# 2024–25 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team

The 2024–25 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team represents Xavier University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as a member of the Big East Conference. Led by Sean Miller in the third season of his second stint after coaching the Musketeers from 2004 to 2009, they play their home games at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

## Previous season

The Musketeers finished the 2023–24 season 16–18, 9–11 in Big East play, to finish in a tie for eighth place. In the Big East tournament, they defeated Butler in the first round before losing in the quarterfinals to UConn. The team received an at-large bid to the NIT in the Wake Forest Bracket, where lost in the first round to Georgia.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Desmond Claude | 1 | G | 6'6" | 203 | Sophomore | New Haven, CT | Transferred to USC |
| Quincy Olivari | 8 | G | 6'3" | 200 | Senior | Atlanta, GA | Graduated/undrafted in 2024 NBA draft; signed with the Los Angeles Lakers |
| Reid Ducharme | 11 | G/F | 6'7" | 195 | Freshman | Milton, MA | Transferred to Siena |
| Kam Craft | 12 | F | 6'6" | 211 | Sophomore | Buffalo Grove, IL | Transferred to Miami (OH) |
| Kachi Nzeh | 15 | C | 6'8" | 230 | Freshman | Upper Darby, PA | Transferred to Penn State |
| Lazar Đjoković | 17 | F | 6'10" | 230 | Freshman | Gornji Milanovac, Serbia | Transferred to College of Charleston |
| Saša Ciani | 21 | F | 6'9" | 240 | Sophomore | Šempeter pri Gorici, Slovenia | Transferred to UIC |
| Abou Ousmane | 24 | F | 6'10" | 230 | Senior | Brooklyn, NY | Graduate transferred to Oklahoma State |
| Gytis Nemeikša | 50 | F | 6'7" | 203 | Freshman | Kaunas, Lithuania | Transferred to Hawaii |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Marcus Foster | 1 | G | 6'4" | 200 | GS Senior | Atlanta, GA | Furman |
| John Hugley IV | 4 | F/C | 6'10" | 275 | Senior | Cleveland, OH | Oklahoma |
| Lassina Traoré | 6 | F | 6'10" | 230 | Senior | Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire | Long Beach State |
| Ryan Conwell | 7 | G | 6'4" | 195 | Junior | Indianapolis, IN | Indiana State |
| Roddie Anderson III | 8 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Junior | Huntington Beach, CA | Boise State |
| Cam'Ron Fletcher | 11 | G | 6'7" | 220 | GS Senior | St. Louis, MO | Florida State |
| Dante Maddox Jr. | 21 | G | 6'2' | 195 | Senior | Chicago Heights, IL | Toledo |

