A Review of the Musketeers

[OmahaGuy]

Congrats Xavier!! It may not be the tourney everyone wants to be in but winning an NIT title is a good accomplishment and sends you into the offseason on a good note. Now let's review!

OUT
*Paul Scruggs
*Nate Johnson
*Dwon Odom (transferring to Georgia State)
*Ben Stanley (transferring to Old Dominion)

STAY
*Adam Kunkel
*Zach Freemantle
*Jack Nunge
*Jerome Hunter
*Kyky Tandy
*Colby Jones

IN
*Desmond Claude
*Kam Craft
*Souley Boum (transfer from UTEP)

My 0.02:
*Wasn't the greatest of seasons for Xavier as for the 4th consecutive season, they missed the NCAA Tournament and at Xavier, that ain't gonna cut it. So even with the NIT bid, they still axed Travis Steele. I thought he could recruit well but the talent never seemed to mesh together. He's now the head coach at Miami University just up the road in Oxford. But Xavier scored BIG TIME when they brought back Sean Miller. He's a controversial man given how his time at Arizona ended but I still believe he's one of the best coaches in the game. He'll be on a mission to clean up his name and bring Xavier back to the NCAA Tournament and get back to their winning ways. I'm unsure about how the team will look next year given the coaching change but we shall see what happens! Of course, I'll update this board when necessary

[Jet915]

Just an outsider prospective but just dont think Freemantle and Nunge together work. I'm assuming one of them transfers, that being said if Miller can retain this core and can add a couple of impact transfers, X can be top 25 good.

[X-man]

Congrats Xavier!! It may not be the tourney everyone wants to be in but winning an NIT title is a good accomplishment and sends you into the offseason on a good note. Now let's review!

OUT
*Paul Scruggs
*Nate Johnson
*Adam Kunkel
*Ben Stanley

STAY
*Zach Freemantle
*Jack Nunge
*Jerome Hunter
*Kyky Tandy
*Dwon Odom
*Colby Jones

IN
*Desmond Claude
*Kam Craft

My 0.02:
*Wasn't the greatest of seasons for Xavier as for the 4th consecutive season, they missed the NCAA Tournament and at Xavier, that ain't gonna cut it. So even with the NIT bid, they still axed Travis Steele. I thought he could recruit well but the talent never seemed to mesh together. He's now the head coach at Miami University just up the road in Oxford. But Xavier scored BIG TIME when they brought back Sean Miller. He's a controversial man given how his time at Arizona ended but I still believe he's one of the best coaches in the game. He'll be on a mission to clean up his name and bring Xavier back to the NCAA Tournament and get back to their winning ways. I'm unsure about how the team will look next year given the coaching change but we shall see what happens! Of course, I'll update this board when necessary

Kunkel and Stanley both have another year of eligibility. Speculation is that Kunkel stays but Stanley goes. But who knows now that Miller is taking over.

[OmahaGuy]

Congrats Xavier!! It may not be the tourney everyone wants to be in but winning an NIT title is a good accomplishment and sends you into the offseason on a good note. Now let's review!

OUT
*Paul Scruggs
*Nate Johnson
*Adam Kunkel
*Ben Stanley

STAY
*Zach Freemantle
*Jack Nunge
*Jerome Hunter
*Kyky Tandy
*Dwon Odom
*Colby Jones

IN
*Desmond Claude
*Kam Craft

My 0.02:
*Wasn't the greatest of seasons for Xavier as for the 4th consecutive season, they missed the NCAA Tournament and at Xavier, that ain't gonna cut it. So even with the NIT bid, they still axed Travis Steele. I thought he could recruit well but the talent never seemed to mesh together. He's now the head coach at Miami University just up the road in Oxford. But Xavier scored BIG TIME when they brought back Sean Miller. He's a controversial man given how his time at Arizona ended but I still believe he's one of the best coaches in the game. He'll be on a mission to clean up his name and bring Xavier back to the NCAA Tournament and get back to their winning ways. I'm unsure about how the team will look next year given the coaching change but we shall see what happens! Of course, I'll update this board when necessary

Kunkel and Stanley both have another year of eligibility. Speculation is that Kunkel stays but Stanley goes. But who knows now that Miller is taking over.

I'm assuming they're both gone for now unless they say otherwise. We shall see!

[Jet915]

Claude just reaffirmed his commitment to X.

[Jet915]

Odom to the portal.

[Xuperman]

Conference USA POY Souley Boum commits to Xavier.

6'3" athletic gunner. Rarely comes out of the game and a volume shooter. Averaged nearly 19.8 ppg on nearly 15 FGA per game. Money from the line and gets there often. Sitting at 1850 career pts going into his 5th year.

He is testing his NBA potential w/o an agent, but would be shocked if he got enough positive feedback to roll the dice in the draft.

[Wizard of Westroads]

Good read:
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/34198482/sean-miller-xavier-turbulent-journey-second-chance-college-basketball

[Novachap]

Good read:
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/34198482/sean-miller-xavier-turbulent-journey-second-chance-college-basketball

Indeed, excellent article.... as rothstein would say... the excitement in Cincinnati is "palpable "!

[Wizard of Westroads]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/dribble-handoff-florida-state-texas-a-m-among-college-basketball-bounce-back-teams-in-2022-23-season/

Bounceback teams for 2022-23:

Xavier
A lot of good candidates to consider; I looked at Virginia and Dayton closely. But I'll be going with the X Men, which have a chance to usurp the Big East throne and become the top team in the post-Jay Wright Big East. If anything, this is your 2023 Big East dark horse. Xavier went 23-13 last season, flailing late and playing itself out of the Dance after it seemed casually obvious for the majority of the season that Travis Steele would get the program back into the tourney. Because of that, this program is facing its longest NCAA Tournament drought in four-plus decades. Xavier last made the NCAAs in 2018. The fans are aching for a return to form.

Sean Miller is back where he thrived (2004-09) and inherits a pair of good bigs in 7-footer Jack Nunge and 6-foot-9 power forward Zach Freemantle. I love junior guard Colby Jones' potential to make a leap, and I think the same happens for KyKy Tandy. Seven of Miller's top eight minutes-getters may well be juniors and seniors. Most of those players being Xavier guys from the jump (i.e. non-transfers) will matter significantly. There is size, speed, rebounding and, I think, a top-25 offense lurking here. Not only will X make it back to the NCAA Tournament, I think it flirts with a top-four seed and becomes one of the biggest comeback stories of the season.
-- Matt Norlander