One big reason why Xavier Basketball struggled last year was due to injuries in the frontcourt, with Zach Freemantle missing an entire season. But both he and Jerome Hunter were cleared to play this year, giving them plenty of depth. However, the injury bug never really went away from the Musketeers.
The first set of bad news occurred with the loss of Lassina Traore. He was a 6’9 forward from Long Beach State who averaged a double-double from the previous year but suffered a season-ending knee injury. And now, they could be down their star, too.
Per reports, Xavier’s Zach Freemantle is out indefinitely with a lower body injury he suffered Saturday against Cincinnati.
— Paul Fritschner (@PaulFritschner) December 16, 2024
Here was a play late in the game where he took an awkward fall: pic.twitter.com/WLMHvgIM4z
Freemantle looked to recover from the previous injury fully, averaging 16.9 ppg and 7.7 rpg through the first 11 games. The senior big man was in double figures in every game, including 27 points and 10 rebounds versus Morgan State and 18 points in the team’s recent loss to Cincinnati.
But there are fears that this lower-body injury will have Freemantle out for a long period and potentially the rest of the season. For Xavier (8-3), this is a brutal blow to the roster, as they’ve been relying on him and Ryan Conwell (16.5 ppg) for a good portion of the offensive production.
Fremantle was the only frontcourt player averaging in double figures. Starting forward Dailyn Swain (8.9 ppg) will now be the new focal point inside, while Hunter and Oklahoma transfer John Hugley will also get extended roles.
Hugley, who averaged 14.8 ppg and 7.9 rpg at Pittsburgh a few years ago, hasn’t put up the same kind of production ever since and is currently putting up 3.4 ppg and 2.9 rpg in 12 mpg off the bench. But he has the potential of being a good post-scoring for a Musketeer squad that now desperately needs it.
The first two tests without Freemantle will be tough for Xavier, taking on Marquette and UConn, the two top teams in the Big East. We’ll see what kind of frontcourt production they can manage without their star big man this week.