Xavier Musketeers

2023-24 Result: 16-18 (9-11 Big East), NIT Appearance

Key Additions

Ryan Conwell (Indiana State)

Marcus Foster (Furman)

Dante Maddox Jr. (Toldeo)

John Hughley (Oklahoma)

Lassina Traore (Long Beach State)

Cam’Ron Fletcher (Florida State)

Sean Miller’s Xavier Musketeers squad will look a lot different from last season for a couple of reasons. They lost their starting backcourt and two leading scorers in Desmond Claude and Quincy Olivari, which will be big, but they are getting a couple of players back from injury that did not play at all last season. Former All-Big East player, Zach Freemantle, is back from foot surgery. Assuming he is healthy, he will be a massive piece of what Xavier is trying to do. He averaged 15.2 points and 8.2 rebounds in his last season in 2022-23. The other player returning from injury is Jerome Hunter, a 6 ‘8 wing. Miller did very well in the portal this season bringing in Ryan Conwell, Marcus Foster, Dante Maddox Jr., Cam’Ron Fletcher, and big men, John Hughley from Oklahoma, and Lassina Traore from Long Beach State. The ceiling of the Musketeers is very high in this year’s Big East, especially offensively, but the real question is whether or not they will be good enough defensively. 

Xavier was 265th in scoring defense last season, and if anything, it will likely just get worse this season. The frontcourt defense will not be strong. Freemantle will be great to have back on the offensive end, but in his four seasons at Xavier, he has never averaged more than .9 blocks per game. Their defensive rebounding should be fine with him and Jerome Hunter coming back, and the additions through the portal, but the rim protection will be shaky. The backcourt of McKnight, Maddox and Conwell will be fine defensively, but none of them are known as being elite defensive stoppers. The Musketeers will need them to be better than expected coming from mid-majors to the Big East if they want their defense to be better than last year because if they cannot contain the dribble, opponents will be able to get whatever they want in the paint. Expect the Musketeers offense, which should be high octane, to have to outscore teams if they want to reach their ceiling, because this defense will not allow low point totals.

Offensively, Xavier should be really effective. They return Dayvion McKnight, who was their third leading scorer last season. He will likely run the show and be an effective shooter for them after shooting 46.7% from the field and 37.2% from 3 last season. Miller upgraded the shooting alongside him with Ryan Conwell and Dante Maddox, who both shot the 3 over 40% last season and averaged over 15.5 points per game. Marcus Foster, a transfer from Furman, had a down season last year from three shooting just 29.7% after a career high 36.1% the season before. If he can get back to that level of shooting off the bench, Xavier will have a deadly backcourt of scoring. Zach Freemantle will be the go-to scorer, assuming he is back to full health. Before the injury, he was a great inside-outside player averaging over 15 points. He can do it all, and will be well complemented by the plethora of guards because they will give him space to do his thing. With those five guys and the addition of other smaller pieces who played bigger roles on their previous teams, the Xavier Musketeers offense should light up the scoreboard in the 2024-2025 campaign.

Sean Miller’s squad should have a great chance to get back to the Big Dance this coming March. They aren’t going to be very good defensively, but if they can live up to expectations offensively, that should win them a bunch of games. They will be right in the mix to finish in the top four of the Big East and potentially win a couple of games in March if the matchups are right.