KU versus Creighton in Allen Fieldhouse is a dream matchup for Eudora’s Mitch Ballock
Mitch Ballock figures he attended “30 to 35” Kansas men’s basketball games in Allen Fieldhouse during his days as a major-college recruit at nearby Eudora High School.
Next time he steps in the tradition-rich building, the 6-foot-5 sharpshooter — who ultimately chose Creighton over KU, Kansas State, Iowa State, Oklahoma and others in recruiting — will be a participant, not a spectator.
The 2017 Kansas Gatorade prep player of the year learned last week that his Bluejays would be matched against the Jayhawks in the 2020 Big 12-Big East Challenge set for early December in Allen.
“I will definitely soak it all up,” Ballock, a Creighton senior-to-be with unlimited shooting range, said in a cell phone interview with The Star. “To get to play in an arena like that will be cool. Playing so close to home, I have to take in all the emotions.”
Ballock — he averaged 11.9 points and 5.3 rebounds a game his junior season for the (24-7) Bluejays — says “it will be a good opportunity to go home and play against a storied and historic program like KU and obviously get to play in front of family and friends in this area.
“A lot of my friends have reached out. My high school coach texted me. My family is excited,” added Ballock, who averaged 36.0 minutes a game last season, most minutes of any player in the Big East Conference.
Ballock, who finished his prep career as leading scorer in Eudora High hoops history, was offered a scholarship by KU second semester of his sophomore year at EHS. He announced for Creighton in February of 2016, late in an injury-plagued junior season.
“I’m 100% happy,” Ballock said. “If I could go back and do it all over again, I’d do the same thing.”
He’s emerged as one of the country’s top three-point threats entering his senior season. Ballock hit 93 of 214 three-pointers in 2019-20 for 43.5% — which ranked fifth nationally in three-point field goal percentage for players with over 200 attempts (in all, 113).”
Ballock hit six threes against Georgetown and converted five threes on four occasions last season. As a sophomore, he set a school record and tied a Big East record by sinking 11 threes (in 12 tries) in a 91-78 victory over DePaul on March 8, 2019 at CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska. His 91.7% mark from beyond the arc that day set an NCAA record for three-point shooting accuracy in a single game (for players with at least 12 attempts).
“I hit five in a row to start the game. I was feeling it. I said, ‘This is kind of crazy.’ Everything I was throwing up was going in,” Ballock said. “It was on Senior Night (at CU). All my teammates were congratulating me. One thing about our program ... Creighton guys are unselfish and really care about the team winning,”
At the time, Creighton forward Martin Krampelj, who scored 23 points in that contest, told the Omaha World-Herald: “Mitch deserves every one of them. He’s the guy shooting that ball in the gym all day long. I come to practice still dressed up, he’s already shooting. I’m going to do treatment, he’s still shooting.”
Though Ballock’s outside shooting ability (he also had seven three-point makes against Nebraska in 2018-19) should eventually assure him a shot at a spot on an NBA roster, he said he was not tempted to test the waters after his junior season.
“I definitely want to come back my senior year,” Ballock said. “I think opportunities will be there next year. I value my degree (in business management) and education. Finishing up and having another year in college … you can’t get these years back. My coaches at Creighton have a good grasp on what I need to do to get to that level.
“My shooting has improved since high school,” he added, noting, “I’ve gotten stronger.. The stronger I got and the more confidence I got, I was able to stretch my range. I spend time shooting before and after practice.”
Of possibly playing in the NBA someday Ballock said: “I don’t think anybody is a lock for the NBA. When I’m out there, I want to shoot 100% from three. That is not realistic. Anywhere around 40% can do good things for you. I try to play in the flow of the offense. Taking good shots leads to good things for the team.”
The Bluejays, like the Jayhawks, had high hopes for the 2020 postseason, which was wiped out because of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. While KU was a lock to attain the overall No. 1 seed in ther 2020 NCAAs, Creighton was hoping for a 2 or 3 seed based on its winning the Big East title (with Villanova and Seton Hall, all three at 13-5)
“Everybody wants to play in the (NCAA) Tournament and have the opportunity to make a run,” Ballock said. “Obviously when it didn’t happen you feel for everybody, especially the seniors. It’s rough. At the end of the day there are bigger problems in the world. You have to keep perspective.
“We looked at the positives of what we did this year. For the guys graduating … we feel for them. We move on to next year and prepare for next year.”
Ballock is hoping school will be in session in 2020-21. He’s hoping his senior campaign is not derailed by COVID-19.
“I am not really worried I guess,” said Ballock, who has been spending most of his time in Omaha, finishing the semester via online courses. . “Obviously my last year … I want to finish on a good note. I have my degree to finish. If I can do that and pursue my basketball career after that, it’s good enough for me. We have a great bunch of players and coaches. We hope it all turns out to where we can play.”
In the meantime? “I plan on going back to Omaha (after spending a couple days in Eudora), working out, staying in the gym, getting better, taking some summer classes, taking care of things on the court and academically.”
He acknowledged that “everything is up in the air. With COVID-19 it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.”
Ballock summed up next year’s KU-CU contest ... “in a perfect world, you would want to play a game like that with fans (instead of an empty gym because of the virus). Hopefully we’ll be playing at a high level like last year. We’ve got four starters coming back and new pieces to add. KU loses some guys but they always reload at a high level every year. It would be a fun game.”
