Big East Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

Projected Starters:

Guards – Dwon Odom-FR, KyKy Tandy-SO, and Paul Scruggs-SR

Forwards – Jason Carter-SR and Zach Freemantle-SO

Bench – Nate Johnson-SR*, CJ Wilcher-FR, Colby Jones-FR, Adam Kunkel-JR*, Bryan Griffin-SR*, Dieonte Miles-FR

There are a lot of unknowns for Travis Steele’s team in his third year at the controls in Cincinnati. Naji Marshall, Tyrique Jones, and Quentin Gooden have been stalwarts in his rotation for his two years as head coach, and all three are gone!

Paul Scruggs (12.7 Pts, 4.5 Reb, 2.9 Ast), the former prized top-30 recruit is back, but he hasn’t been the gamechanger most Xavier fans thought he’d be. If the Musketeers are going to do better than the 19 wins they’ve reached the last two seasons, Scruggs is going to have to become the All-Big East guard he was supposed to be.

The good news for Scruggs is that he will have some help. KyKy Tandy (6.7 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 0.9 Ast) is back fresh off a 1st Team All-Big East Freshman season and they will be joined in the backcourt by the 9th ranked point guard in the 2020 freshman class, Dwon Odom.

The Odom addition is critical for a couple of reasons. One, the ball was in the hands of Xavier forwards way too much last season. Marshall and Jones usage percentages were the highest on the team a season ago and because they had the basketball so much, Xavier had problems with turnovers. The Musketeers turned it over nearly 14 times per game in 2019-20.

Secondly, Odom arrives in Cincinnati as an accomplished distributor and ball-handler ahead of his abilities as a scorer, which will allow for both Scruggs and Tandy to play off the ball. Scruggs and Tandy are the only 3-point threats this team has and are much better off the catch than at creating their own shots. Odom should make both returning guard more effective in the Big East.

The backcourt is really going to be the strength of this team. Nate Johnson, a coveted transfer from Gardner Webb will push for a starting spot, and Steele also added two 6’5 freshmen guards, CJ Wilcher and Colby Jones who round out the 24th ranked recruiting class in the country.

It’s a good thing Steele is so stacked at the guard position because there appears to be less depth in the frontcourt. Jason Carter (6.9 Pts, 4.9 Reb, 1.4 Ast) and Zach Freemantle (7.5 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 0.6 Ast) were both really good a season ago and will start in the post, but beyond those two there isn’t any proven D1 experience.

Knowing the Musketeers were going to be thin upfront; Steele went out and did something Xavier has been really good at over the years and found a gem in a place that most schools aren’t looking for by signing Bryan Griffin out of Division II Mercy College.

Griffin led all of Division II in rebounding last season, snagging 14.5 boards a contest, and topped that off by scoring 19.6 points per game as well. He’s a bruiser and all-out hustler just like Zach Hankins who Xavier also stole from the DII level.

Still, the only other real option in terms of big men is 6’10 Dieonte Miles who redshirted his freshman season and could certainly develop into something good but is probably a year or two away from seeing major Big East action.

Xavier has something here and the future is clearly bright, but for now, you can’t ignore what it is has lost with the departures of Marshall, Jones, and Gooden. For one, that’s over half of the scoring from 2019-20, and number two, Marshall and Jones were the Musketeers’ two best rebounders, combining for 17 boards a game. It’s unclear if Steele has enough to mask his team’s deficiencies which include the losses referenced above, the lack of size, and the uncertainty of whether Scruggs can carry the load.

Xavier could really finish anywhere from 5th-9th in the conference, but for now, it’s probably smart to heir on the side of caution with this team.