A sad day for Xavier

[markchal]

We got what much of the fan base wanted, which was a change.

At the same time, it's still an incredible bummer that the Steele era ended this way. Steele has been at Xavier a long time, was an instrumental part of some of our biggest successes, and was the coach the fanbase wanted after Mack. I think every Xavier fan wanted it to work out for him, and it really sucks it didn't.

Don't get me wrong, I support the move, but I'll also be appreciative for what he brought to the program over his decade plus here.

At least we'll always have him throwing down thousands at Dana's after drilling UC year after year, perhaps his truly memorable high point as a coach.

[UCGRAD4X]

Not with a bang, but with a whimper.

This will forever leave an indelible stain on the long and storied tradition of Xavier Basketball. It is a bit hard to get excited but glad that particular inevitability is behind us.

The negative ramifications of the Travisty are far from over.

A sad day indeed.

[murray87]

It means the administration isn't OK with mediocre and that's a good thing.

[xukeith]

It means the administration isn't OK with mediocre and that's a good thing.

High standards are back For X.

[xukeith]

It means the administration isn't OK with mediocre and that's a good thing.

High standards are back For X.

[drudy23]

I'm not sad.

[IM4X]

We got what much of the fan base wanted, which was a change.

At the same time, it's still an incredible bummer that the Steele era ended this way. Steele has been at Xavier a long time, was an instrumental part of some of our biggest successes, and was the coach the fanbase wanted after Mack. I think every Xavier fan wanted it to work out for him, and it really sucks it didn't.

Don't get me wrong, I support the move, but I'll also be appreciative for what he brought to the program over his decade plus here.

At least we'll always have him throwing down thousands at Dana's after drilling UC year after year, perhaps his truly memorable high point as a coach.

Agree that it would have been great if Travis had been able to show he could do more and be the next X coach to keep The X brand humming. After 4 years of not making the Tournament, this decision had to happen. The expectation are the expectations. He is a nice guy and he has done alot for the program (particularly in recruiting). He certainly deserves our gratitude.

[paulxu]

I'll be the contrarian.
Would have liked to have seen him get another year; understand that would have been hard on recruiting with no contract extension.
But he's coached, as K did, with limited success in 4 years, hampered by Covid (and yes, I know everyone was).
Just think he might have done better next year.
Perhaps the current roster is not quite as good as we all think, and it showed throughout the stretch.
Can't deny the late session slides. But pretending we're all better coaches for in-game decisions seems like a lot of hubris.

Wish him well and hope he lands a good job somewhere.

[xucub]

It is a sad day because a man lost his dream job in a very public forum. He will have to move to a new city and start over again. This impacts his wife and his family and this will probably haunt him for life. That being said, it is the gig he signed up for and he knew full well that this stuff can happen. Wish it had worked out better for him and for X, but it is what it is. From all of us to one of us: Good luck and God speed, Coach Steele!!

[JTG]

I'll be the contrarian.
Would have liked to have seen him get another year; understand that would have been hard on recruiting with no contract extension.
But he's coached, as K did, with limited success in 4 years, hampered by Covid (and yes, I know everyone was).
Just think he might have done better next year.
Perhaps the current roster is not quite as good as we all think, and it showed throughout the stretch.
Can't deny the late session slides. But pretending we're all better coaches for in-game decisions seems like a lot of hubris.

Wish him well and hope he lands a good job somewhere.

Part of coaching is making what you have work. Adjusting your system to the talent on hand. You can't keep trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

[bourbonman]

Yes, sad day. Anyone who’s ever been involved with letting someone go (either deserved or random) knows that it’s emotionally charged and sad for all parties, including family. Yet, all will heal and move forward. Good luck to Travis and his family and friends. Let’s go X.

[CP05XU08CU13]

Agree that it would have been great if Travis had been able to show he could do more and be the next X coach to keep The X brand humming. After 4 years of not making the Tournament, this decision had to happen. The expectation are the expectations. He is a nice guy and he has done alot for the program (particularly in recruiting). He certainly deserves our gratitude.

I absolutely agree with this sentiment as well, but the writing was on the wall. When you oversee what most sports news outlets deem is an "epic collapse" then you can expect that will be the end of your tenure. He was an excellent assistant, and was the logical choice to hire after Mack left. He should not be shocked by this decision as he knows what the expectations of Xavier basketball are. He may be better suited for a mid major program where the expectations are not as high. I hope he finds success elsewhere. In the end, its not personal...its business and the results speak for themselves.

