From now until Villanova’s first game in Rome on November 1 against Notre Dame, WBR’s Andrew Kresin will run down the 10 other Big East programs as a MISE EN PLACE series. You can check out the rest of the series here.
General Information
- Head Coach: Richard Pitino (Second season at Xavier, 15-18 record in Cincinnati, 262-204 record overall)
- 2025-26 Record: 15-18 (6-14)
- 2025-26 Postseason: Lost in the Big East Tournament Quarterfinals against UConn, no other postseason
- Coaches’ Poll Placement: Sixth (54 points)
- Media Day All-Big East Members: Third Team All-Big East selection Jovan Milicevic, Third Team All-Big East selection Mike Nwoko
- 2026-27 Scoring Retention: ~29.7 percent of scoring across four players
Key Returners
Xavier managed to retain two major pieces from last year’s team. Junior forward Jovan Milicevic appeared in 33 games with 31 starts and was second on the Musketeers, scoring 408 points last season. In his 861 minutes, he led the Big East Conference in three-point percentage (42.9 percent) among players with at least 50 attempts from distance over the course of the season. His three-point percentage stayed among the top of his conference despite more than doubling his three-point attempts from his freshman year with Richard Pitino at New Mexico. With his size at 6-foot-10, his ability to also space the floor gives Xavier a big boost at the forward position.
Milicevic took on a much larger role at Xavier than he had a New Mexico and excelled. At New Mexico, his usage rate was around 14 percent, and he depended on his three-point shot as his calling card with a three-point attempt rate at 62.1 percent. To have lowered his three-point attempt rate considerably—it was lower than 50 percent last season—while also increasing his usage rate implies that he took many more shots and that he relied less on his range score. He also lowered his turnover rate, so while he turned the ball over more over the course of the season, he was less likely to turn the ball over when given an opportunity to see the possession out.
Fifth-year guard Filip Borovicanin has also returned to Xavier but is actively fighting for another season of eligibility as part of the five-in-five discourse. Alongside Milicevic, Borovicanin averaged double-figures and played the second most minutes for the Musketeers last season. Borovicanin excelled in his rebounding, as he was one of the best rebounders on Xavier with 245 total rebounds, also placing seventh in the conference. If he is cleared to play, he’ll add an interesting wrinkle to Xavier; he had eight points, nine rebounds and 10 assists in their exhibition against Kent State.
I also believe no other team has as much riding on the success of a fifth-year player’s eligibility as Xavier does with Borovicanin. He has had so much success in two years so far with Richard Pitino and can make a big leap in his fifth season if eligible. If he cannot obtain another year, I will be curious to see how Xavier restructures their rotation.
Key Transfers
Senior forward Mike Nwoko made an appearance on the preseason All-Big East Third Team, and deservedly so. Nwoko averaged 13.4 points and 5.9 rebounds last season in a breakout year for LSU, also shooting a career-high 61.0 percent from the field on nearly eight shot attempts per game. He got to the line and improved on his shooting form while there, shooting 76.1 percent from the stripe on 155 attempts last year. He also took on more of the responsibility to score, raising his usage rate from sub-20 percent in his first two years to 27.7 percent at LSU.
As any center with an increased role is prone to do, Nwoko had upticks in his fouling and turnovers with his new responsibilities. He saw more minutes than any other season in his career but also saw an increase in his personal fouls by 30, turnovers by more than double his previous season at 58 and did not keep pace in his per 40 minute rebounding margins despite an overall increase in his rebounding. Essentially, while he was able to take on a larger load on LSU last season scoring the basketball, other parts of his game became weaker. Pitino will look to unlock a new level to Nwoko in Cincinnati.
Senior guard Tru Washington had played under Pitino at New Mexico before they went their separate ways. Pitino went to Xavier while Washington played for a year with the Miami Hurricanes. Now they are back together after a season in which Washington proved himself as a capable power conference guard. Washington averaged 11.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists for Miami last season, with his scoring output being a career high despite playing fewer minutes at Miami than his previous season with New Mexico.
Strong scoring is great and Washington proved he can provide a scoring lift, but his strong suit has been defense over his three seasons. He has finished top 10 in his conference in total steals each of the last three seasons, including finishing second in 2024-25 in the Mountain West Conference. He took a small dip in his effectiveness stealing the ball last season, but if he’s anywhere near as productive in the Big East as he was in either the Mountain West or Atlantic Coast Conferences, he’ll be a menace for opposing offenses.
