Thank you, Ben Jacobson.

Thank you for having scruples. Thank you for your class act. Most of all, thank you for releasing Doug McDermott from a scholarship to Northern Iowa so he could follow his father to Creighton.

Two years ago, before he transformed into Dougie, Doug looked like a kid who would have a nice little Valley career.

Nobody knew two years ago that Jacobson was releasing a potential Valley and national player of the year kind of guy, the kind of player that Jay Bilas and Doug Gottlieb name-drop to impress people at parties.

Nobody then could have imagined that young Doug would grow up — so quickly — to be Dougie, the kind of player you build a defensive game plan around.

Can you imagine Northern Iowa with Doug? Can you imagine Creighton without him?

Right now, neither side wants to think about it.

What an amazing gesture, one that gets more amazing every time McDermott scores 44 points. A good chunk of the Division I coaching world might not have been so, um, classy.

Not Jacobson. Still, he's only human. Does Jacobson ever second-guess himself? Ever wonder what might have been?

The Northern Iowa coach gave a short pause before answering.

"It wasn't about my relationship with Greg," Jacobson said. "It was about Doug wanting to play for his father and granting him the wish to do that.

"That's who I am. And I feel like I made the right decision."

Jacobson may have released Dougie, but he's still going to throw a headlock on him twice a year, just for old time's sake.

It almost worked Tuesday night, in a game that was a portrait of what has made the Missouri Valley one of the best leagues to watch this winter. It was a collage of elbows, guts and big shots with a backdrop of 16,627 throaty partisans in blue finally roaring their approval of a hard-earned 63-60 Bluejay win.

The Valley is big time, and Dougie Mac is one of its biggest stars. Still, the hard hats in purple weren't going to let Dougie score 44, like Bradley had on Saturday night. At least not without a few ice packs. Meanwhile, the officials were not in the mood to hand out any sympathy cards, or fouls, but that's another story.

By the time I got to the CU locker room, Little Mac had already slipped out into the night, probably looking for some Motrin and a pillow. He finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, four assists and an undisclosed number of bruises. In the handbook of the young superstar, this was called a learning experience.

"That may have been the greatest 14 points he's ever scored," Greg McDermott said.

There was so much more here, of course. This was about the Panthers daring Creighton to beat them without No. 3 and Creighton showing — again — that it has more options than the brilliant sophomore forward.

This was about senior guard Antoine Young reminding us — again — just how far he's come, and doing it with 21 clutch points and one of his biggest shots ever — top of the circle, swish, late. This was about that potential chink in the old blue armor — the Jays' defense — which finally extended out and clamped down on Panther guards Marc Sonnen and Anthony James, who were knocking down shots from Morrison Stadium.

But as long as Dougie is wearing Creighton duds — and that's two more years, sorry Panther fans — this series is always going to be about the kid who left and the graceful coach who granted his wish. And the coach making it as hard as heck on the kid to be his constant nightmare.

Jacobson found a way on Tuesday night. He did it with his army of elbows and blue-collar workers. Jake Koch, a chip off his older brother Adam, was all over Dougie. Then it was Seth Tuttle and Matt Morrison and anyone else who could lend a hand.

If UNI wasn't doubling Dougie, it was one-and-a-half men on him. This was no comedy. There were arms and bodies all over No. 3. When he did get the ball down low, there was often nowhere to turn. Once in a while he would spin and throw up a prayer, hoping for a foul.

No dice. Dougie shot one free throw all night.

It's not that his dad/coach wasn't in his corner. Coach McDermott was on the refs plenty to get his guy some attention. At one point, Dougie got blocked, and he was knocked to the floor in a heap in front of the Jays bench, with Greg holding his arms out as if to say, "How about it, guys?"

One day, the Valley might take care of this superstar. But not on this night. For now, Dougie is going to have to earn such status, if it even exists. On the other hand, a night like this is good for the soul, if not the body. This won't be the last time Doug gets roughed up. But how many teams in the Valley can quite pull it off like the purple lunch buckets?

"He's going to see a little bit of everything," Greg McDermott said. "With the publicity he's getting, people are going to get tired of it. They are going to come up with ways to stop him."

"They really got up on him on defense," Grant Gibbs said. "Seemed like they threw everyone at him."

Creighton made UNI pay, and that included big man Gregory Echenique waking up in the second half and treating the paint like his own bar-room brawl. Dougie is going to need a bodyguard. I nominate the man in the pink shoes.

Next up? Illinois State on Friday night, then Southern Illinois on Sunday and back on the road to Missouri State. This Valley season is going to be a hoot, unless your job is to game plan it. At least for McDermott, the Panther alum and former coach, a really hard one was in the rear-view mirror.

"I never look forward to this game," Greg McDermott said. "I never will."

He'll get no sympathy from his good friend Ben Jacobson.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com

twitter.com/tomshatelOWH

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