[American X]

I appreciate the years that Travis Steele dedicated to Xavier and wish him the best.

Now he is free to explore his hoodie model career.

[MHettel]

I think the current "February Flop" was the straw that broke the camels back, but it's not difficult to see the failures over his entire 4 year term

1. He inherited Goodin, Scruggs, Naji and Tyrique and they flopped pretty miserably in his first year. That was a pretty good group to start of your HC career with. They all just played key roles on a #1 seed. They were called the "core 4" for a reason.

2. He brought in Hankins, Welage and Castlin to support the core 4, which should have been enough. He didnt find a way to use that roster and simply blew it in year 1. There was enough to at least make the tourney.

3. Year 2 was "Naji unchained." Look the offense sucked. So Naji just freelanced whenever he wanted. Steele couldnt stop it. How could he take out his best player, and how could he deny that Naji's freelancing was actually BETTER than the crap offense he was trying to run?

4. Year 2 was also the beginning of the Jason Carter experiment. How could you NOT see that Carter wasnt a BE caliber front court player? Undersized and unathletic. Carter was an avergae shooter AT BEST at OU, but we got fooled into thinking he was more. He was locked in as a starter the moment he got here. His limitations were obvious and hurt the team....

5. Mismanaging Tandy.

6. Mismanaging Stanley.

7. Lack of development for a bunch of guys that transferred (James and Ramsey among others) and of course Miles who always seems to be one year away from being the BE DPOY.

8. Bottom 30% in the country in 3PA each year while taking top 30% number of attempts.

9. Decreasing rate of getting to the FT line, which was a HALLMARK of our best XU teams

10. Terrible in-game strategy and adjustments. MULTIPLE times we fouled late in big games under boneheaded circumstances.

11. Sticking with Hunter, when it became obvious he had a low BBall IQ, and limited skills. He certainly LOOKED the part, but he was a minus on offense, and defense.

This list of things that went poorly simply DWARFS the list of things that went well. We may tend to recognize that Christopher did the difficult task of separating with Steele, but was it really difficult? Should have been easy

[D-West & PO-Z]

I'm not sad.

I've never been as excited as a Xavier fan about anything outside of a reg season or tourney win. I am so excited. I pray like hell we are getting Sean Miller but even if we don't this is exciting news.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Perhaps the current roster is not quite as good as we all think, and it showed throughout the stretch.


This very well may be true, but this isn't something that saves Steele, it is just another of many knocks against him.

[muskieindent]

Sad because you hate to fire a coach.I'd rather have coaches leave because they were successful. The timing makes me question why they too the NIT bid. Did they just decide after last night to fire him? Seems strange unless they have a new coach in line

[xu82]

By all accounts he’s a good guy with talents. He just found himself in a job for which he was not well suited at this point in time. I appreciate his efforts and wish him well going forward.

[GoMuskies]

I'm sad for all the beer currently in my fridge that has no chance of surviving the night.

[Wheelhouse]

I think the current "February Flop" was the straw that broke the camels back, but it's not difficult to see the failures over his entire 4 year term

1. He inherited Goodin, Scruggs, Naji and Tyrique and they flopped pretty miserably in his first year. That was a pretty good group to start of your HC career with. They all just played key roles on a #1 seed. They were called the "core 4" for a reason.

2. He brought in Hankins, Welage and Castlin to support the core 4, which should have been enough. He didnt find a way to use that roster and simply blew it in year 1. There was enough to at least make the tourney.

3. Year 2 was "Naji unchained." Look the offense sucked. So Naji just freelanced whenever he wanted. Steele couldnt stop it. How could he take out his best player, and how could he deny that Naji's freelancing was actually BETTER than the crap offense he was trying to run?

4. Year 2 was also the beginning of the Jason Carter experiment. How could you NOT see that Carter wasnt a BE caliber front court player? Undersized and unathletic. Carter was an avergae shooter AT BEST at OU, but we got fooled into thinking he was more. He was locked in as a starter the moment he got here. His limitations were obvious and hurt the team....

5. Mismanaging Tandy.

6. Mismanaging Stanley.

7. Lack of development for a bunch of guys that transferred (James and Ramsey among others) and of course Miles who always seems to be one year away from being the BE DPOY.

8. Bottom 30% in the country in 3PA each year while taking top 30% number of attempts.

9. Decreasing rate of getting to the FT line, which was a HALLMARK of our best XU teams

10. Terrible in-game strategy and adjustments. MULTIPLE times we fouled late in big games under boneheaded circumstances.

