Featured Testimonial About Creighton University
Note: This story was published before the start of the 2025 NCAA tournament. High Point was eventually eliminated in the first round after losing 75-63 to Purdue.
By Jon Nyatawa
For college basketball coaches, there's nothing like day you and your team clinch a spot in the NCAA tournament. It's really special.
Alan Huss, a Creighton graduate, tried to put it into words on Sunday, March 9, after he and High Point earned a Big South Conference Tournament championship and an NCAA automatic bid.
"Other than the birth of my kids, and my wife would probably get bad at me if I didn't say our wedding day — but other than those moments, I don't know that there's anything better than the NCAA tournament," Huss said during a post-game press conference. "It's the greatest sporting event on planet Earth."
Huss and his team earned a No. 13 seed and will play Purdue in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
This is just the second year for Huss at High Point. But the milestone accomplishment Sunday did not come out of nowhere.
A quick list of the achievements for High Point since Huss took the job in 2023:
- The Panthers were back-to-back outright regular season Big South Conference championships for the first in High Point history. It's the first time a Big South team has done it since 2011.
- Huss has compiled a 56-14 record at High Point. He's the fastest Big South coach to reach 50 wins (did it in 64 games).
- High Point won 20-plus games in two consecutive seasons for the first time. This year's 26 regular season wins are a program record.
Huss is a two-time Big South Coach of the year. He just received a contract extension. He's viewed by many of the sport's analysts as a rising star within coaching circles.
Not bad for a guy who told The World-Herald in 2017 that he essentially entered the profession by accident.
As the story goes, a local high school coach needed an extra staffer. The coach spotted the 6-foot-9 Huss rising above the crowd at a summer festival and started chatting him up. Huss did accept the offer — he became the freshmen team's coach at Eisenhower High School in Decatur, Ill.
Soon, Huss moved to Decatur Christian to run its basketball program. Then Culver Academy in Indiana (he set the school wins record). Then La Lumiere School, a now-renowned basketball prep powerhouse in Indiana that Huss helped to build. New Mexico hired Huss as an assistant coach in 2014 before he returned to Creighton as an assistant in 2017.
Huss spent six years on the Bluejays' bench under head coach Greg McDermott, a opportunity that he told The World-Herald was "as good as it gets." Huss helped the Jays clinch their first-ever BIG EAST championship in 2020 and reach the Elite Eight in 2023. Huss, BSBA'02, played for Creighton from 1997-2001 — he was part of three NCAA tournament teams.
Now, Huss is dancing again.
And he insists it's a credit to his players, their work and their belief. The Panthers had to rally from a 15-point second-half deficit on Sunday to beat Winthrop 81-69 and earn their NCAA spot.
"Our culture is strong," Huss said Sunday. "Everyone sees us cut down the nets, but we were here this summer, grinding. These guys have earned this in every way imaginable. I'm thrilled for them because their work has paid off.
Huss is believed to be just the third Creighton alumnus to lead a Division I men's basketball team to the NCAA tournament. Tom Apke, BA'65, coached Creighton to the NCAA tournament three times. Porter Moser, BSBA'90, led Loyola-Chicago to the NCAA tournament twice, and made a memorable run to the Final Four with the Ramblers in 2018.
Moser, who's now the coach at Oklahoma, is back in the NCAA tournament this year — the Sooners earned a bid and open with a game against UConn.
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Another Creighton coaching connection in the 2025 NCAA tournament: Brian Barone. He's the son of Tony Barone, the Bluejays' head coach from 1985 to 1991. Brian helped SIUE earn its first-ever NCAA tournament berth by winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The Cougars play a first round game against Houston.
