The most accurate Xavier Musketeers preview written by a staff entrenched in Big East basketball. Coach: Richard Pitino – 1st year here. Prev; New Mexico 2021-25 (88-49), Minnesota 2013-21 (141-123), FIU 2012-13 (18-14) 2024-25: 22-12 (13-7), 4th Big East, first round NCAA Tournament 2025-26 Big East Rank: 9 Returning Starters/Players: 0/2* Returning Minutes (Torvik): 1.5% […]
The most accurate Xavier Musketeers preview written by a staff entrenched in Big East basketball.
Coach: Richard Pitino – 1st year here. Prev; New Mexico 2021-25 (88-49), Minnesota 2013-21 (141-123), FIU 2012-13 (18-14)
2024-25: 22-12 (13-7), 4th Big East, first round NCAA Tournament
2025-26 Big East Rank: 9
Returning Starters/Players: 0/2*
Returning Minutes (Torvik): 1.5%
*This series was inspired by fellow UConn Report writer Cole Stefan*
There’s something to be said for roster continuity. It’s what bridges the sometimes awkward gap between the coaching staff and players. It’s what facilitates team chemistry both on and off the court. It’s the common thread that facilitates culture and tradition from year to year.
Xavier has none of that. Everything is brand new. The players, the coaches, the executives, the offensive system, the strength team.
Newly minted head coach Richard Pitino joins his father, Rick, in the Big East after four seasons in the Mountain West and eight previously in the Big 10. Four new assistant coaches and 12 new players come with him, along with an unorthodox playstyle for Big East standards.
There will be an immediate sense of pressure on Pitino in Cincinnati. Xavier has appeared in 14 of the last 20 NCAA Tournaments and was a No. 3 seed just three seasons ago. Luckily, Pitino has four trips to the NCAA Tournament under his belt, including each of the past two seasons with the Lobos, beating Marquette in the first round this past year.
Off Season — Additions and Losses
Last season’s team was one of the oldest in the country, with seven graduates, two seniors and two juniors making up the core of the rotation under Sean Miller.
Program legend Zach Freemantle graduated, and with him 107 starts, 888 rebounds and 1,749 points leave the frontcourt.
Marcus Foster, Ryan Conwell and Dailyn Swain all averaged over 27 minutes per game and were consistent double-figure scorers. Dayvion McKnight and Dante Maddox Jr. were both key rotational pieces. They combined for 135 collective starts.
98.5% of those minutes are gone, either to the transfer portal or graduation, leaving three walk-ons and redshirted Roddie Anderson III as the only holdovers from the Miller era.
Anderson didn’t redshirt as a result of an injury, as BJ Rains reported last July, but instead opted to take a developmental year after spending one season with UC San Diego and another with Boise State, respectively.
He’ll spearhead the culture change in Cincinnati, with 11 transfers, three walk-ons and one freshman making up the rest of the roster.
Pitino’s 11-man transfer class is the largest in the Big East and comprises some of the finest mid-major portalers of this cycle. Wing Gabriel Pozzato (Evansville) was the top get. The true sophomore was an MVC All-Freshman selection last season and is an explosive three-level scorer.
He’ll be complimented by sharpshooter Malik Moore (Montana) and versatile All Wright (Valparaiso) in the backcourt. Tre Carroll (FAU) and Anthony Robinson (Virginia) anchor the frontcourt.
Two New Mexico transfers followed Pitino to Cincinnati. Filip Borovicanin and Jovan Milicevic should both see the floor already having experience in the system.
Mier Panoam (North Dakota), Isaiah Walker (Belmont) and Pape N’Diaye (UNLV) round out the class, which ranked 77th in the country according to On3.
Ball Handlers
Ball handling duties will be divvied up between veterans Roddie Anderson III and Mier Panoam.
Anderson is likely to get the starting nod – he’ll be one of the team’s leaders after weathering the regime change this off season. The fourth year guard redshirted last season after spending two previous years at UC San Diego and Boise State, respectively.
