Worst Freshman Class this Century

[xu koop scoop]

Using 2000 as a point of reference, is this our worst Freshman Class in that period? We have Kennedy as option #8 or 9 & James as option #10 in what is normally a 7 man rotation. On top of that it's our worst team since 1995 or before. Last year we had Naji as a starter,
Scruggs as option #6 or 7 on our only #1 seed ever. Plus Harden as a non-factor. Two seasons ago we had Gooden & Jones. Gooden did ok when forced to start due to Sumner injury & Jones got some valuable Freshman time. None of those classes were exceptional, leaving us what he have so far this season. If the thread takes off, we can hopefull review multiple Freshman classes. But the current one appears horrible, though we seldom give Kennedy or James a chance during game time.

[Xville]

I think it is too early to tell in regards to this class because there is plenty of time to develop both of these guys.

2010 Class turned out to be pretty freaking terrible considering the size of the class...

Jay Canty, Griffin Mckenzie, Jordan Latham, and Justin Martin.

2009 Class I think was just Jeff Robinson...yikes

2013 Class was Brandon Randolph and Kamall Richards

Some of these classes may be off because im using 24/7 as a reference and I'm not sure if it is entirely accurate. However if so, there is a lot of competition for worst class.

This thread is going to be depressing.

[AviatorX]

I think it is too early to tell in regards to this class because there is plenty of time to develop both of these guys.

2010 Class turned out to be pretty freaking terrible considering the size of the class...

Jay Canty, Griffin Mckenzie, Jordan Latham, and Justin Martin.

2009 Class I think was just Jeff Robinson...yikes

2013 Class was Brandon Randolph and Kamall Richards

Some of these classes may be off because im using 24/7 as a reference and I'm not sure if it is entirely accurate. However if so, there is a lot of competition for worst class.

This thread is going to be depressing.

Kamall Richards. Even as a die hard fan that closely follows recruiting, I had totally forgotten about that guy.

[MITTENMUSKIE16]

I don’t understand how dontarius gets absolutely no run. Unlike KK, he seems to be physically ready for BE basketball, but not knowledgeable enough about the system yet. Not an elite athlete, but he seems to be able to shoot and move a bit. I’m curious about the unknown with him.


On a side note, if we get Harvey that leaves only 2 spots for Eli, KK and DJ. And if we want a grad transfer that only leaves one.

[GoMuskies]

On top of that it's our worst team since 1995 or before.

I would make this team a 5 point favorite over the 2013 team. Also, I think you meant 1996. The '95 team was 23-5 (23-3 until some bad things started happening).

[Xville]

I would make this team a 5 point favorite over the 2013 team. Also, I think you meant 1996. The '95 team was 23-5 (23-3 until some bad things started happening).

you know what makes that team and this year's team similar besides you know talent deficiencies and sucking? Neither of the teams shoot worth a darn outside of 1-2 guys at most.

That team had Redford, D Davis....This team has Scruggs and Welage. Now, Redford attempted about 5 threes a game and Scruggs only attempts about 3 but I did still find it surprising that Paul has a better 3pg % than Redford currently.... .464 vs. .446

What this tells me is a couple of things....Paul needs to shoot more, and X is going to be lucky to hold on to the guy for one more year. He's got pretty much everything that the NBA is going to want.

[OTRMUSKIE]

Which leads me to my conclusion that MACK
sucked and still sucks. Steele has some ballers coming in next year. How many guys did Mack get that were actually good? Trey was UCLA commit before coming here. Crawford was Indiana. TU I believe was all Mack?

[Xville]

Which leads me to my conclusion that MACK
sucked and still sucks. Steele has some ballers coming in next year. How many guys did Mack get that were actually good? Trey was UCLA commit before coming here. Crawford was Indiana. TU I believe was all Mack?

While I am not a fan of Mack, this is a little much. Who cares how he got them, he got them. My issue with Mack in recruiting is that he seemed to do well one year, and then take the next year off or strike out a lot.

[webxu]

Which leads me to my conclusion that MACK
sucked and still sucks. Steele has some ballers coming in next year. How many guys did Mack get that were actually good? Trey was UCLA commit before coming here. Crawford was Indiana. TU I believe was all Mack?

TU was also headed to Indiana if Samson didn’t get canned.

[Muskie]

TU was also headed to Indiana if Samson didn’t get canned.

Tu and Crawford were both Kelvin Sampson gifts.

