Xavier Musketeers men's basketball

Xavier Musketeers
2021–22 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team
University	Xavier University
Head coach	Travis Steele (4th season)
Conference	Big East
Location	Cincinnati, Ohio
Arena	Cintas Center (Capacity: 10,224)
Colors	Navy blue, white, and gray[1]
Uniforms
Home Away Alternate
NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
2004, 2008, 2017
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
1990, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017
NCAA Tournament Appearances
1961, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Conference tournament champions
1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2006
Conference regular season champions
1981, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2018

The Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team represents Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. The school's team currently competes in the Big East Conference. They are one of two Big East programs (alongside Creighton) to have never made a Final Four.^[2] Xavier has appeared in the NCAA Tournament 27 times, 15 times in the last 17 years. On March 11, 2018, Xavier earned its first ever No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament and solidified their status as the best team in program history.^[3]

Xavier won four Atlantic 10 Tournament Championships (1998, 2002, 2004 and 2006). Xavier has won or shared 17 regular season conference championships, while winning 9 conference tournament championships. In addition, they have won one Big East Conference regular season title in 2018.

Xavier has been listed among the top-20 most valuable college basketball teams.^[4]

Xavier has won 17 of their last 25 meetings with Crosstown Shootout rival, the University of Cincinnati.

History[]

The first Xavier Basketball game on record was February 20, 1920 at the Fenwick Club in Cincinnati. Coached by Joe Meyer, the Musketeers compiled a 94–52 record during Meyer's's 13-year run as head coach from 1920 to 1933. The Musketeer's success continued under second head coach Clem Crowe. During Crowe's 10 years as Xavier head coach, Xavier compiled a record of 96–78. Crowe's 96 wins as a head coach rank fourth all-time among Xavier head coaches.^[5]

Following the 1942–43 season, play was suspended for the following two seasons because of World War II. In 1945, the program resumed under the leadership of head coach Ed Burns. In his one season as head coach, Burns compiled a record of 3–16.

In 1946, Burns was replaced by Lew Hirt. Under Hirt, the Musketeers first postseason appearance was in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) during the 1948 NAIA National Basketball Tournament, the national tournament for small colleges. Xavier finished in 4th place, losing to Hamline University in the national third-place game, 58–59. 1948 was the only year Xavier appeared in the NAIA Tournament.^[6]

In 1951, Hirt was replaced as head coach by Ned Wulk. Wulk guided the Musketeers to National Invitational Tournament appearances in 1956 and 1957. The 1956 appearance marked Xavier's first NIT win, an 84–80 victory over Saint Louis.^[6]

After a loss to Bradley in the 1957 NIT, Wulk was replaced as head coach by Jim McCafferty. McCafferty led the Musketeers back to a third straight NIT in 1958. With wins over Niagara, Bradley, St. Bonaventure and Dayton, Xavier captured the NIT. According to most college basketball historians, the NIT was the elite post season tournament until the NCAA overtook it in the early 1960s. That was the first postseason championship won by any Ohio Division I school.

In 1961, McCafferty led Xavier to their first appearance in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. On March 14, 1961, Xavier fell to Morehead State at the Kentucky State Fairgrounds in Louisville, Kentucky.

McCafferty was replaced as head coach in 1963. He would be followed by Don Ruberg (1963–67), George Krajack (1967–71), Dick Campbell (1971–73) and Tay Baker (1973–79).

In 1979, Xavier was one of the charter members of the Midwestern City Conference (nicknamed the MCC or Midwestern City 6, and now known as the Horizon League), which also included Butler, Evansville, Loyola (Chicago), Oklahoma City, and Oral Roberts. That year also marked the hiring of head coach Bob Staak, who compiled an 88–86 record during his six seasons as head coach, including a return to both the NCAA Tournament and NIT.

Pete Gillen era[]

1985 once again marked considerable change for the program. In addition to the hiring of head coach Pete Gillen, the Midwestern City Conference altered its name slightly to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, adding more teams including Detroit, Notre Dame (excluding men's basketball and football), Saint Louis, Marquette and Dayton. The MCC is the predecessor to the present-day Horizon League. Xavier was a member of the MCC from 1979 to 1995 and won eight regular season and six conference tournament championships.