11. Sticking with Hunter, when it became obvious he had a low BBall IQ, and limited skills. He certainly LOOKED the part, but he was a minus on offense, and defense.

This list of things that went poorly simply DWARFS the list of things that went well. We may tend to recognize that Christopher did the difficult task of separating with Steele, but was it really difficult? Should have been easy

I agree with pretty much all of this.

[Olsingledigit]

I'll be the contrarian.
Would have liked to have seen him get another year; understand that would have been hard on recruiting with no contract extension.
But he's coached, as K did, with limited success in 4 years, hampered by Covid (and yes, I know everyone was).
Just think he might have done better next year.
Perhaps the current roster is not quite as good as we all think, and it showed throughout the stretch.
Can't deny the late session slides. But pretending we're all better coaches for in-game decisions seems like a lot of hubris.

Wish him well and hope he lands a good job somewhere.

word is a bunch of the players were leaving. Who knows if they will wait on a new coach.

[IM4X]

I think the current "February Flop" was the straw that broke the camels back, but it's not difficult to see the failures over his entire 4 year term

1. He inherited Goodin, Scruggs, Naji and Tyrique and they flopped pretty miserably in his first year. That was a pretty good group to start of your HC career with. They all just played key roles on a #1 seed. They were called the "core 4" for a reason.

2. He brought in Hankins, Welage and Castlin to support the core 4, which should have been enough. He didnt find a way to use that roster and simply blew it in year 1. There was enough to at least make the tourney.

3. Year 2 was "Naji unchained." Look the offense sucked. So Naji just freelanced whenever he wanted. Steele couldnt stop it. How could he take out his best player, and how could he deny that Naji's freelancing was actually BETTER than the crap offense he was trying to run?

4. Year 2 was also the beginning of the Jason Carter experiment. How could you NOT see that Carter wasnt a BE caliber front court player? Undersized and unathletic. Carter was an avergae shooter AT BEST at OU, but we got fooled into thinking he was more. He was locked in as a starter the moment he got here. His limitations were obvious and hurt the team....

5. Mismanaging Tandy.

6. Mismanaging Stanley.

7. Lack of development for a bunch of guys that transferred (James and Ramsey among others) and of course Miles who always seems to be one year away from being the BE DPOY.

8. Bottom 30% in the country in 3PA each year while taking top 30% number of attempts.

9. Decreasing rate of getting to the FT line, which was a HALLMARK of our best XU teams

10. Terrible in-game strategy and adjustments. MULTIPLE times we fouled late in big games under boneheaded circumstances.

11. Sticking with Hunter, when it became obvious he had a low BBall IQ, and limited skills. He certainly LOOKED the part, but he was a minus on offense, and defense.

This list of things that went poorly simply DWARFS the list of things that went well. We may tend to recognize that Christopher did the difficult task of separating with Steele, but was it really difficult? Should have been easy

Yep. This pretty much wraps it all up and ties it in a nice, neat bow.

Nice guy. Good recruiter. Just not ready to coach at the level this program needs. I hope he can recognize the areas where he had his blinders on so he can get better and be successful.

[drudy23]

It was the right move. It was needed. It was that obvious.

[HomerCecil]

I'll be the contrarian.
Would have liked to have seen him get another year; understand that would have been hard on recruiting with no contract extension.
But he's coached, as K did, with limited success in 4 years, hampered by Covid (and yes, I know everyone was).
Just think he might have done better next year.
Perhaps the current roster is not quite as good as we all think, and it showed throughout the stretch.
Can't deny the late session slides. But pretending we're all better coaches for in-game decisions seems like a lot of hubris.

Wish him well and hope he lands a good job somewhere.

Also, this roster was pretty damn good until January. This year's team had a better nonconference showing than any of the previous teams. Wins over Ohio State, at Oklahoma State, against Virginia Tech--those aren't wins that the previous three Steele teams would have gotten. It's the same roster now as it was then, and this team took the same nosedive that his previous teams did. Four years is enough.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

I am not giving Christopher a break. He let his coach go after winning a game in the post season. Granted it should have come a month ago but it is what is. He didn’t wait until they bowed out of the NIT.

[drudy23]

I am not giving Christopher a break. He let his coach go after winning a game in the post season. Granted it should have come a month ago but it is what is. He didn’t wait until they bowed out of the NIT.

Eh, not the traditional route, but who cares.

The movers and shakers rarely take the traditional path.

