Non-Conference Schedule Released

Xavier officially released the non-conference portion of the schedule today and boy will this be an exciting season for our Muskies.  Marquette (1st round of Old Spice Classic), Kansas State, Butler, Cincinnati, Florida, LSU, Wake Forest and either Creighton or Michigan (per the 2nd round of the Old Spice Classic) round out the best match-ups for us fans to look forward to.

This non-conference schedule has to be one of the toughest in the country.  Clearly, there is a bit of unknown with first year head coach Chris Mack.  And much like last year surely there will be at least a couple setbacks.  So it will be interesting to see how Mack and the players react to those potential situations.  But I must admit I am not terribly worried about this.  And besides, today is not the day for that type of speculation.

Now that we have actual teams and dates to look forward to we, or maybe just me, can finally start to look forward to the upcoming season a scant three months away.  What with $ean Miller leaving and having to endure the ensuing coaching change and the bizarre tale of Jordan Crawford’s dunk (Thanks for the free pub Lebron!) this off-season has definitely been memorable.  Some good like the commitments of  Darwin Davis and Jay Canty and one big bad with Miller going to Arizona.  But in the end, if he didn’t wanna stay, then good riddance.

It’s hard not to feel anything but optimism with the direction this program continues to take.  The year in and year out ambition of our non-conference schedules continues to prove to the country that Xavier will not mess around and we are to be taken seriously as a true national player in college basketball.

All hail Mike Bobinski and let’s go X!

Mack-Attack

 

A man happy to be our coach.

Any true Xavier fan trusts Mike Bobinski with everything they have.  I think some students need to get on the ball here and make some shirts that read, “In Bobo I trust.”  I know I’d buy one.

From the word go hiring Chris Mack seemed like the logical decision.  The players are behind him, he’s a Cincy guy, and a Xavier grad/man.  And as he mentioned in the press conference today, people thought he was nuts to leave Wake Forest when they were the number 1 team to start the season with Chris Paul.  He left because he wanted to coach in his hometown and his university.   

I find it interesting that almost nothing was found out about other coaching candidates during the search process.  Darrin Horn came out twice and denied being linked to job.  Other than the known interview with Mack nothing else was known about the search.  Bobo made it clear there was a great list of potential candidates who were very interested in the vacancy.  This is why Mike Bobinski is one of the best athletic directors in the country.  

Speaking of Bobo…

Go get some sleep buddy.  Guy’s probably been averaging about 4 hours a night the past month at least.  From being on the selection committee and all the stress that process can incur to traveling to different tournament sites to having to rush back to Cincinnati in order to suddenly try to keep a coach he thought would never leave to then having to undergo a week and a half long coaching search to keep the Xavier machine chugging along.  That’s a tough month to get through.  Do yourself a favor and take a nice vacation, Bobo, because you’ve earned it.  

Filling out the coaching staff, keeping Kevin Parrom on board and Derrick’s decision to turn pro or return for his senior season are the next big things on the horizon for this unexpected tumultuous off-season.

It’ll be awesome to have Brian Thornton on the staff next year in the position of Director of Basketball Operations.  

Some optimism has been preserved for this kid and that’s all I can ask/hope for at this point…

Let’s go X!