Xavier Basketball: 5 questions facing the Musketeers this offseason

What are the next steps for Goodin, Marshall, and Scruggs?

There are three key returning players next season that will be expected to carry a lot of the load for Coach Steele. These players all saw substantial roles last season and will be expected to take a major jump in 2018-19. One player cannot simply make up for the departures of this offseason so all three of these players will need to major strides.

Most notably, point guard Quentin Goodin is the one projected to become the star of the roster. As a sophomore this past season, Goodin averaged modest numbers of 8.7 points and 4.9 assists per game. He shot just 44.5% from the field but this was mostly due to his 30.5% shooting from beyond the 3-point arc.  The 6’4″ guard is already a solid playmaker but increasing his efficiency from 3-point range would greatly change his impact while on the court.

As for the sophomores coming back, both Naji Marshall and Paul Scruggs will be asked to play larger roles. In similar fashion to Goodin, Marshall played a supporting role last season while receiving his fair share of playing time (21.8 minutes per game, 18 starts). He shot over 50% from the field on the season and averaged a solid 7.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. In addition, he was one of the best defenders on the team and will hopefully evolve into a top two-way player in the conference next season.

In regards to Scruggs, he had a less productive freshman campaign compared to Marshall but was still fairly solid. He was a reasonable contributor off the bench, providing 16.8 steady minutes off the bench. He was rarely one to take over a game but did put up reasonable all-around numbers of 4.9 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. It would not be out of the realm of possibility to see him average 10/5/3 next season. Scruggs was the No. 34 ranked recruit in the 2017 class and a sophomore explosion could be on the horizon.