17. Xavier Musketeers
Richard Pitino came to town last offseason, taking over after Sean Miller bolted to Texas. He spent much of his early time in Cincinnati trying to build a competent roster using the transfer portal but didn’t quite get the right fit. Xavier lost a long list of talent into the portal in recent weeks and months, but this team went 15-18 and certainly needed some new blood either way.
One of the headliners for that new blood is former LSU center Michael Nwoko, as the 6-10 big man averaged 13.4 points per game for the Tigers and settled into a major role in this frontcourt. Two solid mid-major forwards enter the fold as well, with Xavier adding Rolyns Aligbe from Southern Illinois and Nikolaos Chitikoudis from Robert Morris.
The Musketeers really stocked up on guards, most notably landing Chance Westry, the former UAB point guard who averaged 15.5 points and 5.5 assists per game last year. Plenty of options arrive for filling out that backcourt, including Ruben Dominguez, a double-digit scorer at Texas A&M, and Tru Washington, who put up nearly 12 points a game during a resurgent season for Miami in the ACC. We’re also figuring that Xavier will have some role for Braden Appelhans, a former Drake piece who could take a bench role.
Between Westry and those three power conference additions it’s easy to argue that Xavier has a bulk of new talent coming to town. Last year saw a lot of great new faces coming to town and it didn’t work out for Pitino and company. The immediate questions will be if this will be any different and we’re going to get a real idea if Pitino can really stick in his second shot at the power conference level.
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