just our sport because I can't start all of our players. But if they have a great experience with the rest of campus and the rest of their experience, they're going to come to practice a little bit happier. And maybe they're not getting to play quite as much, isn't as big a deal because they love Creighton. And so I think that always is in my head as far as I give them the whole Creighton don't monopolize what they do so much that they can't enjoy the other parts of what makes Creighton special.

JON NYATAWA

What made it special for you? Just, you were an alum, I know it was you graduated in 87, 87, tapping, tapping into your memory bank a little bit. Yeah, you are. What do you remember what was special about it?

JIM FLANERY

Yeah, I do. I think it was about having relationships with professors. I majored in philosophy and there were probably three philosophy professors that would go to the Kiewit Center and play rec ball. And I just thought that was cool. And you'd have 'em in class and then you'd sit there after basketball after playing pickup basketball with them and have that relationship. And even the people in the cafeteria, people who worked at the cafeteria and in the library. And then Creighton, I was a fairly decent studious kid, but not at the level that a lot of 'em were pre-med and way past where I was going to be. But I just think that there's a commitment to excellence that you could grab onto and realize that when I sat in my first calculus class at Creighton and I came from a small town, so the highest math class I had, and I was really good in math in high school, but then I'm like, oh, there's a lot of really good people in math. And so sort of that commitment to excellence, I think across the board, especially academically resonated. And I think that that's something that you want your players to genuinely feel.

JON NYATAWA

Thanks again for listening to this episode of From the Mall. We hope you enjoyed it and we can't wait to see you again next time.