From 1985 to 1994, Gillen compiled a 202–75 record, including the program's first five wins in the NCAA Tournament. The Musketeers advanced to the NCAA Tournament in six of Gillen's nine years at the helm. In 1990, Xavier beat Kansas State and future Big East colleagues Georgetown to advance to the program's first Sweet Sixteen.

Skip Prosser era[]

Skip Prosser was hired in the spring of 1994 to replace departed head coach Pete Gillen. In his seven seasons as head coach, Prosser compiled a 148–65 record with four NCAA Tournament appearances. Prosser's 148 wins are third all-time at Xavier. During his time at Xavier, Prosser continued to build on the momentum Gillen had created. Early in his tenure, Prosser added recruits Gary Lumpkin, Darnell Williams, Lenny Brown and James Posey. Those four players provided the core of Prosser's success during his time at Xavier. After missing the NCAA Tournament in both 1999 and 2000, Xavier returned to the tournament in 2001. Following a loss to Notre Dame in the tournament's first round, Prosser accepted the position of head coach at Wake Forest.

Thad Matta era[]

Thad Matta left alma mater Butler to replace Skip Prosser as Xavier's head coach in 2001. Hired with only one year of head coaching experience, Matta inherited a talented core of players in David West, Lionel Chalmers, and Romain Sato. During his three years at the helm, Matta compiled a record of 78–23, with three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and Xavier's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. Matta won two Atlantic 10 regular-season championships in his first two years behind the play of National Player of the Year David West. Following Matta's second year, West was drafted in the first round of the 2003 NBA draft by the New Orleans Hornets. With West's departure, seniors Lionel Chalmers, Romain Sato and Anthony Myles became the team's cornerstone for the 2003–04 season. After a 10–9 start, Xavier closed the season by winning 16 of its last 18 games. "The Run", as it became known, left Xavier 3 points shy of making the program's first NCAA Final Four appearance.

Sean Miller era[]

The summer following Xavier's first Elite Eight appearance, Matta was offered and accepted the position of head men's basketball coach at Ohio State. Xavier Athletic Director, Dawn Rogers, quickly promoted Xavier Associate Head Coach Sean Miller.^[7] From 2004 to 2009, Miller compiled a record of 120–47. Advancing to the NCAA Tournament in four of his five seasons as head coach, Miller led the Musketeers to another Elite Eight appearance in 2008 and a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2009. During Miller's tenure as head coach, Xavier continued to shed the "mid-major" label and separate itself as one of the country's premier college basketball programs.^[8] Miller's NCAA Tournament success, aggressive non-conference scheduling and national recruiting allowed Xavier to be recognized with the likes of Memphis and Gonzaga as one of the premier "non-BCS" basketball programs.^[9] After turning away interest from many programs, Sean Miller left Xavier to become the head basketball coach at Arizona.

Chris Mack era[]

On April 15, 2009, Xavier's Athletic Director named Xavier Assistant Coach Chris Mack as the 17th head basketball coach in the program's history.^[10] A Cincinnati native and Xavier graduate, Mack compiled a record of 26–9 in his first year as head coach. Behind the play of 2010 NBA draft pick Jordan Crawford, Xavier advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen for a third straight season. Chris Mack, the 2009–10 Basketball Times Rookie Coach of the Year,^[11] was the first Xavier head coach to lead the Musketeers to the Sweet Sixteen in his first season at the helm. With a 14–2 record in Atlantic 10 play, Xavier also won a share of their fourth straight conference championship.

Finishing with a 24–8 overall record including a 15–1 record in the A-10, Mack lead the Musketeers to a fifth consecutive A-10 title and another NCAA Tournament berth in 2010–11.

