Richard Pitino took over as head coach at Xavier last season and year one didn’t transpire exactly as he wanted. His Musketeers finished the year at 15-18, tying for last place in the Big East with a 6-14 mark in conference play. There was plenty of balance among the lower-tier teams in the conference but Pitino doesn’t want this program to live in that lower tier any longer.
Whole new look
Virtually nothing remained from Sean Miller’s tenure, leaving Pitino to completely rebuild what became this past season’s lineup. What was clearly a disappointing season did feature some bright moments, with Tre Carroll averaging nearly 18 points a game, one of five players averaging double-digits. Unsurprisingly, a number of Musketeers entered the transfer portal after the season, but this is exactly how Pitino is looking to upgrade his program. After some shaky additions in the portal last year, Pitino is hoping that this year’s crop is far more productive.
Perhaps the most notable addition is point guard Chance Westry, a former Top 40 recruit who appeared briefly at Auburn and Syracuse before turning into an All-League guard at UAB, averaging 15.5 points and 5.5 assists per game for the Blazers this season. A familiar face joins the backcourt in Tru Washington, a solid scoring guard who played for Pitino at New Mexico before spending this past season down at Miami in the ACC.
This was a critical offseason for grabbing frontcourt talent, especially as NIL offers seemed to explode in recent months, and the Musketeers grabbed an intriguing name in Michael Nwoko. The former Miami, Mississippi State, and LSU center averaged 13.4 points per game and made 61% of his field goal attempts for the Tigers and should slide into a major role at the 5 next season.
Keep eye out
Another name to watch is Spanish guard Ruben Dominguez, who showed great shooting potential while averaging 10.2 points per game at Texas A&M this past season. Another potential bench boost comes in former Southern Illinois forward Rolyns Aligbe, who had decent numbers and was a great rebounder for the Salukis. The other notable frontcourt boost comes in Greek big man Nikolaos Chitikoudis, who averaged 11.3 points and 7.7 rebounds for Robert Morris and was previously one of the top rebounders in the CAA.
Six new names join a fold that includes returning players like Jovan Milicevic and an injury-free Gabriel Pozzato and it’s a reason for excitement in Cincinnati, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Pitino is a very solid head coach and he built a successful team in New Mexico in recent years, but winning in the Big East is no picnic. He and his staff are banking on this new combination of transfers and talent to produce a winning culture and there’s no guarantee of success.
The Musketeers landed a phenomenal point guard, depth in the backcourt, and some notable pieces to play major roles at the forward spots. Throw in Nwoko, who could step up in his fourth collegiate season, and Xavier just might get themselves into contention after all. Does this new team reestablish Xavier’s winning culture or is this another step backwards for the Musketeers?
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