2022 Record: 27-10 (15-5)

Head Coach: Sean Miller (Career Record 449-166) (Xavier Record 147-57 Both Stints)

Projected Rotation:

PG: Dayvion McKnight (Western Kentucky 16.5 Pts, 5.0 Reb, 3.8 Ast)

SG: Quincy Olivari (Rice 18.7 Pts, 5.9 Reb, 2.2 Ast)

SF: Desmond Claude (4.7 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 1.8 Ast)

PF: Lazar Djokovic

C: Abou Ousmane (North Texas 11.1 Pts, 6.0 Reb, 1.1 Ast)

6: PG Trey Green

7: C Sasa Ciani

8: SG Reid Ducharme

9: C Logan Duncomb (Indiana 2.9 Pts, 1.7 Reb, 0.2 Ast)

10: SG Kam Craft (2.6 Pts, 1.5 Reb, 0.3 Ast)

11: PF Gytis Nemeiksa

12: SF Dailyn Swain

13: C Kachi Nzeh

Xavier has an uphill battle this season as they will be without both Zach Freemantle and Jerome Hunter due to injury. To compensate for these losses, Xavier added many international prospects some of which will be able to make an immediate impact. The only returners for the Musketeers this upcoming season are Desmond Claude and Kam Craft. Claude showed tremendous potential during his freshman season. Claude made the Big East all-freshman team last season. He will be in a much larger role next season due to the many losses that Xavier suffered this offseason. Claude could expect all of his numbers to dramatically raise and his shooting splits should make significant strides too. Kam Craft saw minimal action last season as a freshman, but he does have the potential to get more time in the rotation and be an active piece next season.

Xavier also added a duo of Conference USA transfer guard this offseason. The Musketeers added Dayvion McKnight from Western Kentucky and Quincy Olivari from Rice. McKnight is an all around player who can score at a high level in addition to being a high level passer. McKnight excels in the mid range area of the court and could consistently be count on to score in that range. McKnight doesn’t take many threes but is also capable of making shots from beyond the arc. He is also one of the better free throw shooters in the country which is an underrated statistic that comes into play late in games. Olivari is another high volume scorer who is capable from scoring just about anywhere on the court. He averaged over 18PPG this past season and proved to be a scorer on all three levels. He’s more of an off ball guard but is capable of handling the ball as well. Olivari could score in many different ways but he could make strides on the defensive end. He also rebounds at a high level for a guard his size.

Xavier also added a duo of big men in the transfer portal this offseason. They added Logan Duncomb from Indiana and Abou Ousmane from North Texas. Logan Duncomb played very sparingly in his 2 seasons at Indiana. He is, however, a former 4 star recruit that does have tremendous potential to still make an impact at the high major level. In the small sample size, Duncomb proved to be very efficient in scoring around the rim. Ousmane started all 34 games on a North Texas team that won 31 games last season. Ousmane is an efficient player on both sides of the ball. He especially excels on the defensive end and rebounds at a high level. Ousmane will have a bigger role than many expected on the Musketeer team due to the injuries to Zach Freemantle and Jerome Hunter.

Xavier also added a trio of international prospects late in the process due to the injuries to Freemantle and Hunter. Lazar Djokovic is a 6-10 big man out of Serbia. He has a decent chance to start for the Musketeers this season. Djokovic averaged 15PPG and 7RPG for Serbia in the U19 FIBA World Cup this year. He’s also capable of shooting from beyond the arc at his 6-10 frame. Gytis Nemeiksa comes to the Musketeers as an international transfer from a Lithuanian university. The 6-7 forward averaged 11PPG and 6RPG for his Lithuanian club team last season. Sasa Ciani is a big man from Slovenia who has played both club basketball and U20 national team in Slovenia. On the U20 national team, Ciani averaged 12PPG and 9RPG this past season.

Xavier also added 4 high school prospects in the class of 2023 to complete the roster. The highest ranked recruit in the class is PG Trey Green who is ranked #63 in the 247 sports HS prospect rankings. Green will play a ton of minutes off the bench behind Dayvion McKnight and has a chance to really make an impact this season as a freshman. SF Reid Ducharme from Brewster Academy is ranked as the #101 prospect in the country and also figures to be apart of the rotation. The Musketeers also added 4 star SF Dailyn Swain from Ohio ranked #103 in the 247 rankings. The final high school addition for the Musketeers was 3 star center Kachi Nzeh ranked #146.

Xavier suffered a huge loss to their depth when it was announced earlier in the month that both Zach Freemantle and Jerome Hunter were likely to miss the entire season. Xavier has a completely new team this upcoming season with 11 new players on the team and 7 of those new players are freshman or international players. Xavier was slotted in the Top 25 of our rankings until the announcements of the injuries. The Musketeers will still be a competitive team this year but will be closer to the bubble than expected.