In a 2011–12 season filled with highs and lows. The early season was marred by the Crosstown Shootout brawl in their yearly rivalry game against Cincinnati. The Musketeers had reached as high as #8 in the AP Poll before numerous suspensions from the Crosstown Shootout brawl lead to the team losing 5 of their next 6 games. Xavier rebounded from this ugly incident and reached Mack's second Sweet Sixteen.

In 2013, Xavier joined the newly reconstituted Big East Conference following Big East conference realignment. Xavier became one of the new members of the new 10-team Big East with the "Catholic 7" (DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's, and Villanova) plus Butler and Creighton. Xavier finished their first season in the Big East with a record of 21–13, 10–8 to finish Big East play in a tie for third place. They received a bid to the NCAA Tournament, but lost in the First Round (First Four).

The 2014–15 season also saw a return to the Sweet Sixteen for the Musketeers. From 2008 to 2015, Xavier made five Sweet Sixteens, tied for third in the nation over that span behind only Louisville and Michigan State. The 2015–16 team finished second in the Big East to Villanova, Xavier's highest finish in the Big East, and advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.^[12]

In 2017, Mack led Xavier to a 24–14 season and got the 11th seed in the West and advanced to the Elite Eight by defeating 6th seed Maryland, 3rd seed Florida State, and 2nd seed Arizona. In the Elite Eight they lost to Gonzaga.

Mack's 215 wins concluding the 2017–18 season placed him first in all-time wins in Xavier history.

Travis Steele era[]

On March 27, 2018, Mack was named the head coach at the University of Louisville.^[13] Four days after Mack left Xavier for Louisville, longtime Xavier assistant coach Travis Steele was named head coach of the Musketeers.^[14]

Home courts[]

Cintas Center[]

Xavier currently plays its home games at the Cintas Center, a 10,224 seat multi-purpose arena that opened in 2000. The Cintas Center is the fifth different home site in program history.

At Cintas Center, Xavier enjoys one of the nation's best home court advantages. As of April 2018 the Musketeers have compiled a 258–41 (an .863 winning percentage) record since moving to its on-campus home in 2000. Xavier enjoyed a 15–0 mark at home during the 2009–10, its only perfect record for a season at Cintas Center. During the 2017–2018 season, the Musketeers set a Cintas Center record with 17 home victories. The building was named the #3 "Toughest Place to Play" on EA Sports' NCAA Basketball '10. In August 2018 the NCAA named it as the 8th toughest home court in college basketball.^[15]

Through the 2018–2019 season, Cintas Center has hosted 3,011,308 fans for Xavier home games and the Musketeers have averaged 10,071 fans (better than 98% capacity) per game during that time. The 2017–2018 season marked the highest average attendance in Cintas Center history with an average 10,475 (over 102% capacity) Musketeer fans at each home game.

Season	Record	Pct.	Games	Attendance	Average	Sellouts
2000–01	13–1	.929	14	141,011[16]	10,072	12
2001–02	13–1	.929	14	143,129[17]	10,224	13
2002–03	14–1	.933	15	152,664[18]	10,178	14
2003–04	13–3	.813	16	158,432[19]	9,902	8
2004–05	12–4	.750	16	160,429	10,027	7
2005–06	11–4	.733	15	146,615[20]	9,774	4
2006–07	14–1	.933	15	148,650[21]	9,910	5
2007–08	16–1	.941	17	170,133[22]	10,008	9
2008–09	14–1	.933	15	151,456[23]	10,097	11
2009–10	15–0	1.000	15	151,843[24]	10,123	7
2010–11	14–1	.933	15	151,475[25]	10,098	9
2011–12	13–3	.813	16	162,474[26]	10,155	10
2012–13	11–4	.733	15	146,710[27]	9,781	1
2013–14	15–2	.882	17	168,127[28]	9,890	7
2014–15	13–3	.813	16	159,974[29]	9,998	9
2015–16	15–1	.938	16	164,501[30]	10,281	11
2016–17	12–4	.750	16	164,520[31]	10,282	12
2017–18	17–1	.944	18	188,554[32]	10,475	18
2018–19	13–5	.722	18	180,611[33]	10,034	13
Total	258–41	.863	299	3,011,308	10,071	180

Cincinnati Gardens[]

The Musketeers played their final season at Cincinnati Gardens in 1999–2000. Located 2 miles from the Xavier campus, the Gardens was the home court for the Xavier Musketeers since 1983–84 season.

