Basketball
Scheierman, Men’s Basketball Bring Home OSCAS – Creighton University Athletics
OMAHA, Neb. — Creighton men’s basketball standout Baylor Scheierman was honored as the Male Amateur Athlete of the Year and Creighton men’s basketball’s win over No. 1 UConn was recognized as Moment of the Year by the Omaha Sports Commission on Thursday night. Both were recognized with OSCAS (Omaha Sports Commission Award Show) during the sixth annual award ceremony, which was held at the Relevant Center in Elkhorn.
Scheierman was named an All-American by eight different media outlets following the 2023-24 season that saw him average 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game for a Bluejay squad that finished 25-10 and reached a second consecutive Sweet 16. The Aurora, Neb., native led the BIG EAST with 16 double-doubles, became the first men’s player in the last 20 years to lead a Power 6 Conference in both defensive rebounds and three-pointers made, and is the nation’s only player since 1992-93 with at least 300 rebounds and 110 three-pointers made in the same campaign. Scheierman closed his career as the first men’s player in Division I history with at least 2,000 points (2,233), 1,000 rebounds (1,256), 500 assists (580) and 300 three-pointers (356), and was the 11th man in to score at least 1,000 points at multiple Division I programs. His 1,140 career defensive rebounds are more than any player in the country in the past 25 seasons.
Creighton’s 85-66 men’s basketball win over then-No. 1 UConn on February 20th was voted Moment of the Year. The victory was the first win in program history against a No. 1 ranked team, was the most lopsided loss of the season by the defending national champs, and ended up being the final loss of the season for the eventual national champions who became the first team to win back-to-back titles since Florida in 2006 and 2007.
Additional Creighton-related nominees who did not win included Kirsten Bernthal Booth (up for Female Coach of the Year), Greg McDermott (Male Coach of the Year), Ryan Kalkbrenner (Male Amateur Athlete of the Year) and Kendra Wait (Female Amateur Athlete of the Year). The Steve Pivovar Sports Media Person of the Year, an award named after the longtime Creighton beat writer, also featured nominees Mike Sautter (Hurrdat Sports), John Bishop (NRG Media), Mike Patterson (Omaha World-Herald) and Adam Krueger (KMTV), all of whom give Creighton coverage throughout the year.
Other award winners honored by the Omaha Sports Commission were Papillion native Jordyn Bahl (Oklahoma Softball) claiming Female Amateur Athlete of the Year honors, Ann Prince (Elkhorn North High School Girls Basketball) earned the Female Coach of the Year plaudit, Nate Olson (Millard South High School Boys Wrestling) brought home the Male Coach of the Year honor and Terry Leahy (KFAB/Omaha Hockey Radio) was named the Steve Pivovar Sports Media Person of the Year. The Team of the Year recognition went to the state champion Omaha Westside High School football team.
The OSCAS also recognized John Stella as the Dr. Jack Lewis Sports Person of the Year, as well as the induction of the 2024 Omaha Sports Hall of Fame class of Kelly Hunter, Rod Kush, Dave Webber, Mark Wortman and the 1984 Omaha Northwest High School Baseball Team.
Creighton has now won 10 OSCAS in the six-year history of the event. Jaali Winters (2019) and Jaylyn Agnew (2020) have been named Female Amateur Athlete of the Year, Duncan McGuire (2023) and Baylor Scheierman (2024) have been named Male Amateur Athlete of the Year, Creighton men’s basketball’s win over UConn was named Moment of the Year (2024), Greg McDermott (2020) and Jim Flanery (2022) have won Male Coach of the Year, and Men’s Basketball (2020 and 2023) and Women’s Basketball (2022) have each been recognized as Team of the Year.