One day after previewing DePaul, Xavier basketball is the latest team in our CBB Rank countdown. Can the Musketeers bounce back from an under-.500 season?
The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Xavier basketball.
Year one of Richard Pitino didn’t go too well, although few people were surprised. On paper, the Musketeers had some of the least talent in the Big East, and it held true, with X only winning six games in conference.
However, this season, Pitino addressed that concern and put together a much more talented team.
It has to start defensively, though, as the Musketeers allowed over 80 points per game last season, with that number rising to a whopping 84.8 PPG allowed in Big East play. This year, a starting backcourt of Chance Westry and Tru Washington should solve some of that. They combined for 3.1 steals per game a season ago. Forwards and big men Mike Nwoko, Gabriel Pozzato, Rolyns Aligbe, and Nikos Chitikoudis should give the Musketeers better reinforcements down low, improving the defensive end down there.
Xavier also adds shooting, as sharpshooter Ruben Dominguez comes over from Texas A&M, joining returning star Jovan Milicevic as another guy who can hit at a 40% clip.
Before we get carried away, this roster still looks like a middle-of-the-pack team in the Big East, but Richard Pitino has proven himself enough as a coach to make us believe they should be improved from a 15-win campaign a year ago.
Head coach: Richard Pitino (15th season overall, 2nd at Xavier)
2025-26 record: 15-18 (6-14)
2026 postseason finish: No tournament
Notable departures:
- EVERYONE but Jovan Milicevic
Notable non-conference games:
- vs. Mississippi State (Nov. 13) – Greenbrier Tip-Off
- vs. Iowa (Nov. 20)
- vs. Texas A&M (Nov. 25) – Battle 4 Atlantis
- vs. Virginia (Nov. 27) – Battle 4 Atlantis
- at Cincinnati (Dec. 5)
Projected Rotation
PG: Chance Westry (6-6, 205, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 15.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 5.5 APG, 1.3 SPG (UAB)
SG: Tru Washington (6-4, 210, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 11.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.8 SPG, 35.2 3P% (Miami-Fla)
SF: Ruben Dominguez (6-6, 214, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 10.2 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.4 APG, 40.0 3P% (Texas A&M)
PF: Jovan Milicevic (6-10, 241, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 12.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.4 APG, 42.9 3P%
C: Mike Nwoko (6-10, 260, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 13.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 0.8 APG, 61.0 FG% (LSU)
6: Gabriel Pozzato (6-7, 200, Rs.-So.)
* Redshirted 2025-26 season with knee injury
2024-25 stats: 14.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.3 SPG (Evansville)
7: Rolyns Aligbe (6-9, 243, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 9.5 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 0.7 APG, 1.0 SPG, 34.8 3P% (Southern Illinois)
8: Kalek House (6-3, 200, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 100 ranked recruit
9: Nikos Chitikoudis (6-9, 235, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 11.3 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 1.8 APG, 54.7 FG% (Robert Morris)
10: Braden Appelhans (6-6, 200, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 5.3 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 0.5 APG, 40.0 3P% (Drake)
11: Asher Elson (6-11, 200, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 248 ranked recruit
12: Kason Westphal (7-0, 260, Rs.-Fr.)
*Sat out 2025-26 season
Xavier basketball team MVP: Tru Washington
While Jovan Milicevic will also be a focal point of Xavier’s offense, Washington is their best two-way player. I already mentioned his capabilities on defense, but at Miami (Fla), he was also a steady scorer and playmaker. And coming over from one of the best teams in the ACC, Washington should be poised to have a career year where he can pair up with Westry and form a very solid backcourt.
My favorite thing about Washington’s game? While he can hit the three-point shot, he doesn’t rely on it. He knows when and how to attack the basketball and should give Xavier some toughness that the program likes to brand itself on. And in transition, he’s arguably at his best, as Washington’s pace and court awareness are some of the best in college basketball.
Xavier basketball make-or-break player: Kalek House
If there is one thing to fault Richard Pitino for Xavier basketball’s offseason, it’s for not bringing in much guard depth. While the starting backcourt will be above-average in the Big East, the bench is extremely thin. The first guard off the bench may be Kalek House, a four-star freshman.
In fact, the only other guard who should get minutes in relief is Braden Applehans, who only averaged about five per game last year for Drake.
Essentially, if and when Westry or Washington get into foul trouble, House will have to play steady minutes. There won’t be much time for the freshman to grow up, and while most freshmen would love this playing time, it concerns me that Xavier didn’t grab at least one more steady guard in the transfer portal.
Key statistic: 2P% and Opponent 2P%
One of the main reasons Xavier basketball struggled to defend last season was because of post play. And offensively, they also struggled to match up down low. Xavier shot less than 50% as a team from inside the arc and allowed opponents to make 55.3% of their two-pointers. Offensively, that was just inside the top 300. Defensively, it was in the bottom 50 in the country. This puts lots of pressure on Pitino and Xavier’s new bigs to figure it out.
Mike Nwoko, the transfer from LSU, will have a lot on his hands because his running mate in the frontcourt, Jovan Milicevic, is more of a stretch-four type of player. Off the bench, the Musketeers should be much more physical with the pieces they added, but in the starting five, it’s still mostly finesse guys. It’ll be interesting to see if this becomes a problem again, of if the Musketeers can figure their woes out.
Xavier basketball 2026-27 projections
Projected conference finish: 7th in the Big East
Projected postseason ceiling: