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NEW YORK CITY − Last year at Big East Media Day, Xavier head coach Sean Miller said it was “like putting a puzzle together” when it came to his team, which was a shell of the squad that had gone to the Sweet 16 just a few months earlier.
Every year offers a new puzzle for Miller and his coaching staff, but it’s not as complex this fall with the Musketeers’ reloaded roster.
“We have more pieces,” Miller told The Enquirer Wednesday during Big East media day, the unofficial start to the college basketball season.
The last time Xavier was at Madison Square Garden, the program’s worst season in nearly three decades was nearing its end after a loss to eventual national champion UConn in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.
A lot can change in seven months.
“This year is different because we’re older and much more experienced,” Miller said. “We’re more advanced at the moment than we were a year ago.”
More: Xavier Musketeers basketball opens up in CareSource Charity Classic with win over Dayton
Xavier picked to finish 3rd in Big East preseason poll
Xavier is in a much better spot than a year ago, and the rest of the Big East, an 11-coach group that has an average 313 career wins with DePaul’s hiring of Chris Holtmann, is taking notice.
Xavier, which is unranked heading into the season (No. 28 AP), was picked to finish third in the Big East in the preseason coaches’ poll.
Xavier head coach Sean Miller has led the Musketeers to the NCAA Tournament in five of his seven seasons.
If that prediction holds true, Xavier would be just the fourth team since conference realignment (2013) to get a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament one year after posting a losing record.
‘We have to own it every day.’
By now, the Xavier brass has hammered home the “All In” mantra to this season. There’s a docuseries premiering next month with that phrase leading off the title. Where did it come from?
It started to show up in social media hashtags this spring. For Miller, it’s always been a part of what he’s…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/origin-mike-tomlin-xavier-puzzle-011643289.html
Author : Cincinnati.com | The Enquirer
Publish date : 2024-10-24 01:16:00
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