Omaha's pipeline to the NBA is looking healthier than ever. Two Creighton alumni — Baylor Scheierman in Boston and Ryan Kalkbrenner in Charlotte — enter the 2026-27 season with legitimate storylines, and neither is content to simply hold a roster spot.
Scheierman's Extension Clock Is Ticking
Baylor Scheierman is one month away from becoming extension-eligible, and the Celtics' brass has every reason to keep him around. Heading into his third NBA season, the Creighton product has quietly built a reputation as a reliable two-way contributor — a catch-and-shoot threat who brings real defensive intensity. Now, Scheierman says the plan is to strip things back.
"We're just gonna hoop," he told Yahoo Sports, signaling a no-overthinking approach to what could be the most important season of his young career.
That philosophy is earning respect from veterans around the league. Jazz guard Mike Conley, a 17-year NBA veteran, offered a pointed endorsement of Scheierman heading into camp, per Heavy Sports — the kind of word-of-mouth credibility that travels fast in a league built on reputation. Scheierman's sophomore campaign demonstrated he could defend and space the floor at the NBA level; Year 3 is about proving the skill set runs deeper than that.
For Bluejay fans, the extension watch is real. If Scheierman locks down a deal with Boston, it would mark a significant milestone for Creighton's program — confirmation that the school can develop NBA-caliber two-way players, not just scorers.
Kalkbrenner Bets on His Defensive Identity
In Charlotte, Ryan Kalkbrenner is approaching his second season with a clear-eyed understanding of what makes him valuable. In a wide-ranging interview with Sports Illustrated's Hornets channel, the 7-foot center discussed his growth between Year 1 and Year 2 and dove into what he called "the art of being a good defensive center."
That framing says a lot. Kalkbrenner isn't trying to become an offensive hub — he's doubling down on rim protection and defensive positioning as his path to a long NBA career. It's a smart read of the modern game, where switchable, disciplined bigs are increasingly precious. If he can establish himself as a credible anchor on that end, the Hornets — a young team still searching for a coherent identity — have a real building block on their hands.
His Creighton pedigree is worth context here: the Bluejays consistently produced one of the nation's more sophisticated defensive systems under Greg McDermott, and Kalkbrenner was a centerpiece of that. The habits formed in Omaha appear to be translating.
The Bigger Picture for Creighton
Scheierman and Kalkbrenner aren't alone. Trey Alexander is in Utah with the Jazz, and Doug McDermott — the program's most decorated NBA product — is now in Sacramento with the Kings. But this week, it's the Scheierman extension watch and Kalkbrenner's developmental arc that are driving the conversation.
For a mid-major program competing against blue-blood recruiting classes, having multiple alumni generating genuine NBA buzz in the same week is the kind of validation that matters in the locker rooms of future recruits. Creighton isn't just producing players — it's producing pros worth watching.
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