The Xavier men's team played all of its regular season games off campus at the Cincinnati Gardens for 17 years, beginning with the 1983–84 season and ending with an NIT game against Marquette in the 1999–2000 season. The only exception was a game against Florida International that was played at Schmidt Fieldhouse on January 9, 1988.^[34]

Xavier compiled an impressive 215–25 (.896) record after moving to the Gardens in the 1983–84 season, including 14–1 in its final season.

Schmidt Fieldhouse[]

Prior to moving to the Cincinnati Gardens in the 1983–84 season, Xavier called Schmidt Fieldhouse home. Located on the west side of the Xavier Campus, Xavier compiled an impressive 326–129 (.716) record at the Fieldhouse.^[35]

Until opening Cintas Center, the men's basketball team had only played one regular season game on campus since early in the 1983–84 season. Xavier scored a school-record point total in a 125–84 win over Florida International on Saturday, January 9, 1988.

Other home courts[]

The Musketeers have also used Riverfront Coliseum and the Fenwick Club.

Postseason[]

NCAA tournament results[]

The Musketeers have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 28 times. Their combined record is 28–28.^[36]

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1961		First Round	Morehead State	L 66–71
1983	No. 12	Preliminary Round	No. 12 Alcorn State	L 75–81
1986	No. 12	First Round	No. 5 Alabama	L 80–97
1987	No. 13	First Round Second Round	No. 4 Missouri No. 5 Duke	W 70–69 L 60–65
1988	No. 11	First Round	No. 6 Kansas	L 72–85
1989	No. 14	First Round	No. 3 Michigan	L 87–92
1990	No. 6	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	No. 11 Kansas State No. 3 Georgetown No. 10 Texas	W 87–79 W 74–71 L 89–102
1991	No. 14	First Round Second Round	No. 3 Nebraska No. 11 Connecticut	W 89–84 L 50–66
1993	No. 9	First Round Second Round	No. 8 New Orleans No. 1 Indiana	W 73–55 L 70–73
1995	No. 11	First Round	No. 6 Georgetown	L 63–68
1997	No. 7	First Round Second Round	No. 10 Vanderbilt No. 2 UCLA	W 80–68 L 83–96
1998	No. 6	First Round	No. 11 Washington	L 68–69
2001	No. 11	First Round	No. 6 Notre Dame	L 71–83
2002	No. 7	First Round Second Round	No. 10 Hawaii No. 2 Oklahoma	W 70–58 L 65–78
2003	No. 3	First Round Second Round	No. 14 Troy State No. 6 Maryland	W 71–59 L 64–77
2004	No. 7	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	No. 10 Louisville No. 2 Mississippi State No. 3 Texas No. 1 Duke	W 80–70 W 89–74 W 79–71 L 63–66
2006	No. 14	First Round	No. 3 Gonzaga	L 75–79
2007	No. 9	First Round Second Round	No. 8 BYU No. 1 Ohio State	W 79–77 L 71–78 OT
2008	No. 3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	No. 14 Georgia No. 6 Purdue No. 7 West Virginia No. 1 UCLA	W 73–61 W 85–78 W 79–75 OT L 57–76
2009	No. 4	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	No. 13 Portland State No. 12 Wisconsin No. 1 Pittsburgh	W 77–59 W 60–49 L 55–60
2010	No. 6	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	No. 11 Minnesota No. 3 Pittsburgh No. 2 Kansas State	W 65–54 W 71–68 L 96–101 2OT
2011	No. 6	Second Round	No. 11 Marquette	L 55–66
2012	No. 10	Second Round Third Round Sweet Sixteen	No. 7 Notre Dame No. 15 Lehigh No. 3 Baylor	W 67–63 W 70–58 L 70–75
2014	No. 12	First Four	No. 12 NC State	L 59–74
2015	No. 6	Second Round Third Round Sweet Sixteen	No. 11 Ole Miss No. 14 Georgia State No. 2 Arizona	W 76–57 W 75–67 L 60–68
2016	No. 2	First Round Second Round	No. 15 Weber State No. 7 Wisconsin	W 71–53 L 63–66
2017	No. 11	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	No. 6 Maryland No. 3 Florida State No. 2 Arizona No. 1 Gonzaga	W 76–65 W 91–66 W 73–71 L 59–83
2018	No. 1	First Round Second Round	No. 16 Texas Southern No. 9 Florida State	W 102–83 L 70–75

