By JAMES MADDEN & SAM LANCE
ROCK HILL, SC — Jaidyn Coon didn’t hold back his praise of the culture and family feeling Greg McDermott has built at Creighton since taking over the program in 2010.
Coon, the 6-foot-6 forward from Storm Lake (IA), is spending the summer playing with D1 Minnesota on the 3SSB circuit. Over the course of this summer, he’s averaged 8.2 points and 3.1 rebounds to help D1 reach the championship game of Adidas 3SSB’s final tournament.
“I’m a 3&D type player,” Coon told ZAGSBLOG. “I’ll get out and shoot threes. I’m an attacker too. I’m a finisher, but I’m more of a defender. I’d lock down anyone to help my team.”
Coon talked about the importance of building strong relationships with each program that recruited him, but he ultimately felt Creighton was the place he and his family wanted to call home.
“Just the family atmosphere they have,” Coon said. “I live two and a half hours away from campus and coach [Greg] McDermott and coach [Jeff] Vanderloo, they’ve always been there for me. It was an easy decision for me.”
McDermott has built a winning culture in Omaha during his tenure with the Blue Jays. Creighton has made 11 NCAA tournament appearances with McDermott at the helm and have become one of the nation’s most consistent programs over the course of the last 15 years.
“They’re a premier school,” Coon said. “They’re always in the March Madness tournament every single year. The family guy coach McDermott is, it means a lot to me and also the style of play they have. They’re a get out and run team. They play in the Big East, which is awesome, and they’re always on TV. So that’s fun.”
Coon said he has an “awesome” relationship with coach McDermott.
“He’s a great guy,” Coon added. “He cares more about the person than actual basketball. Me and his relationship is really good. We talk every so often. He cares about basketball obviously, but he always asks me how I’m doing and how my family’s doing, so he’s a more personal type of coach.”
Aside from joining a program and community that breathes basketball, Coon is excited to be apart of a fast-paced and high-powered offense at Creighton.
“They get out and run,” he said. “That’s exactly what I do. I like to get out and run through the lanes, shoot threes, rip-dunk and play defense.”
Coon said he plans on visiting campus this fall and will attend some team workouts as the season inches closer.
Basketball is a family business in the Coon household, with Jaidyn’s father, Martin Coon, having played at the Division I level with the Northern Iowa program.
He said there’s no current outline for his future role in the Creighton program, but he looks forward to using fall workouts and this upcoming season to improve into the best player he can be.
Coon didn’t give any specific names of who he might be trying to bring to Omaha, but he did say Creighton is after a point guard and a big man this cycle. Coon is the first Blue Jay commit in the 2026 class.
Photo via Tipton Edits.
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