Alan Huss will leave High Point to become coach-in-waiting at Creighton, AP source says

By Canadian Press on April 10, 2025.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — High Point coach Alan Huss will return to Creighton as the head coach-in-waiting for when Greg McDermott decides to leave or retire, according to a person familiar with the decision.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday because the hire had not been announced.

The 60-year-old McDermott just completed his 15th season with the Bluejays. He passed Dana Altman as the program’s career wins leader in November and will go into 2025-26 with a 350-171 record.

Huss, who played at Creighton from 1997-2001, was a McDermott assistant for six seasons before he was hired at High Point.

He was 56-15 overall and 27-5 in the Big South in two years. High Point won the conference regular-season title both years, and its league tournament championship this past season earned the Panthers their first berth in the NCAA Tournament. They lost 73-65 to Purdue in the first round to end a 29-6 season.

The Panthers have posted two back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in their Division I era, which dates to 1999.

As a Creighton assistant, Huss worked with the big men and helped develop the 7-foot-1 Ryan Kalkbrenner, who became a four-time Big East defensive player of the year and the 2025 national defensive player of the year.

Huss was an assistant at New Mexico from 2014-17 and before that coached at the high school level in Indiana. He grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, and played at Creighton under Altman and alongside now-retired NBA sharpshooter Kyle Korver.

McDermott has led Creighton to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances and 10 overall. The 2021 and 2024 teams reached the Sweet 16 and his 2023 team made the Elite Eight. The 2020 team finished in a three-way tie for first place in the Big East, and the Bluejays have been third or higher in the conference all but one season since 2017. The Bluejays have won at least 20 games in 10 straight seasons and in all but one of McDermott’s 15 years.

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AP College Basketball Writer Aaron Beard in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

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Eric Olson, The Associated Press