Xavier Musketeers: 2009-10 Men's Basketball Preview

Is anyone else getting excited for this weekend? First-year head coach, Chris Mack, takes over the reigns for the Muskies who were recently picked to finish second in the A-10 behind Dayton, who is a preseason Top 25 team behind Chris Wright. Xavier and Dayton both advanced past the first round in the NCAA tournament last year and the Muskies are shooting for there 4th straight A-10 regular season championship.

Listed below is a preview of the Muskies by position and a prediction for what may lie ahead for X in 2009-10:

Guard: A-
Here me out… this Xavier team is loaded at guard and may play a lineup with four of them in at once during some games. Muskie fans will finally get to see Jordan “I dunked on Lebron” Crawford. Crawford has received great reviews from spectators and the media and will be counted on immediately as the teams go to player. In addition, the team has a solid core of guards back in Dante Jackson, Brad Redford, and Terrell Holloway and have also added redshirt freshmen, Mark Lyons. Jackson is a great defender and may play the three spot to start the year, Redford is a threat from anywhere behind the arc, and Holloway is a good ball-handler with decent court vision. Since they’re so deep at guard, I say Xavier plays a three guard lineup during the course of the season.

Forward: D+
The only true forward on Xavier’s team with previous experience this year is Jamel McLean. When you lose three great forwards in Derrick Brown, C.J. Anderson, and B.J. Raymond you have to give the forward slot a significant downgrade. McLean did improve over the course of last year and showed he could be counted on in the post and as a solid rebounder. However, McLean is raw and reminds me of a Derrick Brown during his first year at Xavier, a good rebounder and dunker, but outside of that he doesn’t have much upside.

Center: B-
Jason Love is the lone senior for this young team and will be counted on to provide a presence in the paint and on the glass. Seven-footer, Kenny “You Just Got Frozen” Frease is back and has some experience under his belt. I believe Frease will come off the bench to start the year but will be counted on for major minutes with Love and McLean down low. Frease got better over the course of the year with his back facing the basket in the post but needs to capitalize when he gets to the charity stripe (48% last year) for the Muskies to succeed.

Coach: B-
I feel Chris Mack is an above average coach right off the bat just because he takes over a system and team he’s familiar with. Mack will make some adjustments to the play calling and game management, but the majority of what he learned from Miller I believe will be put into place during games. In addition, Mack is very familiar with the conference, team, and also has shown already that he can recruit big names.

Prediction: 24-9, One and done.
Xavier has a very tough non-conference schedule with the likes of games against Wake Forest, Butler, Florida, LSU, Cincinnati, Kansas State, Marquette and other potential good match-ups in the Old Spice Classic. However, Xavier has the benefit of being in the A-10! I think the Musketeers will get there 4th straight regular season championship but they will lose in the conference tournament and will be overpowered by a higher seed in the second round of the NCAA’s. I think this team, like many Xavier teams in the past, is under-rated, however, they are young and will be loaded with a strong class of experienced juniors for the 2010-11 season. Also, I think the A-10 will get three teams in the big dance (Xavier, Dayton, and Richmond).

Projected Starting Lineup:
G - Terrell Holloway
G - Jordan Crawford
G - Dante Jackson
F - Jamel McLean
C - Jason Love

Bench:
G - Brad Redford
G - Mark Lyons
C - Kenny Frease
G - Brian Walsh
F - Jeff Robinson

Local Product chooses Xavier

Griffin McKenzie, a 6'9" Power forward out of Moeller high school has verbally committed to the Xavier Musketeers. McKenzie, who is ranked as a three star recruit from Rivals.com, has offers on the table from Cincinnati, Ohio State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Wake Forest among others. McKenzie joins a 2010 class for Xavier that is loaded with forwards which include Jay Canty, Jordan Latham, and Justin Martin.

Xavier Basketball 2010 Committments

Justin Martin (6'7, SF), 4-star recruit, Ranked 83rd on the Rivals150.
Jordan Latham (6'8, PF), 3-star recruit, Ranked 121st on the Rivals150.
Jay Canty (6'5, SG/SF), 3-star recruit, Ranked 130th on Rivals150.

Not to mention Mack has another recruit, Darwin Davis, committed to Xavier for the class of 2011. Davis is a 5'9 PG that is Ranked 68th on the Rivals150.

Amazing how a new head coach in the A-10 can get three Rivals150 recruits to commit to a small D-1 university after a highly-touted coach leaves for the PAC-10. Is Xavier really a mid-major?

As an argument to this how much weight do you place on recruiting website rankings? For instance, both Darnell Wilks and Anthony ("Biggie") McClain of UC were Rivals100 recruits and haven't lived up to the hype yet. However, Deonta Vaughn and Derrick Brown weren't "highly ranked" recruits...

Jay Canty Commits to Xavier

Jay Canty, a small forward out of North Carolina, has committed to Xavier University. Canty will join Jordan Latham as the second recruit signed for the 2010 class at X.

