Xavier Basketball: Analyzing the Musketeers’ 2018-19 rotation

Xavier Basketball loses its two stars, JP Macura and Trevon Blueitt, but the cupboard is far from bare. How will this new look Musketeer roster shake out?

The Xavier Musketeers had an amazing 17-18 regular season where they dethroned the Villanova Wildcats as regular season champs. This accomplishment is often forgotten since Villanova obviously won the most important prize, the national championship. Nevertheless, this was an important step by Xavier to prove that other teams, besides Villanova, can win the conference.

Unfortunately, Xavier‘s good fortune disappeared rather quickly as they were upset in the Round of 32 by Florida State. The top-seeded Musketeers squandered a big second-half lead by seemingly taking their foot off the gas. The fact that this was Trevon Blueitt and JP Macura’s last collegiate game makes it an even tougher pill to swallow.

Blueitt and Macura have both earned two-way contracts with New Orleans and Charlotte, respectively, after a superb four years at Xavier. They are not the only departures as big men Kerem Kanter and Sean O’Mara have also exhausted their eligibility. Stretch four Kaiser Gates made the surprising decision to leave a year early as well.

The Musketeers clearly lose a significant amount of talent and experience, but the cupboard is not bare. Many people think Xavier will take a major step back and some have even predicted they finish 8th or 9th in the Big East. While earning another number one seed is not realistic, I could not disagree more with relegating them to the conference cellar.

Xavier should, once again, finish in the top half of the Big East as they have a great mix of veteran transfers and talented returners who are ready to take a major step forward. This article will attempt to predict that 8 consistent rotation members for the Musketeers and it will allocate minutes by both position and player.