### Recruiting classes
#### 2024 recruiting class

There were no incoming recruits for the class of 2024.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 20, 2024* 5:00 p.m., BSOH | | at Dayton Blackburn/McCafferty Trophy | W 98–74 | | 17 – Freemantle | 7 – Maddox Jr. | 4 – Tied | UD Arena (13,407) Dayton, OH |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 4, 2024* 7:30 p.m., FS1 | | Texas Southern | W 78–69 | 1–0 | 21 – Conwell | 11 – Freemantle | 5 – Tied | Cintas Center (10,212) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 8, 2024* 6:00 p.m., FS1 | | IU Indy | W 94–80 | 2–0 | 19 – Conwell | 8 – Swain | 5 – McKnight | Cintas Center (10,224) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 12, 2024* 8:30 p.m., FS1 | | Jackson State | W 94–57 | 3–0 | 21 – Freemantle | 10 – Swain | 8 – Foster | Cintas Center (10,107) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 16, 2024* 12:00 p.m., FS1 | | Wake Forest Skip Prosser Classic | W 75–60 | 4–0 | 21 – Conwell | 6 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Cintas Center (10,455) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 20, 2024* 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | Siena Fort Myers Tip-Off campus site game | W 80–55 | 5–0 | 16 – Conwell | 9 – Freemantle | 7 – McKnight | Cintas Center (10,067) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 25, 2024* 8:30 p.m., FS1 | No. 22 | vs. South Carolina Fort Myers Tip-Off Beach Division Semifinal | W 75–66 | 6–0 | 16 – Freemantle | 9 – Freemantle | 3 – McKnight | Suncoast Credit Union Arena (3,500) Fort Myers, FL |
| November 27, 2024* 8:30 p.m., FS1 | No. 22 | vs. Michigan Fort Myers Tip-Off Beach Division Championship | L 53–78 | 6–1 | 19 – Conwell | 10 – Freemantle | 2 – McKnight | Suncoast Credit Union Arena (3,500) Fort Myers, FL |
| December 1, 2024* 4:30 p.m., FS1 | No. 22 | South Carolina State | W 71–68 | 7–1 | 17 – Freemantle | 7 – Freemantle | 5 – McKnight | Cintas Center (9,512) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 5, 2024* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at TCU Big East–Big 12 Battle | L 72–76 | 7–2 | 17 – Conwell | 6 – Tied | 6 – Conwell | Schollmaier Arena (5,156) Fort Worth, TX |
| December 10, 2024* 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Morgan State | W 119–58 | 8–2 | 27 – Freemantle | 10 – Freemantle | 4 – Tied | Cintas Center (9,840) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 14, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at No. 22 Cincinnati Crosstown Shootout | L 65–68 | 8–3 | 18 – Freemantle | 8 – Hunter | 9 – McKnight | Fifth Third Arena (12,513) Cincinnati, OH |
| Big East regular season |||||||||
| December 18, 2024 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 11 UConn | L 89–94 $^{OT}$ | 8–4 (0–1) | 23 – Conwell | 4 – Tied | 3 – McKnight | XL Center (15,684) Hartford, CT |
| December 21, 2024 12:00 p.m., FOX | | No. 9 Marquette | L 70–72 | 8–5 (0–2) | 16 – Foster | 10 – Swain | 6 – McKnight | Cintas Center (10,452) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 31, 2024 2:00 p.m., Peacock | | Seton Hall | W 94–72 | 9–5 (1–2) | 22 – Conwell | 6 – Foster | 6 – McKnight | Cintas Center (10,212) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 3, 2025 8:10 p.m., CBSSN | | at Georgetown | L 63–69 | 9–6 (1–3) | 16 – Freemantle | 7 – Freemantle | 4 – McKnight | Capital One Arena (6,640) Washington, D.C. |
| January 7, 2025 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | St. John's | L 72–82 | 9–7 (1–4) | 22 – Freemantle | 8 – Swain | 8 – McKnight | Cintas Center (9,328) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 11, 2025 4:00 p.m., FS1 | | at DePaul | W 77–63 | 10–7 (2–4) | 20 – Freemantle | 10 – Freemantle | 4 – Tied | Wintrust Arena (5,711) Chicago, IL |
| January 14, 2025 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | Villanova | W 69–63 | 11–7 (3–4) | 34 – Conwell | 9 – Freemantle | 4 – Tied | Cintas Center (10,077) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 18, 2025 2:00 p.m., FOX | | at No. 7 Marquette | W 59–57 | 12–7 (4–4) | 14 – Freemantle | 10 – Freemantle | 5 – McKnight | Fiserv Forum (17,881) Milwaukee, WI |
| January 22, 2025 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 20 St. John's | L 71–79 $^{OT}$ | 12–8 (4–5) | 21 – Conwell | 7 – Foster | 6 – McKnight | Madison Square Garden (14,545) New York, NY |
| January 25, 2025 8:00 p.m., FOX | | No. 19 UConn | W 76–72 | 13–8 (5–5) | 15 – Tied | 7 – Foster | 4 – Swain | Cintas Center (10,613) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 29, 2025 8:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Creighton | L 77–86 | 13–9 (5–6) | 20 – Conwell | 6 – Tied | 3 – Tied | CHI Health Center Omaha (17,056) Omaha, NE |
| February 4, 2025 8:42 p.m, FS1 | | Georgetown | W 74–69 | 14–9 (6–6) | 18 – Swain | 13 – Foster | 4 – Tied | Cintas Center (10,212) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 9, 2025 12:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Villanova | L 68–80 | 14–10 (6–7) | 24 – Maddox Jr. | 6 – Foster | 5 – Conwell | Wells Fargo Center (8,462) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 12, 2025 8:00 p.m., Peacock | | at Providence | W 91–82 | 15–10 (7–7) | 26 – Maddox | 9 – Freemantle | 4 – Tied | Amica Mutual Pavilion (5,752) Providence, RI |
| February 15, 2025 12:00 p.m., FS1 | | DePaul | W 85–68 | 16–10 (8–7) | 19 – Freemantle | 9 – Freemantle | 8 – Swain | Cintas Center (10,473) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 18, 2025 8:00 p.m., Peacock | | Butler | W 76–63 | 17–10 (9–7) | 14 – Tied | 8 – Maddox Jr. | 5 – McKnight | Cintas Center (10,023) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 23, 2025 2:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Seton Hall | W 73–66 | 18–10 (10–7) | 22 – Conwell | 7 – Freemantle | 7 – McKnight | Prudential Center (9,337) Newark, NJ |
| March 1, 2025 4:30 p.m., FOX | | Creighton | W 83–61 | 19–10 (11–7) | 23 – Freemantle | 7 – Swain | 5 – Swain | Cintas Center (10,674) Cincinnati, OH |
| March 5, 2025 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Butler | W 91–78 | 20–10 (12–7) | 24 – Freemantle | 10 – Swain | 4 – Conwell | Hinkle Fieldhouse (8,225) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 8, 2025 4:00 p.m., FS1 | | Providence | W 76–68 | 21–10 (13–7) | 25 – Freemantle | 8 – Freemantle | 7 – Maddox Jr. | Cintas Center (10,532) Cincinnati, OH |
| Big East tournament |||||||||
| March 13, 2025 2:30 p.m., Peacock | (4) | vs. (5) No. 25 Marquette Quarterfinal | L 87–89 | 21–11 | 38 – Conwell | 7 – Tied | 5 – Freemantle | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 19, 2025* 9:10 p.m., TruTV | (11 MW) | vs. (11 MW) Texas First Four | | | | | | UD Arena Dayton, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV | RV | 22 | RV | — | — | — | — | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | — | |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | 22 | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |