Welcome to The Holy Land of Hoops

Sorry for the lack of recent reviews. Life has been hectic for me with family events, basketball games and longer than normal work days! Anyway, I’m back and ready to review the Xavier Musketeers

OUT
*Quincy Olivari (out of eligibility)
*Saša Ciani (transferring to UIC)
*Kachi Nzeh (transferring to Penn State)
*Kam Craft (transferring to Miami-OH)
*Logan Duncomb (transferring to Winthrop)
*Reid Ducharme (transferring to Siena)
*Abou Ousmane
*Gytis Nemeikša
*Lazar Djokovic (transferring to College of Charleston)
*Desmond Claude (transferring to USC)

STAY
*Jerome Hunter (medical redshirt?)
*Zach Freemantle
*Dayvion McKnight
*Trey Green
*Dailyn Swain

IN
*Marcus Foster (transfer from Furman)
*John Hugley (transfer from Oklahoma)
*Dante Maddox (transfer from Toledo)
*Ryan Conwell (transfer from Indiana State)
*Lassina Traore (transfer from Long Beach State)
*Cam'Ron Fletcher (transfer from Florida State)
*Roddie Anderson (transfer from Boise State)

My 0.02
Wow. I mean not extremely surprising but still a pretty darn disappointing year for X. They simply couldn’t recover from losing Freemantle and Hunter for the year as their frontline wasn’t very strong. Good news? If they all stick around and if ZF and JH can get healthy again, they should have a big bounce back season. Claude, Swain, Green, McKnight and Djokovic are all good pieces to work with. I still think Sean Miller is a great coach and he won’t let his team stay down for long
UPDATE: Djokovic hit the portal. But with Freemantle returning along with Claude, Swain, Green and McKnight and maybe Hunter? That’s a good crew to rock with. Xavier has been getting some way-too-early love for next season already and I can see why
UPDATE II: The portal giveth and taketh away. On 4/19/24 for Xavier fans, those words couldn't ring truer. BIG loss to the portal by taking away Claude but they gain a solid player in Conwell. But why did Claude leave?

McKnight returning. Big news.

Freemantle will be back at X next season. Hopefully he’s been making a good recovery

Oklahoma transfer big man John Hugley committed to Xavier. The 6-10 Cleveland native averaged 8.4 points in only 17 minutes per game this season. Began his career at Pitt.

Maddox from Toledo just committed to X at 3PM today. A guard that had narrowed his choices down to Xavier, Michigan, Illinois, Louisville and Creighton.

Sean Miller still working the portal, like everyone else and their mothers.

Claude hit the transfer portal today.

This was inevitable as his agent had been back channeling once the season ended. I would assume he has a NIL deal and school picked.

Xavier is likely to get a commitment from Indiana State guard Ryan Conwell today.

Ryan Conwell to Xavier.

I'm going to miss Des Claude, but he is chasing his dream of becoming a point guard in the NBA. Good luck to him.

What's the latest word on the health of Freemantle and Hunter?

Wizard of Westroads wrote:What's the latest word on the health of Freemantle and Hunter?

My understanding is that both are physically ready to play. We'll know more shortly when both are scheduled to appear with Sean Miller at a Xavier event. BTW, Xavier's lone incoming recruit, Ohio Mr Basketball Jonathan Powell, has asked to be released from his commitment letter. Sign of the times, I guess, when an incoming freshman sees little first season PT and opts for either more PT or more NIL money elsewhere.

Desmond Claude to USC.