Big East Roster Analysis: Xavier Musketeers
This is not a team-by-team preview series for the Providence Friars’ 10 Big East rivals, though it’s not far off. What it is intended to be is a look at how each of the 10 rosters is put together for the coming season. There are a lot of new faces and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what each piece brings and how it fits together. I’m sure I’ll be wrong often, but I walk away feeling more informed, and I’m hoping you will, too.
Xavier Musketeers (see below)
Who knows what a coach would have done if given a choice?
All we in the public can see is the outcome of the roster construction. Due to injuries to Zach Freemantle and Jerome Hunter, Sean Miller went into last season with nothing proven in the frontcourt beyond the mercurial North Texas transfer Abou Ousmane. Unless you count rising sophomore Dailyn Swain (more of a wing than a big), none of the five players who got real minutes at the 4 and 5 last season have returned (and many of their names we’ll never need to try to pronounce again — I’m looking at you, Gytus Nemeiksa).
Meanwhile in the backcourt, Miller hit with two more CUSA transfers last season – Dayvion McKnight and Quincy Olivari. Olivari is now on a two-way in the NBA, but McKnight returns at point guard. Desmond Claude was the other guard/wing – he was predicted to be a breakout performer in a roll similar to Colby Jones, and it pretty much worked, though the jumpshot never materialized (except for one memorable afternoon in Providence). Instead of returning as a potential all-Big East preseason pick, Claude has moved on to the Big Ten (?) and USC. No matter, since Miller has found three experienced transfers to fill in and provide depth (with more shooting than Claude offered).
Add it all up and I think this Xavier team will be good, but Miller is trying to bring together a lot of pieces that have not played much together. It’s not quite like St. John’s complete overhaul last offseason, but Xavier only returns about 30% of its minutes (noting that a couple of key contributors from two seasons ago — Freemantle and Hunter).
McKnight did exactly what one hopes a player will do when going up a level and taking a reduced role – his efficiency improved, due mostly to a large reduction in turnovers and improved shooting on easier attempts. He’s an exceedingly reliable point guard option who could grow into higher usage with Olivari’s departure. Due to his lack of size and up-and-down performance, Trey Green will again play a reserve role, but it figures to grow this season. Green is a score-first point guard at just 6-foot, 160 pounds who will need to improve his distribution to become a Big East starter, but he’s a dangerous option off the bench whose 3-point shooting perked up to 36% in Big East play. Green’s 95% free-throw shooting in limited attempts indicates a potential for even more 3-point growth, but he needs to contribute beyond scoring to be better than a fourth guard on a good team.
With Claude’s departure, the other two guard/wing spots will be filled by a combination of Dante Maddox, Ryan Conwell and Marcus Foster, three “up” transfers with a lot of experience. Maddox split four years on two teams, first at Cal State-Fullerton and then at Toledo, making 40% of his threes on more than 400 attempts. He could play as a backup point guard behind McKnight or next to him in a two-ballhandler backcourt. Maddox scored in double figures in all but five games for the Rockets last season and finished second in the MAC in both 3-point shooting and free-throw shooting in league play while earning all-second team league honors. Maddox cited the success of Souley Boum and Olivari as factors in his decision to head to XU.
Both Conwell and Foster are more wings than guards. Conwell is the shooter of the two, finishing first in Missouri Valley play in free-throw shooting at 91% while making 41% of his threes. This is his third school in three seasons after starting his career at South Florida before moving on to Indiana State where he made second-team all-Valley. He is going to space the floor and take a ton of threes — most of his makes last season were assisted.
Foster, a transfer from Furman, is a dynamic wing at 6-foot-4 and was one of the top defensive rebounders in the Southern Conference. His shooting dipped to 32% on threes after hitting 36% and 37% the previous two seasons, but Foster has a diverse game due to his ability to rebound, get to the line (making 81% when he gets there), finish inside (56% on twos, most of them around the basket) and do a little bit of everything (he was top-25 in the SoCon in both steal and assist rate, too).
These five guards and wings will be able to shoot it and rebound, though it’s unclear whether any can be quite as good as Olivari was last year or Boum the year before.
Miller was clearly unwilling to enter this season with as much uncertainty in the frontcourt, so he added John Hugley, formerly of Oklahoma and Pittsburgh. The 6-foot-1, 275-pound Hugley should start at center and provide cover for Freemantle, who is coming off more than a full year absence due to foot injuries, and Hunter, who missed all of last year with first a heart ailment and then an Achilles tear. Hugley himself missed the end of last season at OU due to meniscus surgery and lost nearly the entirety of the previous season (his last at Pitt), also with a knee injury. When healthy as a sophomore at Pittsburgh in 2021-22, Hugley couldn’t be kept off the foul line (221 attempts) and took on a massive offensive burden, albeit on a bad team. Last season, before the injury in Norman, he was much more efficient at lower usage, which is likely similar to the role he’ll be expected to handle in Cincinnati. Whatever offensive role he plays, his rebounding should travel.
Who knows what Xavier will get Freemantle? At the time of his injury in 2023, he was playing at an all-conference level. Freemantle had sprinkled in a 3-point shot to go with his efficient scoring inside, terrific defensive rebounding and superb passing. Xavier had real Final Four equity before his injury and still earned a No. 2 seed without him. If he is that player from the before the injury this upcoming season, Xavier could be a conference title contender, but even if he’s something short of that, he should be one of XU’s top offensive options and help close down the defensive glass.
Lassina Traore, formerly of Long Beach State and Saint Louis prior to that, is overqualified for the role of backup center, but considering the health history of Miller’s other options, he may be called upon to anchor the middle with his dominant rebounding. Traore led the Big West on both glasses in league play last season. Traore is also a decent rim protector and can both finish and draw fouls. He made an all-Big West team in each season with the Beach and had 17 and 11 against DePaul last season, though the latter achievement tells us…umm…not very much.
I won’t put any expectations on Hunter. He emerged in Freemantle’s absence two seasons ago with his ability to finish inside, crash the glass and get to the line. Hunter scored 38 points, including 10-for-10 on free throws across XU’s first two NCAA Tournament games that March before a more subdued performance in the blowout loss to Texas. Just being on the court will be a morale boost for the Musketeers after what Hunter has been through.
Swain popped as a low-usage slashing forward for XU as a freshman last season. His activity on defense and scintillating finishes on offense make him a perfect energy wing. It will likely take him improving his jumpshot to become more than that, especially considering this roster’s frontcourt depth relative to last season. Swain missed the season’s last five games after an appendectomy, the coup de grace in a season ravaged by injury for Miller and the Musketeers.
Cam’Ron Fletcher is yet another player with a rich injury history who heads to Xavier this season. He suffered season-ending injuries in early December of each of the last two seasons, the first two seasons after he transferred from Kentucky to Florida State. Fletcher is a 6-foot-7, 200-pound wing who was a top-200 recruit out of high school. Due to his limited reps, it’s hard to tell what he could bring, except that he has shown himself to be an excellent defensive rebounder.
This roster carries so much uncertainty due to new arrivals and injury. If you told me everyone was healthy, I would call this team top-15 good, but the downside risk is there due to injury and relying on four up transfers, though Xavier’s recent success with such transfers is a mitigating factor. That Miller has 10 players he should be able to rely on when healthy, before even turning to someone like Fletcher shows, at the very least, he has learned his lesson from last season and won’t be denied an NCAA Tournament bid next March due to lack of depth.