Xavier finna be a tough team next year
Yeah, even though Xavier has only nine scholarships filled for 2024-25, they have a heck of a foundation and a versatile roster.
In terms of healthy returnees, McKnight coming back for his extra year solidifies the facilitating in the backcourt while Desmond Claude will continue to be a matchup nightmare at the 3.
Of course, the health of Freemantle and Hunter is huge, but if they are close to 100%, the frontcourt will be
very good when you add in defensive stud Dailyn Swain and grad transfer pickup John Hugley. Of that group, Hugley is the only guy (a true big) who can only play one position. Both Hunter/Freemantle can be 4/5s while Swain can be a 3/4. Love the versatility of that group.
The backcourt rotation will be fun too. Obviously McKnight and Claude are the studs, but Trey Green is a solid backup PG and the grad transfer additions of Dante Maddox (Toledo) and Marcus Foster (Furman) bring an instant injection of offense. Both combined to score 32 ppg last season and both are dangerous penetrators. Maddox is a little more versatile as he's capable of playing the 1 and is a better perimeter shooter.
With all their injuries, Xavier's frontcourt stunk, but obviously the acquisition of John Hugley helps solidify the center spot considering the variability of the performance expected from Freemantle and Hunter. High floor, high ceiling.
