One thing Xavier still needed was a little depth. Sure, they had retained their best player and the guy who was supposed to be their best player, added a point guard, added an elite defender, and added a shooter, but sometimes guys need to rest, right? Yes, Evan Miyakawa did say the roster as compiled was a top 25 type roster, but there’s always room for more talent.
Enter Rolyns Aligbe. Rolyns is a large lad, standing 6-9 and weighing 240. As you can see above, there isn’t a lot of wasted timber on that frame. Last season, his sophomore year, Aligbe averaged 9.5/7.4/0.7 on 46.7% from the floor and 34.8% from three. He was 65th in the nation in defensive rebounding rate (23%) and 179th in offensive rebounding rate (11%). That’s elite type rebounding and it came with a 3.1% block rate and only moderate fouling issues.
Advertisement
Aligbe took a massive jump forward in his sophomore year. His 108 offensive efficiency rating was up 21 points from the year before. He shot free throws 12% better than the year before. He was better from the floor, took 54 more threes, saw his usage increase, fouled less… you get the idea. He played 24.5 very effective minutes per game.
Against Drake in the conference tournament Rolyns grabbed 16 rebounds, one of twice he did that and six times he had double digit rebounds. His best game was probably a Northern Iowa contest in which he went for 21/10/1, was 4-4 from deep, and committed only one foul in 32 minutes. Only six times in 32 games did he not have at least six rebounds.
Joining Rolyns is his younger brother Harrison, a 6-8 forward from St. Andrews Prep in Barrington, Rhode Island. Harrison is a two star recruit who profiles far more as a wing than he does a post. He’s a solid shooter and defender who probably needs a bit of time to develop before he can be a consistent contributor.
So, once again, Coach Pitino has out done himself. Can we just start the season now?
