NCAA Basketball: Top 25 offseason winners entering 2024-25 season

No. 13 - Xavier Musketeers: Finally healthy

The overarching theme for the 2024-25 Xavier Musketeers is health. Last season, Sean Miller’s group took a step backward, mainly because both Zach Freemantle and Jerome Hunter were sidelined for the entire season. With Zach Freemantle fully cleared to play and Jerome Hunter reportedly cleared to practice in mid-July, both expect to be ready to play by November. 

Even if it may take some time to knock the rust off, there is no denying how impactful both Fremantle and Hunter were on Xavier’s 2022-23 Sweet 16 team. Freemantle, despite missing all of February and March, averaged 15.2 PPG, 18.1 RPG and nearly three APG in 22 games. Without Freemantle, the Musketeers would not have had the resume to earn a 3-seed in 2023.

Hunter was another integral piece, averaging 7.8 PPG and 4.4 RPG. He started in the team’s final 15 games of the year, logging nearly 30 minutes per contest throughout Xavier’s conference tournament and NCAA Tournament run.

With Freemantle and Hunter presumably back to full strength, Sean Miller has a core of talented, proven veterans working alongside returning G Dayvion McKnight. Add in a strong portal class headlined by Ryan Conwell (Indiana State) Cam’Ron Fletcher (Florida State) and Aboubacar Traore (LBSU), and the Musketeers have top-25 talent and are among the top offseason winners this offseason.