If you were to take a current picture, a panoramic view of Xavier University's men's basketball program – one month away from the start of the 2021-22 season – that image would look pretty good.
The top seven scorers from last season are back, super seniors Paul Scruggs and Nate Johnson return for a fifth year of eligibility, two experienced Big Ten Conference transfers – Jack Nunge (Iowa) and Jerome Hunter (Indiana) – joined the Musketeers, there's a strong corps of potential all-conference talent in Zach Freemantle, Colby Jones and Dwon Odom, a pair of promising freshmen, and another nationally-ranked recruiting class on the way in 2022.
There's stability within the coaching staff and a steady stream of upgrades to Xavier's athletic facilities.
The only thing missing from that picture is winning when it matters most: in March.
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The upcoming season is Travis Steele's fourth as Xavier's head coach and Steele's still searching for his first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Early observations from the start of fall practice have shown that Steele has the depth and talent this season to break through that wall.
In order to get there, the Musketeers have to show consistent growth and improvement over the course of the season and finish the right way.
Steele spoke to The Enquirer Monday about what he's seen early in practice from his team, and he said he likes his group's chemistry, the way the ball is moving offensively, and he thinks there should be a noticeable difference in offensive and defensive rebounding.
"I think we've got a chance to be a really good rebounding team," said Steele. "We're a little bigger ... with Dieonte (Miles), Jerome Hunter, we're a little bit longer and thicker than we were last year. Jack Nunge's obviously returning from injury, but he's been able to do some things. And once Zach (Freemantle) gets healthy here as well, we're going to be a lot bigger, so I think that will really help us on the glass on both ends of the floor. And our guard play has been tremendous. Really, really good with Paul, Colby, Dwon, AK (Adam Kunkel), all those guys have been great, and Nate has returned to form really well, he's more athletic than he was last year."
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Musketeers getting healthy
After being named second-team All-Big East and co-most improved player in the league last season, Freemantle's in a walking boot to start his junior season.
"He's week-to-week, we don't want to rush him back," Steele said. "Anytime with any injuries to your foot, especially because it's not too serious right now, we just want to be patient, make sure we're dealing with it right."
Nunge, who's coming off a second major knee injury in February, is still not playing in a full-contact, five-on-five setting yet.
"I probably won't play him at Musketeer Madness (on Oct. 22)," Steele said of his new 6-foot-11, 245-pound big man. "I think he'll probably play some against Ferris State in our exhibition (on Nov. 5). We'll just gradually get him back in. I want to make sure we're dealing with him right because right now he's moving better than I've ever seen him move. All his assessments kind of show that he's in a really good place.
"... He's been gradually increasing his workload. He went from doing just kind of skill work to now he can do some stuff during practice, and then we're gonna progress him to doing competitive contact, but he's probably not going to go back-to-back days with competitive contact, and then we'll build to back-to-back days."
More:Jack's journey: Through grief and adversity, Nunge finds fresh start with Xavier basketball
Xavier basketball's Dieonte Miles emerges
Re-acclimating Nunge at the start of the season means that redshirt sophomore Dieonte Miles will get a look early at the five spot, and Miles appears to be making the most of his opportunity.
Miles earned his first career gold practice jersey this week thanks to his performance last week.
"He won the Xavier Way this past week," Steele said of Miles. "He's really progressed. And it's been great to see. He's a lot more confident, stronger. He's become a really good player."
The 6-foot-11, 226-pound Miles has been derailed by injuries in each of his first two seasons. If he's healthy and continues to progress, he can provide a presence around the rim with his length, athleticism and shot-blocking ability, something Xavier hasn't had since Steele took over.
Freshman Elijah Tucker to redshirt
Elijah Tucker, one of Xavier's two new freshmen, will redshirt this season, said Steele.
Tucker, a 6-7 forward from Georgia, fell ill over the summer with an undisclosed illness, and he's still working his way back to 100%.
"He's still probably got a ways to go," Steele said. "From a health standpoint just to let him get out there and compete and do things like that. Don't really have a timeline on that one yet. We're gonna make sure he's safe and healthy, you know what he's dealt with this summer, putting weight back on, that's focus number one, getting his weight back up, his strength back up, just getting his legs back under him."
Xavier's big vs. small lineup
It's still early in the process of determining style of play, especially when the Musketeers aren't at full strength yet, but it's something Steele and his staff are thinking about and discussing often.
Early on, Xavier's first team in practice has consisted of Scruggs at point guard, Johnson at the two, Jones at the three, Hunter at the four and Miles at the five, but that's without Freemantle and Nunge really in the picture yet.
"We have to be flexible enough to be able to play with two big guys together and then flexible enough to be able to play with four guards and one big guy," Steele said. "So we've really worked on that defensively and offensively to give us that flexibility. So when we do play Jack and Zach together, it's way different than if we played Zach and Jerome together."
Steele said he views Hunter as more of a guard who can play at the forward position.
"I think Jerome can play either spot, he can play the three or the four. He gives us that versatility on offense and defense," said Steele. "He's good. He's long, he shoots it, he's competitive. He's gonna be a good piece to the puzzle. We did not have that 6-8, versatile guy last year that can play the three or the four. He's gonna play in both spots."
Big East Media Day
At next week's conference media day at Madison Square Garden, Xavier's scheduled to have Scruggs, Freemantle and Jones in attendance with Steele.
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