[XU 87]

Tu and Crawford were both Kelvin Sampson gifts.

And gifts from Tom Crean, who basically told both they weren't wanted anymore.

[bleedXblue]

Nothing says I love you to our freshman class than posts like these.............

[XUGRAD80]

20 games into a 4 year career is nowhere near enough time to make a call like this. No telling how these players will turn out.

Anyone remember the kid from Cleveland (?) that was our ONLY recruit one year and left after a year? Now THAT was a bad class.

[XU 87]

20 games into a 4 year career is nowhere near enough time to make a call like this. No telling how these players will turn out.

Anyone remember the kid from Cleveland (?) that was our ONLY recruit one year and left after a year? Now THAT was a bad class.

Joey Rey (from St. I?). At the time, he was a pretty big recruit for X. He transferred to Cleveland State, and I think he did so after his first semester at X. Rumor was he had a girlfriend in Cleveland and was also homesick. The other rumor was Cleveland State was recruiting him to transfer while he was still at X.

He had a fairly mediocre career at Cleveland State.

I just checked- Rey has no career stats with X. I remember seeing him in a game in a X uniform, but maybe it was a preseason game. MOR, got any insight on this one?

[xu koop scoop]

Since I started this thread, the point I failed to emphasize is that you should have 1 or more Freshmen in your 6 to 8 man rotation if you are recruiting well. I don't want to demean Kennedy or James, but our best players usually start or are part of a normal rotation as Frosh. Think JP, Tre, Tu, Lyons, Sumner, West, Cage, Duncan, Spellman, Sato. Why don't our current 2 fit into our weak but valiant personnel portfolio

[MITTENMUSKIE16]

Yeah, it doesn’t bode well for them moving forward that they haven’t been able to crack the lineup with anything resembling regularity on a team that is 11-10. They aren’t blind to this fact, and they see the type of guys and sheer number of guys that the staff is targeting and getting. If we do add another 2019 guy it all but assures we won’t have two of Eli, KK, and dontarius on the roster next year.

[xu koop scoop]

Since I started this thread, the point I failed to emphasize is that you should have 1 or more Freshmen in your 6 to 8 man rotation if you are recruiting well. I don't want to demean Kennedy or James, but our best players usually start or are part of a normal rotation as Frosh. Think JP, Tre, Tu, Lyons, Sumner, West, Cage, Duncan, Spellman, Sato. Why don't our current 2 fit into our weak but valiant personnel portfolio

If someone reads Spellman as a key Frosh, blame Damn spell check. I typed Doellman & it changed it to Spellman. Just try typing Doellman

[bjf123]

If someone reads Spellman as a key Frosh, blame Damn spell check. I typed Doellman & it changed it to Spellman. Just try typing Doellman

Doellman - no autocorrect!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[joe titan]

Joey Rey (from St. I?). At the time, he was a pretty big recruit for X. He transferred to Cleveland State, and I think he did so after his first semester at X. Rumor was he had a girlfriend in Cleveland and was also homesick. The other rumor was Cleveland State was recruiting him to transfer while he was still at X.

He had a fairly mediocre career at Cleveland State.

I just checked- Rey has no career stats with X. I remember seeing him in a game in a X uniform, but maybe it was a preseason game. MOR, got any insight on this one?

IIRC he was from St Joseph High School; was solid ball handler and passer; was not a starter & did not return in January much to Coach Gillen's chagrin.

[XUGRAD80]

Joey Rey (from St. I?). At the time, he was a pretty big recruit for X. He transferred to Cleveland State, and I think he did so after his first semester at X. Rumor was he had a girlfriend in Cleveland and was also homesick. The other rumor was Cleveland State was recruiting him to transfer while he was still at X.

He had a fairly mediocre career at Cleveland State.

I just checked- Rey has no career stats with X. I remember seeing him in a game in a X uniform, but maybe it was a preseason game. MOR, got any insight on this one?

Yeah....that’s who I was thinking of

[nuts4xu]

I just checked- Rey has no career stats with X. I remember seeing him in a game in a X uniform, but maybe it was a preseason game. MOR, got any insight on this one?

He was there long enough to make the team picture, but I don't know if he even made it to the semester break before he transferred. He was the only Frosh that season, and that team had seniors like Jamie Gladden and Aaron Williams. Brian Grant, Tyrice Walker, Erik Edwards, DeWayne Wilson were all juniors, with a soph class that included Mike Hawkins and Larry Sykes. It was my sophomore year at X, and my first as a team manager. It was the year we lost to Damon Bailey led Indiana in the NCAA tourney.

