The 2008-2009 season for the Xavier Musketeers was interesting to say the least. It was surprisingly successful, but at the same time, extremely bittersweet.
Lowlights:
Unless you?re the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers, each and every NCAA basketball team is going to go through the highs and lows of the basketball season. Heck, even the national champion North Carolina Tarheels looked human at times this season (see: Boston College, Wake Forest, Florida State). Naturally Xavier was no different. Here?s a recap of the season lows.
Duke: Xavier had a golden opportunity to impress the nation on December 20th. They had a nationally televised game against one of the premiere programs in all of basketball, the Duke Blue Devils. Xavier was embarrassed from the tip, but managed to only lose by 20. At times, it looked as if it could/should have been 40.
February: Over the past few seasons, the Musketeers had been flat out dominant in the month of February. This year, however, was not the case. Things started off well with an impressive home victory over Temple on ESPN. The X-men then went on to lose three of the next four, including an unacceptable loss to a bad Charlotte team. The woes spilled over into early March with a loss at Richmond.
Atlantic City: Three straight seasons the Musketeers have come into the Atlantic Ten Tournament as the top team. Three straight years the Musketeers have been eliminated in the semi-finals. This year it was the Temple Owls advancing past the Muskies. Bad news for X: the tournament is staying put in Atlantic City for the next few seasons.
Second Half vs. Pittsburgh: Xavier had everything rolling against the top-seeded Pitt Panthers in the Sweet 16. The second half was the polar opposite. The Muskies only managed a meager 18 points (they scored only four points in the first ten minutes), while Pitt put up 31. Levance Fields? clutch three-pointer and a later steal did in the Muskies and their upset bid was thwarted.
Sean Miller?s Departure: All signs pointed to Sean Miller staying at Xavier for a while. He claimed to love the Xavier community and had high hopes of a future Final Four (still possible, in my opinion). He had stepped up scheduling and recruiting. His team was set to be loaded next season. Plus he had already publicly stated he didn?t want to listen to any other offers. But the Arizona Wildcats called and lured Miller away with an $11 million deal over five years. To add insult to injury, Arizona Athletic Director Jim Livengood mispronounced Xavier at Miller?s press conference numerous times. It?s Zavier, not ecks-avier.
But when Xavier fans look back on this season, it should be remembered for a season of highs, not lows.
Rebuilding Season? No thanks: This was supposed to be a rebuilding year. Seniors Stanley Burrell, Josh Duncan and Drew Lavender had graduated. Freshman Mark Lyons was ruled ineligible as an academic non-qualifier. Indiana transfer Jordan Crawford?s appeal to play right away was rejected. So how did Xavier respond? With 27 wins and a Sweet 16.
Puerto Rico: Xavier went into Puerto Rico with hopes of notching a marquee win or two to build towards the rest of the season. Instead, they got three big victories that would carry momentum forward for the rest of the year. They defeated Virginia Tech (NIT qualifier), Missouri (NCAA Elite 8) and Memphis (NCAA Sweet 16) to capture the Puerto Rico Tip-Off title. It was the Muskies second consecutive preseason tournament championship.
Non-Conference Schedule: Xavier scheduled Auburn, LSU, Butler, Duke, Cincinnati and the Puerto Rico Tip-Off to beef up its schedule. The result: a 12-2 record with marquee wins over Auburn (NIT), LSU (NCAA 2nd Round) and the already mentioned Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
Gained Experience: The experience that was present a year ago that was so valuable to X was now gone. Therefore, Xavier freshmen and sophomores were pretty much thrown right into the fire immediately. The results were pretty impressive. Kenny Frease, Terrell Holloway and Brad Redford all contributed 10+ minutes per game throughout the course of the season. All three averaged over five points per game as well. Sophomores Dante Jackson and Jamel McClean also earned valuable playing time.
Atlantic 10 Dominance: Xavier posted a 12-4 conference record and earned its third consecutive Atlantic Ten regular season championship. If Chris Mack keeps the ship rolling, all signs point to a four-peat, and maybe a five-peat.
NCAA Tournament: Xavier came limping into the NCAA Tournament having lost five games in February and March. The Musketeers were one of those teams that people were picking to be upset, either by Portland State, Florida State or Wisconsin. That didn?t happen. Xavier dominated Portland State and fought off a gritty Wisconsin team. Xavier saved arguably their two best games of the season for the NCAA Tournament. As a result, the Muskies advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time, and the first time ever in back-to-back years.
All in all, this was a pretty good season in Xavier land. Yet a dark cloud has been hovering overhead for the past two weeks. Xavier let their upset bid against Pittsburgh slip away. A week later, Sean Miller was off to Arizona. Right now, the future is uncertain. But all signs point to matched, or hopefully, increased success in the 2009-2010 season. Next week I will post an extremely early season outlook for the Muskies.
