Season breakdown

The past year has been a memorable
one for Xavier fans in many good ways and plenty of bad ways. Last year Lyons, Holloway, Frease, Wells and Walker were the starting
five and none of them will be wearing the Xavier uniform this year. The team is going to be fielding a team that is drastically different and features players like Robinson, Davis and Philmore. Transfer junior Isaiah Philmore is going to miss the first three games due to a paperwork problem with his transfer request.
Heading into this season the team certainly has their work cut out for them. The leading returning
scorer for the team from last year is senior forward Travis Taylor, who is also the leading returning rebounder with 133 rebounds.
While it is easy to think that the team is in an even deeper hole with these statistics, you have to remember that Taylor averaged 14.7 minutes a game, much less than that of a typical starting player.
Taylor has the potential for a breakout season and could be a welcome boost for the team.
While Taylor is expected to increase
his production, possibly the biggest bright spot for this Xavier team is freshman guard Semaj Christon. Last year ESPN and other scouting sights ranked him as a four star recruit and generally had him in the top 40 players in the country.
Christon was named a part of the pre-season all-rookie team for the Atlantic 10. With all of the chaos in the starting lineup, Christon is hoping to play significant
minutes and have a true impact
on this team.
Another player that is looking to perform at a higher level is senior
forward Jeff Robinson. Last season Robinson stepped into the starting lineup on a few occasions and was capable of making the big plays at times. This season there is going to be a lot more pressure on his shoulders with the absence of Frease and Walker.
The Musketeers are currently
predicted to finish ninth in the A-10 this season behind teams such as Temple, Butler and Dayton. This year the A-10 features
16 teams and is quite possibly
the best mid-major conference with the potential to be an even stronger conference than many major conferences.
While this Musketeer team has significantly less experience than previous teams, there are still many positives going into the season.
Head coach Chris Mack has a team full of players that he recruited
and he is looking to get the best out of each of them.
Xavier has a tradition of going
to the big dance, but unfortunately
the road for them this year is significantly more challenging.
Because of the inexperience of the team this season there are a lot of question marks, but the team has the potential to make the tournament and history is on their side. Xavier's streak of tournament
appearances looks to continue
in 2013.