[Muskie4106]

All time recent recruits ranked by 24/7

https://247sports.com/college/xavier/Sport/Basketball/AllTimeRecruits/

[XUGRAD80]

All time recent recruits ranked by 24/7

https://247sports.com/college/xavier/Sport/Basketball/AllTimeRecruits/

Based on that, the class of 2010 wasn’t much to brag about either. Martin was the only one that earned any significant playing time, and he was one of the most disappointing X players of all time.

[BigMoeMusketeer]

Which leads me to my conclusion that MACK
sucked and still sucks. Steele has some ballers coming in next year.

This post won't age well. I'll take Mack's 9-year resume' here over Travis' 9 years (if he survives that long) for whatever you want.

[xukeith]

I remember Martin as talented and a good 3 point shooter. He won the Crosstown Meeting after the brawl.

[MITTENMUSKIE16]

This post won't age well. I'll take Mack's 9-year resume' here over Travis' 9 years (if he survives that long) for whatever you want.

apples to oranges. Mack had 4 years in the A-10 to get his feet wet. Then proceeded to go 10-8 and 9-9 in his first two years in the Big East in conference play. If Steele continues to nab the recruits he's getting, I think he'll be able to go at least 57- 33 in 5 Big East seasons.

[Blue Blooded-05]

All time recent recruits ranked by 24/7

https://247sports.com/college/xavier/Sport/Basketball/AllTimeRecruits/

I didn’t realize Tu was ranked that low. What a gem.

I’d like to add my Freshman class of 2001 to the ballot. Thad’s first year. Keith Jackson was an incredible athlete and a great guy, but just never put it together in 4 years. Jaison Williams transferred out after his Freshman year to Oklahoma and had a decent career, but did nothing with X. Anthony Coleman was 7 feet tall but weighed 110 pounds. He never saw the floor and also transferred. Will Caudle supposedly “dominated” David West in practice, yet couldn’t seem to do it against Duquesne.

In fairness to Kennedy and James, there have been a few guys that ended up to be solid contributors after riding the bench as freshman. Jason Love averaged 4 minutes per game as a freshman. James Farr averaged 3.2 MPG. BJ Raymond only averaged 11 MPG as a freshman. Dante Jackson averaged 10.4 MPG. Jaylen Reynolds averaged 12.9 MPG. JP Madura averaged 13.2 MPG.

This year, Keonte Kennedy is averaging 13.5 MPG. Dontarius James is averaging 4.6 MPG.

There is still plenty of time for Kennedy and James to turn the corner. However, in today’s transfer happy game, it just might not be in a Xavier uniform.

[drudy23]

All time recent recruits ranked by 24/7

https://247sports.com/college/xavier/Sport/Basketball/AllTimeRecruits/

Another reason to love Tu Holloway. I still miss him.

And Tre delivered on that ranking, and then some. Hopefully Scruggs does the same. He needs to be the focal point.

Great value from JP too.

I'm not sure if this paints a good picture for recruiting rankings, or a lukewarm one.

[XU 87]

I'm not sure if this paints a good picture for recruiting rankings, or a lukewarm one.

My view on the rankings is that they can somewhat accurately predict a player's future success.

I am sure there are more recruits in the NBA who were ranked in the top 20 than recruits who were ranked 80-100. And I 'm sure there are more 80-100 recruits in the NBA than recruits ranked 180-200.

[GoMuskies]

There aren't that many Ja Morants.

[Cincypunk.org]

I didn’t realize Tu was ranked that low. What a gem.

I’d like to add my Freshman class of 2001 to the ballot. Thad’s first year. Keith Jackson was an incredible athlete and a great guy, but just never put it together in 4 years. Jaison Williams transferred out after his Freshman year to Oklahoma and had a decent career, but did nothing with X. Anthony Coleman was 7 feet tall but weighed 110 pounds. He never saw the floor and also transferred. Will Caudle supposedly “dominated” David West in practice, yet couldn’t seem to do it against Duquesne.

In fairness to Kennedy and James, there have been a few guys that ended up to be solid contributors after riding the bench as freshman. Jason Love averaged 4 minutes per game as a freshman. James Farr averaged 3.2 MPG. BJ Raymond only averaged 11 MPG as a freshman. Dante Jackson averaged 10.4 MPG. Jaylen Reynolds averaged 12.9 MPG. JP Madura averaged 13.2 MPG.