In their most recent exhibition against Kent State, Xavier started Milicevic, Borovicanin, Nwoko, Washington and senior guard Ruben Dominguez. Across 34 games and 27 starts, Dominguez averaged 10.2 points and shot 40.0 percent from the three-point line. He had a high three-point attempt rate sitting at 85.0 percent, meaning he’s going to take threes almost exclusively. He also had low assist and turnover rates, meaning he hasn’t produced a lot of offense outside of his three-point shooting but also isn’t giving up the ball extensively. His turnover rate of 4.4 percent was second in the SEC last season behind Patton Pinkins of Ole Miss.
In that exhibition, Nwoko worked on his rebounding with 10 points and eight rebounds, Washington applied ball pressure with 12 points and four steals, while Dominguez made four threes and scored 14 points. Pitino then really put his trust in four additional players to make up the bench unit, three of whom were transfers.
Senior guard Chance Westry, formerly of UAB, has limited power conference experience alongside a breakout year at UAB. He appeared in 14 games over two seasons for Auburn and Syracuse, playing minimally at those stops. Then, with UAB last season, he appeared in 32 games with 27 starts, averaged 15.5 points per game and led American Conference with 177 total assists. He placed on the All-American Conference Second Team and seems poised to make a proper jump into the Big East. During the exhibition, he had three points and three rebounds.
Junior forward Rolyns Aligbe from Southern Illinois was a big rebounding forward for the Salukis last season. He averaged 9.5 points and 7.4 rebounds last season in just 24.5 minutes per game. His defensive rebounding rate led the Missouri Valley Conference last year at 22.6 percent. He was also second in the Missouri Valley in total rebounds and first in the league in defensive rebounds.
Senior forward Nikos Chitikoudis comes from Robert Morris after a strong year similar to Aligbe. He averaged 11.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, leading the Horizon League in offensive rebounding rate and finishing as part of the Horizon League All-Defensive Team. He also led the CAA in rebounding per game as a member of North Carolina A&T in his sophomore season with 9.3 rebounds.
These three reserves played around 11-12 minutes, and all scored in the exhibition against Kent State.
Key College Newcomers
Freshman guard Kalek House was listed as a top 125 four star in the 247Sports system, averaging 14.0 points per game in the 2025-26 high school season. He did not make an appearance in the exhibition. Similarly, three-star freshman forward Asher Elson did not appear in the exhibition for Xavier but averaged 11.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks as part of Overtime Elite last season.
Others
Redshirt sophomore forward Gabriel Pozzato, a returner from last year’s team who took a redshirt season, has one year of experience at the Division One level. As a freshman at Evansville, Pozzato averaged 14.9 points and was named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman team. He didn’t play last season, but he had five points on eight shots in 19 minutes. Xavier also returns junior forward Henry Thole and graduate guard Michael Wolf, who appeared last season, and redshirt freshman center Kason Westphal.
Senior guard Braden Appelhans averaged 5.3 points at Drake last season, shooting 40.0 percent from three. He made one three-point shot in two minutes in the exhibition against Kent State. He also originally had played for Pitino at New Mexico for three seasons beforehand.
Freshman guard Gedeon Basson and freshman forward Harrison Aligbe also join Xavier as newcomers. Neither played in the exhibition and neither were ranked in 247Sports.
Outlook
Xavier is an interesting blend of returning players, incoming talent and dependency on court cases. Milicevic looks like he’ll be one of Xavier’s best players, alongside Nwoko and Washington, but Xavier also needs to get Borovicanin permanently eligible to reach their full potential this season. The rotation against Kent State was consistently nine players, but to lose Borovicanin would jeopardize the chance that Xavier can finish in their sixth-place slot. However, the rebounding on this team is strong, the ball pressure with Washington, and three-point shooting will be a strength of Xavier. It is odd to be proud of a “middle of the road” Big East team, but with how strong the conference looks to be this season, it’s a moniker to be proud of.
Credits
Xavier’s player information (demographics, player stats from high school, et cetera) found on Xavier’s athletics webpage. Player stats from other schools found on Sports-Reference. Advanced statistics found on CBB Analytics. Lists made with Stathead. Player rankings from high school found on 247Sports. Charts made in Microsoft Excel.