Portal

[muskieman]

Xavier gets 6'10" 260lbs Forward from New Mexico with three years eligibility Welcome Jovan Millicevic

[Kevin Reilly]

Welcome Jovan. Nice to have a three point shooting big man.

[Anti-Homer]

Pitino has gotten some nice rotational players, which he had to do, but now I assume he is going to start bringing in impactful players. Reportedly, Wright is a good 3-level scorer, but he seems to be only an above-average athlete. That's fine, as the same can be said of other good scorers like Gillespie, Brunson, Ashworth, Kunkel etc. He also scored 25 at OSU and had other impressive games shows. However, to compete in the big East, he seems to be a 3rd highest leading scorer at best, unless the leading guy is someone like R.J. Luis.

I also think Pitino's recruiting is reflective of what many believe, which is that the House Settlement will pass, limiting the ability of most power conferences teams to have limitless NIL budgets. Recruiting multiple guys with two plus years of eligibility has been a dangerous strategy because once they develop, their market value exceeds what most can spend (i.e. Swain).

With the settlement, I think Pitino believes X will be able to retain most. I will say I thought the two New Mexico players brought in were underwhelming, but Pitino knows them best. On the surface, Claude's numbers for 21' to 22' didn't show the great potential he had. Same with Swain.

I'm not suggesting either have that kind of upside, but I checked out the comments on Twitter from the N.M. fan base about Millicevic leaving, and they all were stung by his departure, with most basically saying he oozes potential. Pitino had a great four-year run and developed a lot of really good players, so he obviously believes the two guys he took have a good upside.

X supposedly is in a good position with Washington and that Italian wing but is competing with high majors (Tex Tech, Baylor, TX, Gonzaga, and others). They need two alpha scorers, minimally, with one being a knockdown shooter like Conwell. Easier said than done.

[Kevin Reilly]

U Conn has three McDonalds All Americans ( #14, #16 and #29 high School recruits ) They also have the #159 high school recruit. On Top of that they have the # 14th portal guy .Duke has three McDonalds guys, Houston two guys and Arkansas has two players The rich get richer. So far and I know we are not close to finishing but our highest recruit is Wright ranked # 111 in the transfer portal .The next highest recruit is Borovicanin who is ranked 280 in the portal. Robinson is ranked some where in the 400's. That's a pretty huge gape in talent. Until they fix the Portal money our glory days will probably be a thing of the past. Coaching can take you so far. We need the players too. This is why Miller left

[Anti-Homer]

U Conn has three McDonalds All Americans ( #14, #16 and #29 high School recruits ) They also have the #159 high school recruit. On Top of that they have the # 14th portal guy .Duke has three McDonalds guys, Houston two guys and Arkansas has two players The rich get richer. So far and I know we are not close to finishing but our highest recruit is Wright ranked # 111 in the transfer portal .The next highest recruit is Borovicanin who is ranked 280 in the portal. Robinson is ranked some where in the 400's. That's a pretty huge gape in talent. Until they fix the Portal money our glory days will probably be a thing of the past. Coaching can take you so far. We need the players too. This is why Miller left

Of course, the top 15 teams will continue to get the best players in any environment. Arkansas isn't a top 15 program (X has done much better in the last couple of decades at least), but Calipari brings them great credibility with recruits.

I'm glad UConn is getting great players. I want all BE teams to get better. Providence and Georgetown are doing really well in the portal for the lower-tier teams. Creighton and St. John's are killing it in the upper tier. Only 20-25% or so of the portal players are committed, and more will still be coming. I was struck by two Auburn starters who were asked after the game if they were coming back next year, and both basically said, "we'll see." USC just lost their stud freshman, the best player on their team in Wesley Yates.

Tomorrow, the House Settlement will be decided, and that should portend well for X and other BE teams if it passes, as anticipated. However, it won't have an impact until the 26-27 season. As I said in a previous post, Pitino had to get some players to start. I think we'll start to see some more impactful transfers over the next few weeks.

BTW, the transfer ratings are all over the place. I looked at the top 20 for last year; and 12 of the 20 met/exceeded expectations, and 8 did not. That includes Johnell Davis, the #1 ranked transfer, and AJ Storr, who is portaling again. Keep in mind Boum was ranked #75th or so, and Olivari around #120. Mcknight was #130. Conwell was in the mid-30s. Boum and Olivari would be top #15 in the post rankings. SM either hit a homer or struck out in the portal. No in-between. Also, according to Frischtner and Baum, who watched a lot of Xavier's practices, Roddie Anderson is a really good PG and gave the 1st team fits in practice. His shooting needs to improve, but he is a pass-first PG.

Kansas and Alabama have both picked players ranked #125 or worse this year. Rankings are the best barometer for sure, and I would not feel comfortable with the rankings of players X has gotten thus far, but there are many outliers. I think both Wright (#115) and Robinson (#93 on 247sports) will be contributors. Same with Flip. It's time to start bringing in the studs.

[Anti-Homer]

Anthony Robinson: https://247sports.com/season/2025-baske ... portaltop/

[skyhops]

How was John Hughley ranked that high? Might be our lowest center ever

[Kevin Reilly]

Anti-Homer you make a lot of valid points as usual. I'm counting on Anderson and Robinson to start. They both in my mind are players with a lot of potential. Anderson averaged 6.5 points a game at Boise State and Robinson averaged 3.5 for Virginia. I know Xavier has been way better in the last 20 years than Arkansas but Arkansas has the N.I.L. money now and are recruiting like a top ten team.

[skyhops]

Gabriel Pazatto watch Is on. Would be a good fit and we could find out sooner than later. Hopefully, we will be adding some starters so. Anderson, Wright, and Robinson could be starters.

[muskieman]

Miami transfer Austin Swartz 6'4" 200 lbs. is down to five schools: Xavier, DePaul, Creighton, Mississippi State and Kansas State, according to his agency
@lamfsports .

Visiting Xavier this weekend

in the 24/7 portal list for shooting guards he is ranked 16
As a Transfer
247Sports Transfer Rankings 93
OVR 66
SG 16