He lacks a reliable three ball (28.3% career mark) but makes up for it with a hardy interior game and excellent off-ball movement skills. Anderson scored 53.8% of his points in the paint with the Broncos while attempting seven two-point field goals per game.
He’s a fiery defenseman with a nose for the ball (2.6% steal rate) that stays out of foul trouble and can run in transition (17.8% of his points came on fast breaks).
It’s a double-edged sword, however, as Anderson turned the ball over an average of 2.5 times per game and shot a dismal 54% from the line with the Broncos.
He’s a pass-first, defensive type guard that can slot in as a reliable facilitator for Pitino. He won’t be the team’s premier scoring option.
Panoam offers a similar skillset off the bench. The former Tulane and North Dakota transfer is a pass-first, inside scorer that struggles from behind the arc (career 23.2% 3PT), compensating for his lack of deep scoring with a penchant for creating turnovers.
Panoam averaged 13.2 points per game last season, with 63.8% of them coming in the paint. He’s also a 97th percentile rebounder compared to all guards in the country, pulling down an average of 5.8 per game.
It’ll form a unique duo for the Musketeers; two non-threats from deep with a reliable inside game and knack for creating turnovers – the inverse of last year’s unit.
OTHERS: Luke Naser – Walk-on (UNLV transfer).
Michael Wolf – Fourth-year walk-on.
Other Guards
With an abundance of talent on the wing, Pitino may feel compelled to start a traditional two-guard, two-forward lineup. That would leave one of Malik Moore and All Wright to come off the bench.
Moore offers the more conventional two guard skillset; a sharpshooter with solid size that doesn’t turn the ball over. He’s a career 39.2% three point shooter, earned All-Big Sky honors at Montana last year and has a reliable stroke from anywhere on the floor (shot over 50% in 15 games last year).
Although Moore doesn’t offer much as a rebounder or on-ball defender, his 57 career starts and over 2,500 minutes played heralds him as the team’s top marksman. He will see the court in pressure situations.
Wright is the alternative option. As a true freshman at Valparaiso last year, he strung together 15.5 points, 2.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game, shot 38.3% from deep and scored 20+ points 13 different times, earning MVC Rookie of the Year.
He’s an all-around scorer that can carve out a lane to the basket or create space to drain a triple. Wright barely ever turned the ball over (8.3%), shot an average of 3.6 free throws per game and excelled with a near 30% usage percentage as an 18-year-old.
The drawback for either option is glaringly the defensive shortcomings. Neither created a substantial number of turnovers, struggling with foul efficiency when they tried, nor stood out as an on-ball defender last year.
Pitino will be hard-pressed to shore up his perimeter defense, so developing as defenders will be imperative for whoever starts on the boundary.
OTHERS: Ian Sabourin – Fourth-year walk on (the 1.5% of returning minutes).
Wings/Forwards
Wholly replacing Freemantle’s impact is impossible, but Gabriel Pozzato can try his hand in the scoring department. The Evansville transfer has the rare mix of size (6-foot-7), length, speed and dexterity that thrives in the Big East.
As a true freshman last season, Pozzato averaged 34.9. minutes, 14.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He cracked 20-plus points seven times and scored in double-figures in 19 of his 24 games.
He’s an elite transitional threat that makes a living on the interior, exploiting mismatches against smaller wings for easy points inside. He’s a capable shooter but will need to narrow – or perhaps, fine tune – his shot selection to improve his eFG% of 51.9.
Three other forwards will likely see time in Pitino’s rotation. FAU transfer Tre Carroll is in line for the starting role, while Filip Borovicanin and Isaiah Walker serve as depth in a deep room.
Carroll is the frontcourt’s seasoned veteran, having played three seasons on a Florida Atlantic team that made the Final Four. He’s a capable shooter (35.9% 3PT), quality rebounder (5.2 per game) and physical paint defender (4.7% block rate) that fills out his 6-foot-8 frame. Caroll will be a team leader, offering the team’s most-well-rounded skillset in conjunction with being a fourth year player.