*Following the introduction of the "First Four" round in 2011, the Round of 64 and Round of 32 were referred to as the Second Round and Third Round, respectively, from 2011 to 2015. Then from 2016 moving forward, the Round 64 and Round of 32 will be called the First and Second rounds, as they were prior to 2011.

NCAA Tournament seeding history[]

The NCAA began seeding the tournament with the 1979 edition.

Years	'83	'86	'87	'88	'89	'90	'91	'93	'95	'97	'98	'01	'02	'03	'04	'06	'07	'08	'09	'10	'11	'12	'14	'15	'16	'17	'18
Seeds	12	12	13	11	14	6	14	9	11	7	6	11	7	3	7	14	9	3	4	6	6	10	12	6	2	11	1

NIT results[]

The Musketeers have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) eight times. Their combined record is 16–7. They were NIT Champions in 1958.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1956	First Round Quarterfinals	Saint Louis Dayton	W 84–80 L 68–72
1957	First Round Quarterfinals	Seton Hall Bradley	W 85–79 L 81–116
1958	First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	Niagara Bradley St. Bonaventure Dayton	W 95–86 W 72–62 W 72–53 W 78–74
1984	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	Ohio State Nebraska Michigan	W 60–57 W 58–57 L 62–63
1994	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	Miami (OH) Northwestern Villanova	W 80–68 W 83–79 L 74–76
1999	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	Toledo Wake Forest Princeton Clemson Oregon	W 86–84 W 87–76 W 65–58 L 76–79 W 106–75
2000	First Round Second Round	Marquette Notre Dame	W 67–63 L 64–76
2019	First Round Second Round	Toledo Texas	W 78–64 L 76–78OT

NAIA tournament results[]

The Musketeers have appeared in the NAIA Tournament one time. Their record is 3–2.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1948	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	Northwestern State New Britain State Mankato State Louisville Hamline	W 67–43 W 57–35 W 62–50 L 49–56 L 58–59

Musketeers in the NBA[]

Xavier Players in the NBA Draft All-Time:

Year	Player	Team	Round	Pick
1949	Malcom McMullen	Indianapolis	—	—
1952	Gene Smith	Minneapolis	—	—
1953	Huck Budde	Minneapolis	9	—
1954	Bob Heim	Baltimore	6	—
1956	Dave Piontek	Rochester	3	—
1957	Jim Boothe	Cincinnati	12	—
1958	Frank Tartaron	Cincinnati	11	—
1959	Hank Stein	St. Louis	3	—
	Joe Viviano	Cincinnati	10	—
1962	Jack Thobe	Cincinnati	4	33
	Bill Kirvin	Philadelphia	8	70
	Frank Pinchback	Cincinnati	11	95
1964	Joe Geiger	Cincinnati	8	—
	Bob Pelkington	Philadelphia	8	—
1966	Bryan Williams	St. Louis	8	—
1968	Bob Quick	Baltimore	2	18
1969	Luther Rackley	Cincinnati	3	37
1973	Bob Fullarton	Buffalo	9	140
	Conny Warren	Philadelphia	12	175
1979	Nick Daniels	Kansas City	7	145
1983	Tony Hicks	Milwaukee	7	157
	Jon Hanley	Cleveland	10	208
1984	Vic Fleming	Portland	2	26
	Jeff Jenkins	Seattle	4	83
	John Shimko	Cleveland	9	187
	Dexter Bailey	Denver	10	215
1990	Tyrone Hill	Golden State	1	11
1990	Derek Strong	Philadelphia	2	47
1994	Brian Grant	Sacramento	1	8
1998	Torraye Braggs	Utah	2	57
1999	James Posey	Denver	1	18
2003	David West	Warriors	1	18
2004	Lionel Chalmers	L.A. Clippers	2	33
2004	David Young	Seattle	2	41
2004	Romain Sato	San Antonio	2	52
2009	Derrick Brown	Charlotte	2	40
2010	Jordan Crawford	New Jersey	1	27
2014	Semaj Christon	Miami	2	55
2017	Edmond Sumner	New Orleans	2	52
2018	J.P. Macura	Charlotte
2018	Trevon Blueitt	New Orleans
2020	Naji Marshall	New Orleans
	Active players

