Beginning Monday, June 21st, 2004 CHN began unveiling 144 Team previews in 144 Days. CHN ranked the nations top 144 teams, and is unveiling one per day leading up until the opening day of the 2004-05 Season.

Bookmark the 144 Teams in 144 Days home page, and check back each day to see which team is previewed next.

#51 Xavier Musketeers
Atlantic 10
2003-04: 26-11, 10-6, 4th 
2003-04 postseason: NCAA Elite Eight

By Joel Welser

Thad Matta led the Musketeers to an incredible late year run ending in a close loss to Duke in the Elite Eight.  Matta has gone to Columbus, but little should be lost with new head coach Sean Miller.  Miller spent the last three years as the associate head coach at Xavier.  Despite losing their three top scorers from a year ago, the Musketeers will remain a threat in the Atlantic 10.  The returning backcourt of Dedrick Finn, Justin Doelman and Justin Cage will have to direct the young Xavier team. 

Who’s Out: The trio of Lionel Chalmers, Romain Sato and Anthony Myles provided that spark late in the season last year.  They have all moved on and will be tough to immediately replace.  Chalmers scored 16.6 points and dished out 3.2 assists per game. Sato averaged 16.3 points and 8.0 rebounds.  Myles was the power under the basket, scoring 10.6 points and grabbing 6.9 boards per outing.  Little used Tom Compton has also run out of eligibility.

Who’s In: The solid recruiting class wasn’t affected by the loss of Coach Matta.  Churchill Odia could have the biggest impact before his career in Cincinnati is over.  Even with a height of 6-6, the Nigerian native is a true point guard.  He’s an outstanding passer who can see the floor well and is a good team player.  With a full returning backcourt, Odia probably won’t be starting immediately, but he will see plenty of action as a freshman.  It is 6-9, 225 pound forward Josh Duncan who could see a lot of action as a freshman.  With returning big guys Will Caudle and Brandon Cole each averaging less then ten minutes a game last season as the returning frontcourt, Duncan will have an opportunity to start from day one.  Duncan isn’t the only newcomer who will play up front though.  Boubacar Coly, who redshirted last season with a knee injury, is a good rebounder and athlete at the power forward position.  Brian Thornton also redshirted last year after transferring from Vanderbilt.  The 6-8, 250-pounder led Vanderbilt in rebounds and was second in points two years ago.  Thornton should be starting come opening day.  Shooting guard Stanley Burrell and JuCo transfer point guard Dupree Lucas will add more depth to the Xavier backcourt.

Who to Watch: Dedrick Finn adjusted well when he was asked to come off the bench mid-season.  He still managed to average 8.5 points and 3.4 assists per contest as just a sophomore last year.  The 6-1 point guard should be starting this year but he’ll have to compete for his job with incoming freshman Churchill Odia.  Finn has proven to be one of the smartest ball handlers in the A10 having an assist to turnover ratio around 2:1 over the last two seasons. 

Projected Conference Rank: A new coach, six new players who could see quite a bit of playing time and the loss of the teams’ top three scorers should obviously hurt a team.  Xavier brings in enough firepower that they won’t slip much but it could take some time for everything to come together.  A 3rd place finish in the Atlantic 10 will put the X-men on the bubble, but a weaker overall conference could keep them out of the big dance. 

Projected Post-season Tournament: NIT

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Email Joel Welser: jwelser_chn@ameritech.net

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