Borovicanin has the most experience in Pitino’s system. The former Arizona Wildcat started 29 games for New Mexico last year, averaging 22.7 minutes per game. Borovicanin is a confident shooter (five field goal attempts per game) that can run the floor but struggles with shot selection and three point consistency. He’ll pencil in as a nice depth piece.
Walker is conventionally undersized at 6-foot-5 but offers the exact skillset Pitino’s system requires; a gritty rebounder that can score in transition and move without the ball. Analytics don’t favor his playstyle as a tweener forward – watching his game reveals his junkyard dog mentality.
OTHERS: Henry Thole – sophomore preferred walk-on.
Post Players
Pitino won’t be short on options down low, with three transfers and one freshman all standing at 6-foot-10 or taller.
Virginia transfer Anthony Robinson is the frontrunner for the starting job. The true sophomore spent last season with the Cavaliers, recording 3.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game in 26 appearances (zero starts).
Robinson can run the floor the best out of the four centers. He isn’t quite a floor-stretcher — he didn’t attempt a single three pointer last season and 98% of his field goal attempts came from the paint – but has enough athletic upside and defensive rebounding prowess to earn the starting role.
He’ll need to cut down on the turnovers (18.8% TO rate) and become more assertive at the rack; at too many points last season he looked clunky and somewhat uncoordinated at the rim.
Behind him the duo of Jovan Milicevic and Pape N’Diaye will split time – two transfers with polarized skillsets.
Milicevic fits the Pitino-mold of a floor-spacing, rim-running big. At 6-foot-10, the true sophomore sacrifices size for speed to fit into the up-tempo offense. He started three games for New Mexico last year, appearing in 34, and shot nearly 46% from deep on 1.7 attempts per game.
N’Diaye is the more traditional option. The seven-footer saw action in 32 games for UNLV last season, averaging more rebounds (3.7) than points (2.7) and boasting a block percentage of 10.3 (98th percentile).
OTHERS: Kason Westphal – seven-footer who played at Fear of God Athletics this past year.
Playstyle
Pitino’s last four teams have finished inside the top 25 in KenPom’s adjusted tempo rating, including top 10 finishes each of the last two seasons. Nine of his 13 teams have finished inside the top 100 of the same rating.
The offense will again be quick in tempo, with eight of the transfer-ins scoring at least 10.5% of their points last season in transition (CBB Analytics).
Naturally, playing with a quick offensive tempo leaves the defense vulnerable (due to the high number of possessions the opponent would then have). Yet that wasn’t the case last season for the Lobos.
In fact, last year’s unit was the best Pitino ever coached in terms of adjusted efficiency (95.1, 19th overall). The Lobo defense ranked 17th in block percentage (13.9), 23rd in offensive rebound rate allowed (25.8) and 18th in turnovers forced per game (15.1).
The bones are there for Pitino to install what has worked for him both at New Mexico and Minnesota. Whether or not it reaches its apex this season remains to be seen, but the Musketeers will be a rim-running, turnover-forcing headache for its opponents.
2025 Projection
This roster has talent – young talent at that. Pozzato, Wright, N’Diaye and Milicevic are all true sophomores and will be mainstays in the rotation while Robinson and Panoam are both third-year players brimming with talent.
My call: Succeeding in the Big East requires more than just an up-tempo offense and a handful of crafty scorers. A sturdy defense is needed to compete with the St. John’s and UConn’s of the world, and the Musketeers’ young talent may take some time to mature to the high-major level.
I believe in Pitino, and I think that he has poured an excellent foundation in Cincinnati (particularly with his acquisition of young talent). Only one player on the roster has experience at the high major level, however, and none of these guys have played together in an official game.
With a forgiving non-conference schedule and the joker of its unique offense, Xavier could find its way into the middle of the Big East – a conference much closer from top-to-bottom than most other high majors– but Pitino’s installation could take a season or two.
Category: General Sports
