Busting Brackets
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Big East Basketball: Building each program’s Mount Rushmore

By Brian Foley

KEYSTONE, SD - OCTOBER 01: Mount Rushmore National Memorial towers over the South Dakota landscape on October 1, 2013 near Keystone, South Dakota. Mount Rushmore and all other national parks were closed today after congress failed to pass a temporary funding bill, forcing about 800,000 federal workers off the job. A bulletin issued by the Department of Interior states, 'Effective immediately upon a lapse in appropriations, the National Park Service will take all necessary steps to close and secure national park facilities and grounds in order to suspend all activities ...Day use visitors will be instructed to leave the park immediately...' (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
KEYSTONE, SD - OCTOBER 01: Mount Rushmore National Memorial towers over the South Dakota landscape on October 1, 2013 near Keystone, South Dakota. Mount Rushmore and all other national parks were closed today after congress failed to pass a temporary funding bill, forcing about 800,000 federal workers off the job. A bulletin issued by the Department of Interior states, 'Effective immediately upon a lapse in appropriations, the National Park Service will take all necessary steps to close and secure national park facilities and grounds in order to suspend all activities ...Day use visitors will be instructed to leave the park immediately...' (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) /
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CINCINNATI, OH – FEBRUARY 14: Trevon Bluiett
CINCINNATI, OH – FEBRUARY 14: Trevon Bluiett /

Mount X

Xavier History: 3 Elite Eights, 5 Sweet 16’s

G Trevon Bluiett (2014-18)
Stats: 15.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists

Bluiett blended an incredible amount of team success with individual accomplishments while at Xavier. The four-year star finished second in program history in points and became the 13th player in Big East history to earn first-team all-conference honors three separate times. The Musketeers also made trips to the NCAA Tournament in all four years of the Bluiett era, including appearances in the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight and a school-best No. 1 seed in 2018.

G Byron Larkin (1984-88)
Stats: 22.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.7 steals

Larkin was one of the keys to Xavier’s initial run of success in the mid-1980’s, which is yet to really slow down now three decades later. Larkin was a third-team All-American in 1988 and was twice named the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Player of the Year. The Larkin-led Musketeers advanced to the NCAA Tournament three straight years to kick off the Pete Gillen era. No. 23 is also Xavier’s all-time scoring leader.

HC Chris Mack (2009-18)
Record: 215-97 (.689 winning percentage), 8 NCAA Tournament appearances

This may not be the best time to put Mack, Xavier’s all-time wins leader, on the Mount Rushmore, but here we are anyways. Xavier has a long history of hiring great coaches, from Pete Gillen to Skip Prosser, or Thad Matta to Sean Miller. But none of them – Mack included – have stayed at Xavier into a second decade. So even as Mack moves to Louisville, he gets the nod as the best coach in the school’s incredible, if underappreciated, history. Mack’s teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament in eight of his nine seasons and advanced to three Sweet 16’s and an additional Elite Eight. As the program climbed the ladder into the Big East, Mack’s teams more than handled the challenge, and ultimately ended Villanova’s reign atop the conference in 2018.

F David West (1999-2003)
Stats: 16.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.8 blocks

As a freshman and a junior, West fell less than a rebound short of averaging a double-double in four consecutive seasons at Xavier. All told, he averaged 17 points and 10 boards for his career, and racked up three Atlantic-10 Player of the Year awards and an AP National Player of the Year award. From West’s sophomore to senior seasons, Xavier finished 26-6 three straight times, and lost just three total Atlantic 10 contests. West is third all-time in scoring among Musketeers and is now an NBA champion and a two-time All-Star as well.

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