Talent Pipeline

**X-band '01** · 12-26-2023, 03:58 PM

Yeah, I think it's players who could get a Covid year for the 2020-21 season will be finishing up in 2024-25.

**X-band '01** · 12-26-2023, 04:05 PM

I believe both Dayvion McKnight and Abou Ousmane (both of whom played 3 years at their previous schools beginning in 2020-21) could get an extra Covid year but not Quincy Olivari.

sirthought · 12-26-2023, 11:40 PM

Miller develops guys much better than Steele or Mac. And he's not going to linger with someone that isn't playing his system like he wants them to.

That said, I'm pretty positive about progress for our freshmen after all the floor time they are seeing this year. I don't see them getting recruited over as much as some of the older guys who might have time left. It's hard to say who will break out as the stud, but collectively I feel better about these guys than many other freshmen we've had over the years. We just have the misfortune of not having better talent on the roster ahead of them.

Yeah, it's concerning they aren't shooting and rebounding better, but I think a lot of that is mind set and just how fast/slow you see the game. Toughness and IQ is where Miller will accelerate with these kids after one season.

Ciani is going to bulk up and get way tougher. He already plays pretty good for as little time as he's had here.

Djokovic is a bit of a mystery, but I think he has potential to expand in several areas. As someone who studied overseas in high school and college, I know that being a foreigner is a huge deal and can present setbacks.

Green fucks up way too much because he's not used to defenses knowing how to stop him, but that will improve. He'll improve on defense about as well as a ton of other XU players who were only okay at defense, but they'll figure out the system better.

Swain is going to explode in multiple ways. That kid has the quickest potential.

Nzeh will be fighting to show he belongs. He might be a transfer if he's not playing more now. And then again, he might stick around because we have schollys and need big guys in practice. If that's the case he'll likely ride the bench until he gets board and leaves.

I really don't understand what the deal is with other guys on the bench so it's hard to comment. But if these guys and Claude advance, I feel like Miller's recruiting is going to set us in a good direction in another year or two.

Miller missed his first season going to the NCAA. He had the team in fighting form after that.

NIL will forever suck, but if we could figure things out in the A10, I'm sure we can win somehow moving forward.

webxu · 12-27-2023, 07:51 AM

"NIL will forever suck, but if we could figure things out in the A10, I'm sure we can win somehow moving forward."

The problem is we are not in the A10 anymore... Even in our down years there we could still compete for a title. A down year now means we get 3-6 conference wins.

**Xville** · 12-27-2023, 08:42 AM

Originally Posted by webxu

"NIL will forever suck, but if we could figure things out in the A10, I'm sure we can win somehow moving forward."

The problem is we are not in the A10 anymore... Even in our down years there we could still compete for a title. A down year now means we get 3-6 conference wins.

3-6 conference wins, really? You think a miller coached team is ever going to be in that position? Geez.

**Jumpin_Jamal_Forever** · 12-27-2023, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by Xville

3-6 conference wins, really? You think a miller coached team is ever going to be in that position? Geez.

Bill Koch of the Providence (RI) Journal ranks X ninth in conference ahead of only DePaul and Georgetown.

**GoMuskies** · 12-27-2023, 11:24 AM

Yeah, I think this team still has hope, but I would be anything but shocked to see them only win 6 Big East games.

**Xville** · 12-27-2023, 11:30 AM

Originally Posted by GoMuskies

Yeah, I think this team still has hope, but I would be anything but shocked to see them only win 6 Big East games.

Really? 5-13 the rest of the way you think is at least realistic? I don’t get it. This team has some deficiencies but geezus

**GoMuskies** · 12-27-2023, 11:33 AM

I mean, they've lost at home to Oakland and Delaware, and 8 of those 19 games are against teams currently in the top 25.

I can see this Xavier team winning 10 or 11 more games if they get some breaks in some close ones. But against this schedule I'm not sure how you could rule out a bunch of additional losses.