Big East Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2024-25 season

5. Xavier Musketeers

The hope for this Musketeers season was sent to new heights after Zack Freemantle announced his return to the program this offseason. He missed a ton of time with injury, but if he can stay healthy this season he provides a huge piece this team has needed for a while now. 

They lacked that solid big last season, and an older Freemantle will put together quite the year for his final go around with this program. They will also look to return Jerome Hunter, who returned from a medical issue but tore his Achilles back in February. With those two pieces eventually back and in full health, this can be a team that makes a deep tournament run.

While they do not bring in any new freshmen, they hit the portal hard to replace some pieces. Three four-stars and a couple of three-stars will all look to make their mark on this squad. They just put together an experienced team that has the ability to build chemistry under a great coaching staff and has returned some hidden weapons that have not been around the program. 

If some of these transfers like John Hugley or Ryan Conwell become major hits, the Musketeers can compete for a conference title if things go well. Dante Maddox Jr. will slot in as the Desmond Claude replacement as well. At the very least, they will be competitive, and find themselves right above the middle of the pack in this conference. For this team, it is just about building chemistry quickly, and not getting off to a slow start in nonconference play.