Chart Data^[37]

Musketeers overseas[]

• Tyrique Jones (born 1997), basketball player for Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Mark Lyons, top scorer in the Israel Basketball Premier League in both 2015 and 2017

Awards[]

All-Americans[]

Xavier has a total of 20 players who have won All-American honors during their careers with the program.

Conference Player of the Year[]

Year	Player	Conference
1985–86 1987–88	Byron Larkin	Midwestern Collegiate Conference
1989–90	Tyrone Hill	Midwestern Collegiate Conference
1992–93 1993–94	Brian Grant	Midwestern Collegiate Conference
2000–01 2001–02 2002–03	David West	Atlantic 10
2010–11	Tu Holloway	Atlantic 10

Retired jerseys[]

Xavier has retired four jersey numbers for four players in their history.

Xavier Musketeers retired numbers
No.	Player	Position	Career
23	Byron Larkin	SG	1984–1988
30	David West	PF	1999–2003
33	Brian Grant	PF / C	1990–1994
42	Tyrone Hill	PF	1986–1990

Former university President Fr. James Hoff has also had a "jersey" retired in memory of all that he contributed to the school and basketball program. This was unveiled before a 2004 meeting with Creighton, where Hoff was vice president of university relations and President of the Creighton Foundation. Fr. Hoff died from cancer in 2004.

Coaching history[]

Name (Alma Mater)	Seasons	Games	Wins	Losses	Win %	NCAA Tour	NIT Tour	MCC Tour	A-10 Tour	Big East Tour
Pete Gillen (Fairfield)	9 (1985–94)	277	202	75	.729	5–7	2–1	17–4	0–0	0–0
Chris Mack (Xavier)	9 (2009–18)	276	215	97	.694	11–8	0–0	0–0	3–4	7–5
Skip Prosser (Merchant Marine Acad.)	7 (1994–01)	213	148	65	.695	1–4	5–2	0–1	6–5	0–0
Sean Miller (Pittsburgh)	5 (2004–09)	167	120	47	.719	6–4	0–0	0–0	8–4	0–0
Cameron Crowe (Notre Dame)	10 (1933–43)	174	96	78	.552	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Joe Meyer (Xavier)	13 (1920–33)	146	94	52	.618	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Jim McCafferty (Loyola, La.)	6 (1957–63)	162	91	71	.562	0–1	4–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Ned Wulk (LaCrosse)	6 (1951–57)	159	89	70	.560	0–0	2–2	0–0	0–0	0–0
Bob Staak (Connecticut)	6 (1979–85)	174	88	86	.506	0–1	2–1	7–5	0–0	0–0
Thad Matta (Butler)	3 (2001–04)	101	78	23	.772	5–3	0–0	0–0	8–1	0–0
Lew Hirt (DePauw)	5 (1946–51)	137	76	61	.555	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Tay Baker (Cincinnati)	6 (1973–79)	159	70	89	.440	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Don Ruberg (Xavier)	4 (1963–67)	103	52	51	.505	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
George Krajack (Clemson)	4 (1967–71)	103	34	69	.330	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Dick Campbell (Furman)	2 (1971–73)	52	15	37	.288	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Ed Burns (Xavier)	1 (1945–46)	19	3	16	.158	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Harry Gilligan (Xavier)	1 (1919–20)	1	0	1	.000	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0

