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When you think of a college basketball multi-team event around the week of Thanksgiving, the Maui Invitational and Battle 4 Atlantis come to mind certainly, however, there are events all over the country with quality competition. In this year's Creek Classic, held at Gore Arena in Buies Creek, NC, you had a strong group of teams that included North Carolina Central of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Idaho State of the Big Sky, The Citadel of the Southern Conference, and the host school Campbell University of the Coastal Atheltic Association.
Results
North Carolina Central
Monday 11/20/23: Win, 78-75 (OT) vs Campbell
Tuesday 11/21/23: Loss, 61-67 vs The Citadel
Idaho State
Monday 11/20/23: Loss, 61-62 vs The Citadel
Tuesday 11/21/23: Win, 69-55 vs Campbell
The Citadel
Monday 11/20/23: Win, 62-61 vs Idaho State
Tuesday 11/21/23: Win, 67-61 vs North Carolina Central
Campbell
Monday 11/20/23: Loss, 75-78 (OT) vs North Carolina Central
Tuesday 11/21/23: Loss, 55-69 vs Idaho State
The Citadel wins the 2023 Creek Classic after going 2-0 vs Idaho State and North Carolina Central. The game on Wednesday, November 22nd, 2023 versus Campbell was a standard non-conference game not associated with the Creek Classic. The Camels beat the Bulldogs 65-58.
The Creek Classic featured four teams that were all challenging to play for various reasons. North Carolina Central, coached by LeVelle Moton, who has built a winning program in Durham, making 4 NCAA Tournaments in his 14 years with the program. Idaho State is an elite defensive team entering the tournament with the 12th-best scoring defense in the country, allowing just 56.75 points per game, and after their two games that improved to 9th best. The Citadel has a really strong backcourt trio of AJ Smith, Elijah Morgan, and Madison Durr who are going to give Southern Conference opponents trouble this season.
After the conclusion of the tournament, I asked Campbell Head Coach Kevin McGeehan about his leading scorer Anthony Dell'Orso's comments regarding the team learning to play together and starting to gel. I asked Coach McGeehan if he felt that the team learning to play together attributed to the team's results in the Creek Classic:
"I thought we played a really good game against Central... Today (vs The Citadel) felt like a little bit of rhythm. The decisions we made in regards to rotations is something we can build on. College Basketball is hard and there is ups and downs. We have to be good when we come back from Thanksgiving and ready to continue to build on it... Certainly some really positive steps in that direction"
Regarding the Creek Classic and the quality of the field, as I mentioned at the beginning of this piece, I asked Coach McGeehan about the event and referenced how college basketball fans think of Maui when it comes to multi-team events (MTE) but events such as the Creek Classic have quality programs playing and I asked him how that will help prepare his team moving forward:
"It's a three game in three day format. It replicates or simulates a conference tournament setting. I think that is why a lot of teams play in these kinds of events. I mean some (teams) probably enjoy being in Maui also but we have a creek though, theres water! We would like to come out with a second win... It is all part of the learning process of how a team develops. College Basketball now with just about every team having between 5 and 7 new guys on their team every year... continuity is something that is very hard to come by now."
"The one thing we have done really well is we have a locker room full of really good guys. They want to be around each other."
Jasin Sinani for Campbell had two huge three-point baskets to propel the Camels to the victory down the stretch of The Citadel. Sinani was on the team last year and this is what he shared post-game when I asked him how he felt about the team getting into a rhythm playing with each other:
"We feel better playing together than we did this time last year"
The Camels have off until Wednesday, November 29th, 2023 when they travel to Florida to play Jacksonville. The next home game at Gore Arena is Saturday, December 2nd, 2023 vs Southern Virginia.