Canty averaged 22 points last season and is ranked 124 overall on the Rivals150, 3-stars by Scout, and a scout grade of 88 by ESPN.

The only thing that scares me off is that High Point was the only other school to offer him a scholarship. I know some recruiting sites ranked him as good prospect but it's interesting that no big name schools recruited him hard, especially schools in North Carolina such as Wake Forest, N.C. State, etc.

Latham (6'8) and Canty (6'5) are much needed recruits for 2010 as Xavier will be guard heavy in 2010 with Crawford, Holloway, Redford, Lyons and Jackson still around.

Jamail Jones Takes 2nd Visit to Xavier

Jamail Jones, a 6'6 stud from Georgia, recently took his second visit to Xavier University with his parents this past week. Jones is the 64th ranked recruit for the 2010 class on Rivals. Jones has offers from Xavier and Cincinnati but also has offers from more than 10 other major D-1 programs. We could use a quality small forward so I wouldn't mind having him. And Kentucky... stay out of this, you already have enough top recruits on your team fighting for playing time!

2009 Deveroes Summer League: Current Standings, Rosters and More

2009 Deveroes Summer League Standings
OHC 4-1
S.I. Pool Care 3-1
Game Day Communications 3-2
Camp's Collision Center 3-2
SuperiorCars.com 3-2
Jackson All-Stars 3-2
McCluskey Chevrolet 2-2
SLATS 1-3
John H. Flessa Law Office 1-3
Clovernook Health Care 0-5

The top team right now is OHC’s team which includes Mark Lyons, C.J. Anderson and Norman Plummer.

S.I. Pool Care is a half-game behind and their team includes some Holmes boys in Arrez Henderson and Greg Rice.

My old employer, Game Day Communications, is at 3-2 behind a pretty solid team which includes Cashmere Wright, Armein Kirkland, Gary Lumpkin and Eric Daniels.

The rest of the teams include the following players:
Camp’s Collision Center: Jordan Crawford (when he’s there), Jamel McLean and Brian Walsh.
Superior Cars: Deonta Vaughn, Dante Jackson and Anthony McClain.
Jackson All-Stars: a bunch of old farts.
McCluskey: the NKU squad.
SLATS: the main UC team with Yancey Gates, Dion Dixon, Sean Kilpatrick, and many others.
John Flessa: Kenny “You Just Got Frozen” Frease and Deonte Byrd.
Clovernook: Terrell Holloway and Brad Redford.

Some players switch teams on occasion but for the most part this is how each team is structured for the league.

Who I think will win the league tournament.....Superior Cars. The tandem of Vaughn and Jackson is pretty good.

Best name of any player at the summer league belongs to Wimpy Woods, seriously that has to be made up.....

Moeller Star Griffin McKenzie Receives Offers from Xavier and Cincinnati

Griffin McKenzie, a 6'9 power forward out of Moeller high school, recently received scholarship offers from Xavier and Cincinnati. McKenzie was injured most of last year and averaged only 9.7 points per game in limited time. The senior to be also recently picked up offers from Tennessee and Wake Forest. Many sites have rated McKenzie as the #2 power forward in Ohio for the class of 2010 behind Adreian Payne.

I like Xavier's chances of getting McKenzie. They seem to do a good job of recruiting local talent, especially from the GCL (i.e. Josh Duncan, Johnny Wolf, etc.).

Xavier Adds Jeff Robinson to 2009-10 Class

Jeff Robinson, a 6-9 power-forward out of Lawrence North high school, is headed to Xavier according to multiples sources (i.e. Rivals and WKRC-12 in Cincinnati). Robinson originally was supposed to head to Purdue but things fell through and now he will be backing up Jamel McLean on a Xavier team that was in need for another quality big man. Other than Purdue, Robinson had offers from Illinois and Butler.

A couple months ago rumors surfaced stating Robinson didn't have the grades to get into Purdue and was contemplating heading to junior college. Reports now say that Robinson is fine academically and wont have a problem being admitted to Xavier.

Robinson played for a loaded Lawrence North team last year which finished the season with a 25-3 record. The team has many players with Division 1 scholarships/*offers including:

2009 - Stephen Van Treese (Louisville), Chris Read and Larry Smith (*Miami-OH)
2010 - Dominique Ferguson (*Kentucky and Arizona), Justin Martin (*Cincinnati, Xavier, Louisville, and Dayton)
2011 - Michael Chandler and Ryan Taylor (Louisville)

This brings me to my next question: why cant colleges in Indiana keep their star players in-state? (i.e. three guys are going to Louisville!)

Darwin Davis commits to Xavier

New Xavier head coach Chris Mack has received his first big recruit signing. Darwin Davis, 5'9" guard from Bloomington South, helped lead his high school team to an Indiana state championship. Davis is obviously a bit undersized for his position but his game is to slash and attack the basket. He uses his low center of gravity and speed to his advantage making him a very elusive guard. Davis was drawing interest from schools such as Purdue, Ohio, Butler, and Cincinnati. Many scouts believe that teams were staying away from Davis because of his size but feel that Davis has the ability to be a big time star for the Musketeers.