[MHettel]

I am not giving Christopher a break. He let his coach go after winning a game in the post season. Granted it should have come a month ago but it is what is. He didn’t wait until they bowed out of the NIT.

The timing is too obviously weird. Its got to be connected to something. The rumor that Miller was close with South Carolina certainly makes sense.

Otherwise, just delay the firing long enough so the pool of available coaches (knocked out of NCAAs) is flush.

[xukeith]

Isn't Ben Howland going to Georgia?

[zanesxu]

Few thoughts...
-This is a sad day for Travis Steele and his family, not for Xavier. The moment the decision is made, it's go time looking forward.
-Steele has talents, but he was put in the wrong seat on the bus from the get go... this was a miss-hire as much as it was his poor results.
-I'm hopeful if for no other reason, this decision signals the new president's clear grasp on the importance of a winning Xavier MBB team to the identity of the institution. Might not have been her leading the process, but she was involved in the final decision.

[Masterofreality]

High Expectations, No Excuses!

Let’s get back to Jason Love type player development!

#DanceOrDepart. COMPLETE!!

[XUBison]

Few thoughts...
-This is a sad day for Travis Steele and his family, not for Xavier. The moment the decision is made, it's go time looking forward.
-Steele has talents, but he was put in the wrong seat on the bus from the get go... this was a miss-hire as much as it was his poor results.
-I'm hopeful if for no other reason, this decision signals the new president's clear grasp on the importance of a winning Xavier MBB team to the identity of the institution. Might not have been her leading the process, but she was involved in the final decision.

All good points, your last especially.

[Masterofreality]

I think the current "February Flop" was the straw that broke the camels back, but it's not difficult to see the failures over his entire 4 year term

1. He inherited Goodin, Scruggs, Naji and Tyrique and they flopped pretty miserably in his first year. That was a pretty good group to start of your HC career with. They all just played key roles on a #1 seed. They were called the "core 4" for a reason.

2. He brought in Hankins, Welage and Castlin to support the core 4, which should have been enough. He didnt find a way to use that roster and simply blew it in year 1. There was enough to at least make the tourney.

3. Year 2 was "Naji unchained." Look the offense sucked. So Naji just freelanced whenever he wanted. Steele couldnt stop it. How could he take out his best player, and how could he deny that Naji's freelancing was actually BETTER than the crap offense he was trying to run?

4. Year 2 was also the beginning of the Jason Carter experiment. How could you NOT see that Carter wasnt a BE caliber front court player? Undersized and unathletic. Carter was an avergae shooter AT BEST at OU, but we got fooled into thinking he was more. He was locked in as a starter the moment he got here. His limitations were obvious and hurt the team....

5. Mismanaging Tandy.

6. Mismanaging Stanley.

7. Lack of development for a bunch of guys that transferred (James and Ramsey among others) and of course Miles who always seems to be one year away from being the BE DPOY.

8. Bottom 30% in the country in 3PA each year while taking top 30% number of attempts.

9. Decreasing rate of getting to the FT line, which was a HALLMARK of our best XU teams

10. Terrible in-game strategy and adjustments. MULTIPLE times we fouled late in big games under boneheaded circumstances.

11. Sticking with Hunter, when it became obvious he had a low BBall IQ, and limited skills. He certainly LOOKED the part, but he was a minus on offense, and defense.

This list of things that went poorly simply DWARFS the list of things that went well. We may tend to recognize that Christopher did the difficult task of separating with Steele, but was it really difficult? Should have been easy

As usual, Hett sums it up perfectly. All 100% accurate.

[X-band '01]

I'm just thankful that folks like Dr. Daily, the esteemed Q and the McCormick brothers never had to witness this in their lifetime.

[Masterofreality]

I'm just thankful that folks like Dr. Daily, the esteemed Q and the McCormick brothers never had to witness this in their lifetime.

They actually did. #TayBaker #DickCampbell #GeorgeKrajack
#DonRuberg

[X-band '01]

Much like a rumored game in New Jersey against Duke, it never happened.

It. Never. Happened.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Much like a rumored game in New Jersey against Duke, it never happened.

It. Never. Happened.

Who's Duke? Where's New Jersey?

(I definitely was not at a game against anyone named Duke in any place named New Jersey)

[atljar]

Much like a rumored game in New Jersey against Duke, it never happened.

It. Never. Happened.

https://www.cs.cornell.edu/~bindel/pic/bunny-pancake.jpg

[GoMuskies]

IF I was at such an alleged game when it may or may not have started, I definitely can not confirm that the second half happened.