2025-26 Season Recap:
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16-18 record, 6-14 in conference play
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Finished in 10th place in the Big East, tied with Georgetown
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Lost to Connecticut in the Big East Tournament (Quarterfinals)
Head Coach: Richard Pitino returns for his second season at the helm.
Departing players:
Tre Carroll – Graduation (17.8 PPG)
Malik Messina-Moore – Graduation/Transfer Portal (10.9 PPG)
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Roddie Anderson III – Seton Hall (10.9 PPG)
All Wright – Loyola Marymount (7.5 PPG)
Isaiah Walker – Graduation (4.7 PPG)
Anthony Robinson – Pepperdine (2.3 PPG)
Pape N’Diaye – Kansas State (2 PPG)
Ian Sabourin – Graduation (1.2 PPG)
Mier Panoam – Transfer Portal (0.9 PPG)
Michael Wolf – Graduation (0 PPG)
Returning Players:
Jovan Milicevic – 6’10” junior who averaged 12.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game on 42.9% from three.
Filip Borovicanin – 6’9” senior who averaged 10.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game on 34.9% from three. Borovicanin was recently ruled eligible and recommitted to Xavier.
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Gabriel Pozzato – 6’7” redshirt sophomore who sat out last season due to knee surgery. Pozzato averaged 14.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals in the 2024-25 season.
Kason Westphal – 7’ redshirt freshman who sat out the 2025-26 season.
Henry Thole – 6’7” junior walk-on who scored three points in five games played.
New Players:
Mike Nwoko – 6’10” senior transfer from LSU who averaged 13.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game on 61% from the floor.
Tru Washington – 6’4” senior transfer from Miami (FL) who averaged 11.9 points, 4 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game on 35.2% from three. Washington played for Richard Pitino at New Mexico.
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Chance Westry – 6’6” junior transfer from UAB who averaged 15.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.3 steals on 48.7% from the floor and 24.1% from deep.
Ruben Dominguez – 6’6” junior transfer from Texas A&M who averaged 10.2 points and 2.3 rebounds on 40% from three.
Rolyns Aligbe – 6’9” junior transfer from Southern Illinois who averaged 9.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1 steal per game on 34.8% from three.
Nikolaos Chitikoudis – 6’9” senior transfer from Robert Morris who averaged 11.3 points and 7.7 rebounds on 54.7% from the floor.
Braden Appelhans – 6’6” senior transfer from Drake who averaged 5.3 points per game on 40% from three.
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Kalek House – 6’3” freshman who is a four-star recruit on 247Sports (109th nationally).
Asher Elson – 6’10” freshman who is a three-star recruit on 247Sports (30th ranked PF).
Harrison Aligbe – 6’8” freshman who is an unranked recruit. Brother of Rolyns Aligbe.
Gedeon Basson – 6’1” freshman who is unranked on 247Sports.
Overall thoughts:
Richard Pitino clearly had a talent deficit in his first season with the Musketeers, but that won’t be the case this time around. Returning second-leading scorer Jovan Milicevic is a great start, and the recent re-addition of Filip Borovicanin was a great way to (presumably) finish the roster. But between those two points, Pitino did a lot of work in the transfer portal.
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The crown jewel of the class is LSU transfer Mike Nwoko, who put up legitimate numbers in one of the top leagues in the sport. Returning to play for Pitino is Tru Washington, who played for him at New Mexico before a pit stop in Miami. Chance Westry has been all over the place, but as a big point guard he produced at a high level at UAB. Rounding out the starting five (with Milicevic) will likely be either Ruben Dominguez to add shooting, or Xavier’s leading scorer from the 2024-25 season, Gabriel Pozzato, who missed last year due to knee surgery.
Either way, Xavier will go at least nine deep with contributions from one of the reserve big men, Aligbe or Chitikoudis (my guess is the former), and freshman Kalek House, who projects as the backup point guard. Xavier got an increased budget for this upcoming season, and it shows in the talent that Pitino was able to put together. The coaches will likely be picking the Musketeers somewhere in the four-to-six range in the conference, and making the NCAA Tournament should be a minimum expectation.