Chart Data^[35]

Basketball and academics[]

NCAA academic progress rate[]

In May 2010, the NCAA honored a school-record tying eight Xavier University athletic programs with Public Recognition Awards for academic excellence.^[38] The award is given to the top-ten percent of teams in each sport based on the NCAA Academic Progress Rate. The APR is a term-by-term progress for every student-athlete in Division I athletics. Out of the 65 teams to make the 2010 NCAA Tournament Xavier had the 11th highest Academic Progress Rate.^[39]

Graduation[]

Since 1986, Xavier has graduated every men's basketball player that has exhausted his eligibility.^[39]

Sister Rose Ann Fleming[]

During the 2010 NCAA Tournament Xavier's Academic Advisor Sister Rose Ann Fleming garnered considerable national attention for the role she has played in the program's academic success. Fleming was featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and on both ABC's Good Morning America and NBC Nightly News. Fleming has over 40 years of experience as an educator. She was president of Cincinnati's Summit Country Day School from 1975 to 1976 and president of Trinity College in Washington, D.C. from 1976 to 1982.^[40] In addition to the national recognition she received during the 2010 NCAA Tournament she has also been featured in Reader's Digest, Woman's Day, was voted one of the Cincinnati Enquirer's Women of the Year, and was the subject of a promotional spot on The Family Channel.^[40]

Success overseas[]

Success overseas[]

Seventeen former Xavier players are currently playing professionally overseas.

Romain Sato, 2010 Italian League MVP, won two straight Italian League Championships in 2009 and 2010. Sato signed with Panathinaikos in Athens, Greece, for the 2010–11 season.^[41] More recently, Justin Doellman was named ACB MVP in 2014 while with Valencia.

Year	Player	Home Town	Country
2016	Remy Abell	Louisville, Kentucky
2015	Matt Stainbrook	Lakewood, Ohio
2012	Kenny Frease	Massillon, Ohio
2012	Tu Holloway	Hempstead, New York
2011	Jamel McLean	Hampton, Virginia
2010	Jason Love	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2009	B.J. Raymond	Toledo, Ohio
2008	Josh Duncan	Cincinnati, Ohio
2008	Stanley Burrell	Indianapolis, Indiana
2007	Justin Doellman	Union, Kentucky
2007	Justin Cage	Indianapolis, Indiana
2007	Brandon Cole	Chicago, Illinois
2006	Will Caudle	Indianapolis, Indiana
2004	Lionel Chalmers	Albany, New York
2004	Romain Sato	Central African Republic
2004	Anthony Myles	Chicago, Illinois
2000	Reggie Butler	Detroit, Michigan

• Kaiser Gates (born 1996), for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Jalen Reynolds (born 1992), for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and Euroleague.

Rivalries[]

Crosstown Shootout[]

Xavier's main rival is the University of Cincinnati. The two schools play annually in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout. Xavier's record in the Shootout is 35–50.

Other rivals[]

Xavier and Dayton play for the Blackburn/McCafferty Trophy, named for former coaches at the respective universities. As of the 2015–2016 season, Dayton has not beaten Xavier on Xavier's home floor in 35 years.^[42] Dayton maintains a lead in the overall series 85–76, but Xavier has controlled the series for years by going 23–8 since 2001.

Xavier also maintains a heated rivalry with Butler, with the Musketeers leading the overall series, 37–19, winning 3 of the last 5 matchups. (Xavier has lost the last two in a row.)The two teams play each other twice per year in regular season Big East play.

Starting with the 2009–10 season, Xavier began a ten-year alternating home court game with Wake Forest, known as the Skip Prosser Classic, who coached at both schools.^[43] Since the rivalry started, Xavier leads the all-time series 5–3.

References[]

External links[]

• Official website