2009-2010 Team Preview: Xavier Musketeers

2008-2009 Record: 27-8, 12-4 A-10 (1st)

Key Losses: BJ Raymond (14.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg), Derrick Brown (13.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg), CJ Anderson (9.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg), head coach Sean Miller

Key Returners: Jason Love (6.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg), Dante Jackson (6.6 ppg, 2.7 apg)

Newcomers: Jordan Crawford, Mark Lyons, Jeff Robinson, Chris Mack

Jason Love and Dante Jackson are the two returning starters for the Musketeers.
(photo credit: MusketeersBlogs)

The Muskeeters are undergoing a changing of the guard as Sean Miller, who coached them for the last five years, is now at Arizona. Chris Mack, who spent those five years as an assistant at Xavier, will be taking over the program. His first year may be a difficult one, as X lost a lot to graduation last season.

But that doesn't mean the Musketeers won't be returning any talent this season. Let's start up front, where X will have one of the bigger, if not the biggest, front lines in the A-10. Jason Love, a 6'9" senior, will anchor Xavier's front court. Love is not going to wow anyone with low-post moves or step out and drain three's, but he is a big body, a good defender, and an excellent offensive rebounder (he's averaged almost 5 per 40 minutes adjusted the last two seasons). He's not going to win you any games by going for 20 and 15, but rare is the night he gets out worked on the block. Joining him up front is 7'0" Kenny Frease. Frease came into the Xavier program with a lot of hype, but he had a bit of a disappointing freshman season. While he did show some promise (17 points on 7-9 shooting against Charlotte, 13 and 8 boards against Virginia), Frease was inconsistent over the course of the year. His back to the basket game is developing as he has a nice touch and is coordinated, but there were two main issues I saw with Frease last season - he isn't as tough inside as you would like a 7'0", 265 lb player to be, and he had a tendency to settle for jumpers too much. Frease has the tools to be the best big man in the conference, but will he get there this year?

Jamel McClean will be the first big man off the bench for X. At 6'8", McClean, who transferred to Xavier from Tulsa, is one of the best athletes in the league. He isn't the most skilled player, but he is a high energy guy that will get Mack some rebounds, some easy baskets, and provide a lot of hustle. Freshman Jeff Robinson and junior Andrew Taylor may also push for minutes.

The back court is the bigger question mark for Xavier. Back are Terrell Holloway and Dante Jackson (who you should remember for this). Holloway, who is a sophomore, got high marks early on in the season as he helped the Musketeers to a quick start with heady point guard play. But as the season progressed, it became clear that Holloway was not yet ready to lead the Musketeers (although, to be fair, a lot of that could have been caused by a stress fracture in Holloway's foot that caused him to miss two weeks). Jackson took over the starting point guard duties, but he is not a true point guard. Jackson, who stands 6'5", is more of an off-guard. He is Xavier's best perimeter defender and a solid spot-up shooter, but he is at his best when he plays off the ball.

Hopefully, Holloway will be healthy this season, but he is going to have competition for the point regardless as redshirt freshman Mark Lyons is now eligible. Lyons was expected to come in and compete for the starting job last season, but was ruled ineligible after being a partial qualifier. He plays a different style at the point than Holloway; Lyons is more of a shoot first point guard who is quick off the bounce, where Holloway is a possession point guard. Mack will have a nice change of pace at the lead guard spot, and I can see the two being effective on the court at the same time should Mack want to go with a smaller line-up.

The x-factor for the Musketeers is going to be transfer Jordan Crawford. Crawford, who had his 15 minutes of fame earlier this summer after he dunked on LeBron, should come in and start for X. Crawford, who sat out last season after transferring from Indiana (where he averaged 9.7 ppg for a team with Eric Gordon and DJ White), is as good of a scorer as you will find in this conference. He can shoot the three, he can put the ball on the floor, he can finish at the rim, he can score in transition. I wouldn't be surprised if he averaged 17 ppg this year. Also expect sharp shooter Brad Redford to see some minutes for the Musketeers.

Outlook: For the first time in recent memory, Xavier is not the favorite to win the A-10. Dayton is. Over the past two seasons, one of the strengths for Xavier was their experience. Well, all that experience has graduated, leaving a talented group of youngsters. It may take a while for guys like Crawford and Lyons to get back into the flow of playing a game (they both practiced with Xavier last year), but Xavier definitely has the talent on their roster to make another trip to the tournament.