This year, Keonte Kennedy is averaging 13.5 MPG. Dontarius James is averaging 4.6 MPG.

There is still plenty of time for Kennedy and James to turn the corner. However, in today’s transfer happy game, it just might not be in a Xavier uniform.


I freaking loved Will Caudle and his floor slaps and the breakaway dunks of Keith Jackson. I enjoyed those guys a lot. Not every player.is a Justin Diellman or Tu Holloway. You need the four-year glue guys too.

[Cincypunk.org]

I didn’t realize Tu was ranked that low. What a gem.

I’d like to add my Freshman class of 2001 to the ballot. Thad’s first year. Keith Jackson was an incredible athlete and a great guy, but just never put it together in 4 years. Jaison Williams transferred out after his Freshman year to Oklahoma and had a decent career, but did nothing with X. Anthony Coleman was 7 feet tall but weighed 110 pounds. He never saw the floor and also transferred. Will Caudle supposedly “dominated” David West in practice, yet couldn’t seem to do it against Duquesne.

In fairness to Kennedy and James, there have been a few guys that ended up to be solid contributors after riding the bench as freshman. Jason Love averaged 4 minutes per game as a freshman. James Farr averaged 3.2 MPG. BJ Raymond only averaged 11 MPG as a freshman. Dante Jackson averaged 10.4 MPG. Jaylen Reynolds averaged 12.9 MPG. JP Madura averaged 13.2 MPG.

This year, Keonte Kennedy is averaging 13.5 MPG. Dontarius James is averaging 4.6 MPG.

There is still plenty of time for Kennedy and James to turn the corner. However, in today’s transfer happy game, it just might not be in a Xavier uniform.

Has Dontarius James played more than 15 minutes all year?

[BMoreX]

Has Dontarius James played more than 15 minutes all year?

36 mins according to ESPN Stats and Info

[Juice]

Grand jury indicts Jake Walter on charges of rape, sodomy
Posted: 1:54 PM, Jan 31, 2019 Updated: 1:56 PM, Jan 31, 2019
By: WCPO staff
items.[0].image.alt
BURLINGTON, Ky. — A Boone County grand jury indicted a man on charges of rape and sodomy.



See More ▸
Jacob Walter, an 18-year-old former Covington Catholic basketball standout who had been committed to play for Xavier University but never enrolled in classes there, was indicted on Jan. 22, according to the court clerk.

Walter, who is 7 feet tall and weighs 300 pounds, is accused of pinning a woman down, choking her and raping her until she bled, according to the Boone County Sheriff's Department. Deputies arrested Walter in December.

Court records show that Walter was previously registered as a juvenile sex offender for a rape authorities said he committed just weeks before his 18th birthday.

Walter is the son of former Cincinnati Bengal Joe Walter.

A judge previously set Jacob Walter's bond at $250,000. Records indicate he's still being held in the Boone County Jail.


Another arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 6.

Copyright 2019 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This

[xu koop scoop]

Your best Freshmen usually start or are part of normal rotation their 1st year. That being said, many of our Best Freshmen were in 2000 or prior to that.
Larkin comes to mind. Then our bevy of future NBA stars or at least good NBA starters. Tyrone Hill, Derrick Strong, Aaron Williams, Brian Grant, James Posey,
David West. All these NBA guys played before any of our Elite 8 Teams. Hill, Strong & Williams were all part of our 1st Sweet 16 Team in 1990.
We haven't had anybody since David West that became a regular NBA fixture. Jordan Crawford had some NBA success, but we only had 1 year from him.
Considering our lack of future NBA starters in nearly 20 years it speaks volumes to the ability of our coaches to get the most out of our talent

[XUBison]

...We haven't had anybody since David West that became a regular NBA fixture. Jordan Crawford had some NBA success, but we only had 1 year from him.
Considering our lack of future NBA starters in nearly 20 years it speaks volumes to the ability of our coaches to get the most out of our talent

I get your point, but I think the picture you are painting is a little overstated. Since West... Chalmers, Sato, D. Young, D. Brown, Crawford, Semaj, Sumner, Tre, J.P., and even somehow Kaiser have all gotten at least a whiff of the NBA. I think this says more about how good the NBA is, and how hard it is to stick.

[smileyy]

NBA players are better than ever.