We are still a couple of months away from the tip-off of the college basketball season, which means that we have plenty of time to prepare for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with Creighton SR G Lauren Jensen, who talked about being named 1st-team All-Big East last season and her expectations for this season.
You began your career at Iowa where the other freshman guard in your recruiting class was a woman named Caitlin Clark: could you tell back then that she was good enough to become the best college basketball player in the nation just 2 years later? Yeah: I have played against her in AAU ball since we were little and she has always been a top-5 player. She stood out in college from Day 1.
Why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose Creighton? I just wanted more opportunities for myself. I had a good relationship with Creighton, who had recruited me in high school, so I already knew some of the players/coaches. I knew I would fit in here and it felt like a good decision.
You play for Coach Jim Flanery: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He has been here over 20 years so he knows what he is talking about. He is pretty open to other people’s input in certain situations and has a great basketball mind, which definitely translates to his coaching.
In 2022 you led your team with 82 3PM: what is the secret to making shots from behind the arc? Just practice: I have always been a shooter and loved shooting in the driveway as a kid.
Take me though the 2022 NCAA tourney:
You scored 19 PTS including a go-ahead 3-PT shot with 12.6 seconds left in a win over your former school: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? It is definitely up there. It is a situation that a lot of kids dream about growing up: making the game-winning shot in front of a sell-out crowd!
In the Elite 8 you scored 12 PTS in a loss to eventual champ South Carolina: where does that Gamecocks team rank among the best that you have ever seen? They were a super-good team with a great program. There were some things that we could have done differently but we had some mismatch challenges.
You were named 1st-team All-Big East last season: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It meant a lot: the Big East is a good conference with a ton of great players like Maddy Siegrist/Azzi Fudd so it felt good.
In the 2023 NCAA tourney you scored a game-high 22 PTS in a loss to Mississippi State: what did you learn from that game that you think will help you this year? There were a lot of takeaways from that game. We were expected to win our 1st round game as a 6-seed and getting upset is never fun…but now we know that there is more to give. We lost some players but have added some new pieces. We still have a bad taste in our mouth from that game and will build on that.
You are 1 of 6 seniors on the roster: how crucial will all of that experience be to your team’s success this year? 6 seniors is a pretty big class so that experience will mean a lot. 4 of our starters from last year are returning seniors and we have 2 other good seniors coming off the bench so it will be big for us.
Your schedule includes games against Nebraska/Georgia Tech/Michigan State/South Dakota State: which of these games do you think will present your biggest test? I do not know a ton about Georgia Tech/Michigan State but we are more familiar with Nebraska/South Dakota State because we have played them in the past.
What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? We are preseason top-25 so we have a lot of the same expectations as last year: win 20 games, go far in the Big East tourney, and then go far in the NCAA tourney.