Next Man Up for X

[xusandy]

Lots of injuries, ineligibles, etc. throughout the league. But I think you'll all agree that X is a true contender for the D1 most snakebit team of the year.

(1) London and Austin (both useful subs last year) both transferred after the season, presumably because it didn't look like they'd get much playing time this season on a clear top 10 squad.
(2) Then Jalen Reynolds left to go pro in Europe. Can't really fault him; he was eligible for another year, but had his degree. So on we go.
(3) Then Kaiser Gates, a Sophomore maybe headed for a breakout season, had an ACL injury in September, missed most of the pre-conference season, and is still playing catch-up. On we go.
(4) Then Myles Davis (all Big East 3rd team pre-season) got suspended for altercations with his ex-girlfriend and had a restraining order filed by her. He got dumb (just in my opinion) and violated that order. Then he sat out 'til mid-season, and when his legal mess was finally settled, he left the team way out of shape after 3 non-productive games. On we go.
(5) Then Ed Sumner (all Big East 1st team pre-season) got injured mid-season and is out for the year. Gulp! But on we go.
(6) Then Trevon Blueitt (all Big East 1st team pre-season and 2nd leading scorer in the league this year) sprained ankle vs. Seton Hall, played hurt for two games, then re-injured himself in last weekend's Nova game, sat down and had 0 points in the game. Prognosis = uncertain. But on we limp.

Gulp; that's all 4 top expected returners from last season either gone or hobbled, and now we're out of the AP and Coaches Poll top 25 for the first time in two years. X is now down to 7 mostly healthy scholarship players, including 3 bigs who have basically split time in the post. We have exactly 0 subs at any position except the post, unless Blueitt can play hurt and risk further injury. Oh well, on we go and hey, it's NEXT MAN UP!

As an X fan, it's all been a bit tough to take, and while I do appreciate the importance of the Watson injury for Creighton, X is probably the NCAA D1 snakebite winner for the year -- though I don't think there's a trophy for that! We can still make the dance with a win or two down the stretch, and X is well known for late season improvement and tourney over-achievement, but I must confess to having a less than totally optimistic outlook at this point.

[jfan]

You are probably right. Good news is that both Sumner and Blueitt might be more likely to come back next year. Injuries are part of any sport, but the BE as a whole has not had a good year in that regard. The Myles Davis thing was really strange.

[whiteandblue77]

Xavier is the envy of the conference in the recruiting realm and you proved it against us in Omaha. Your backups were ready to go and brought it. Creighton needs to have 4-stars backing up all positions in the next couple years or we will not be able to hang in the top 4 any longer.

[scoscox]

Kaiser had a knee scope not an acl. that would've been a nightmare. I gotta admit, losing Bluiett makes me lose a whole lot of hope for remaining competitive. I'm sure everyone else on this board will appreciate the pity party we're having here...

[JohnW22]

A bit of a stretch to call Austin and London useful last year. I don't think they'd play much still. London was behind O'Mara on the depth chart and Goodin is much better than Austin and there's no way they could play both at the same time.

[scoscox]

I think London would've been a solid contributor. Austin would've been third on the depth chart as pg, but that means he would be seeing solid minutes right now. Austin was definitely a useful sub last year. London was not used very much, though.