Former Missouri State men’s basketball coach Paul Lusk has been named assistant coach for the Creighton men’s basketball team by head coach Greg McDermott.
Lusk replaces Darian DeVries, a 20-year veteran of the Creighton men’s basketball staff. Devries left Creighton to be the men’s basketball head coach at Drake University.
“I’ve known Paul Lusk for 15 years,” said McDermott in a statement. “He is a man of high character and integrity. His passion, work ethic and enthusiasm to teach the game is a perfect fit for our coaching staff.”
After Lusk weighed his options of places to go, he chose Creighton, in part, because of McDermott and his staff.
“He is one of the best people in the business,” said Lusk. “People say that all the time, but it is important to me. It is a very family-oriented program and great staff.”
Lusk has been on campus for a little under a week and is already impressed by Creighton.
“Omaha is a great place and I think there is a lot of pride in Creighton. Whether it is basketball or anything else the university is about,” said Lusk.
He said he has been “blown away” by the importance of basketball and that the men’s facilities are some of the best he has ever seen. “What a great place to come to every day,” Lusk said.
Lusk emphasized that, to him, it is important to be a servant. “It’s not about me. It’s got to be about the program. I’m not concerned about who gets the credit. As long as coach Mac gets the credit.”
He started his coaching career at Southwestern Illinois in 1996, and eventually made his way to Purdue in 2004 where he spent seven seasons as an assistant coach and associate head coach before becoming head coach at Missouri State. In his seven years at Missouri State Lusk compiled a 106-121 overall record. He had a 51-75 record in the Missouri Valley Conference and had one postseason birth into the CBI Tournament in the 2013-14 season.
Lusk is familiar with dancing in the postseason. At Purdue, he helped lead the Boilermakers to five NCAA Tournament appearances, one at Southern Illinois and one at Missouri Southern State.
Lusk played at the University of Iowa and then Southern Illinois. He and his wife have a daughter, Maddie, and a son, Jack.
Creighton, led by coach McDermott, is coming off of a 21-12 season and second round exit in the NCAA Tournament. In McDermott’s nine seasons as head coach, he has lead the Bluejays to five NCAA appearances along with being the runner-up in the CBI in 2011 and making it to the quarterfinals of the NIT in 2016.
Lusk is joining Preston Murphy and Alan Huss as assistant coaches.