Jordan Latham Re-Commits to Xavier

Jordan Latham, a 6'8 power forward, announced today that he's decided to re-commit to Xavier. Latham, the 17th-best power forward and 81st overall player on the Rivals150 for the class of 2010, originally backed off of his commitment after the departure of Sean Miller.

This is a great signing for the Muskies and Latham will blend well with Frease and the many great guards. Latham said Mack and assistant Bino Ranson were integral in his decision to recommit to the program. Now that Mack has recruited a top 100 recruit others who backed away from Xavier and lost interest over the past couple months may start to gradually regain there interest.

In 2008, Latham was regarded by Rivals as the 10th-best power forward and the 44th-best player overall in his class. Latham was sidelined by a left knee injury this past spring which led to a drop in his overall ranking.

Noel Johnson Considering Xavier

Noel Johnson, a prized 2009 recruit who was released from his LOI at USC, is said by some to be considering Xavier as a potential school for his services. When Johnson was initially on the recruiting trail he had narrowed his list down to three schools USC, Louisville, and Georgia Tech. With most major programs already set in their 09-10 rosters Xavier could potentially be a good option for Johnson. Johnson would be a huge pickup for the Musketeers, at 6'7" Noel has great range and an all around solid game. With Derrick Brown going to the NBA, the Musketeers could use a player of his caliber.

Justin Martin Rescinds Louisville Scholarship, Xavier and Cincinnati Possible Suitors

Justin Martin, the #56 ranked recruit by rivals.com for the class of 2010, has decided to part ways for the moment with Louisville by backing out of his commitment.

Martin has scholarship offers from six schools including Xavier, Cincinnati and Dayton. Kentucky and Arizona have also expressed interest in the 6'7 small forward.

When Martin originally committed he narrowed it down to two schools, Louisville and Xavier. Now that Sean Miller has left Arizona could be a strong suitor if they decide to pony up a scholarship. Martin averaged 10.4 points for a stacked Lawrence North team last year.

Louisville has recruited several others from Lawrence North. The high school is most known for two highly touted recruits by the names of Greg Oden and Mike Conley.

Evan Gordon: NBA Rookie Sensations Brother Signs with Liberty

Evan Gordon, younger brother of Los Angeles Clippers guard and former Indiana University stud Eric Gordon, has verbally committed to play for Liberty.

For a second year in a row Liberty has recruited a younger brother from a promising bloodline. Seth Curry, who recently transferred to Duke, led all freshmen in scoring last season and is the brother of future top-10 pick Stephen Curry.

Evan Gordon attended Hargrave Military Academy last season and was said to be looking at Butler, Indiana, and Xavier as well. Gordon was leaning towards Xavier until Miller parted ways for Arizona. Former Xavier stars recruited from Hargrave include David West and Stanley Burrell.

Derrick Brown Will Sign with Agent, Enter NBA Draft

Various media outlets, including FOX Sports, are reporting that Derrick Brown will sign with an agent and enter the NBA Draft. It's said that Brown will sign with agent Bill Duffy. So far Brown has worked out for Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago and I could see him landing with the Cavs at the 30th pick in the 1st round.

Brown was quoted in a recent interview as saying, "I'm in the draft. I'm not even thinking about anything other than that. I loved my time at Xavier, but I'm ready to move onto a new era."

Am I surprised that Brown is leaving.....no. If you would've told me that he was going to enter the draft following the season I would've thought otherwise. I think Miller leaving and his current draft status as a late first-round pick has played a big part in him deciding to jump to the NBA. Unlike last year, the Muskies will now be dependent on there guard play and won't have much depth in the post. Jamel McLean will need to step up as he will play power forward along with Love and Frease splitting time at center. Xavier has now lost four forwards, two to graduation in B.J. Raymond and C.J. Anderson, Brown, and Sean Miller recruit and now Arizona bound Kevin Parrom.

2009 Mens Basketball Attendance: Kentucky, Xavier and Cincinnati

Kentucky ranked 1st in all of college basketball last year with an average attendance of 22,239 a game and a total of 422.547 fans in 19 home games. Rupp Arena holds 23,500 for basketball games. UK filled 95% of there seats last season, despite a down year.

Xavier ranked 41st in attendance with an average of 10,097 a game and a total of 151,456 fans in 15 home games. The Cintas Center holds 10,250 for basketball games. X filled 99% of there seats last year, not to shabby.

Cincinnati ranked 70th with an average attendance of 7,818 a game and total of 140,725 fans in 18 home games. Fifth Third Arena holds 13,176 for basketball games. UC filled 60% of there seats last year. It shows that in Cincinnati it's all about winning (i.e. look at UC football (way up) and the Reds (down because of a decade of losing)).