Xavier’s brand new “Meet the Team” event was a massive success. Seeing the team in action was very promising, as it helped prove what we expected, this team is extremely deep, physical, and long. After the open practice, there was an autograph session. It was amazing to be able to interact with all the players and Coach Pitino. Something like this was needed, especially in the NIL era when it is challenging to form real connections with the athletes. Personally, I viewed the event as a great success. Below, I will be breaking down Hunter’s and my own thoughts from last night.
Thoughts From Practice
1. To start, there was a clear “starting five” without Gabe Pozzato playing. This could change, but at least for now, these are the five I would expect to see on the court if the season tipped off this week.
- G Chance Westry: Quick, shifty guard who excels at shot creation and driving. Great facilitator. He showed just how explosive he can be in spurts throughout the night.
- G Ruben Dominguez: Dynamic shooter overall, the form looked good, but he missed a couple before finding one that fell.
- G Tru Washington: Quick and scrappy, in the right place at the right time constantly.
- F Jovan Milicevic: Looks smoother and quicker on offense, shot is still pure.
- F Mike Nwoko: Dunks the ball, a lot. Dominant down low and isn’t afraid to drive.
These five took a lot of threes, and made a good amount.
2. Jovan and Mike’s connection is certainly special. They seem familiar with each other’s game and had multiple nice plays down low.
3. This leads to the guys behind them, the bench. The depth of this team stands out, they are much more athletic than last year. Standouts off the bench were Kalek House, Asher Elson, and Rolyns Aligbe. I have more to say on Kalek and Asher further down. However, Rolyns looked strong and comfortable, which is crucial when you play in a league as physical as the Big East. He should be a solid contributor off the bench, especially on the defensive side and rebounding.
4. To end practice, the score was put at 62-62 and there were five minutes on the clock. The starters were Blue and everyone else was White. At the end of regulation, White was down one and Asher Elson had two FTs to tie or win. He went 1/2. We were going to a 90 second OT. Elson’s FTs are below.
End of regulation, Asher Elson gets fouled and goes 1/2 to send it to OT pic.twitter.com/8XhTYA4cc6— Charlie Leatherwood (@SSM_CL) June 5, 2026
5. In OT, White took a one point lead with around 12 seconds to go. Chance Westry drove inside, dumped it off to Nwoko, and he had one shot. Mike goes up and he’s BLOCKED by the freshman Kalek House. The White team upset the starters. This result shows more about just how much deeper this team is this year compared to last year, with guys who can play 1-9.
White wins off some strong defense to close it out! pic.twitter.com/QCGjhha0pH— Charlie Leatherwood (@SSM_CL) June 5, 2026
6. Now onto the freshmen: The two of House and Elson were the highlight of the night. Both look ready to compete at a college level. To put it simply, Asher Elson is really good at being in the right spot. I watched him score multiple times throughout practice, just because he had proper positioning. He brings raw athleticism that Xavier lacked last year. He will need to add some muscle before being able to compete with the Big East, but the potential is there. As for Kalek House, his jumper is magnificent. He hit four threes last night, and his shot is extremely pure. Having a guy like that off the bench will be absolutely huge for X.
7. Filip Borovicanin was there last night, and he was practicing with the team. Of note, he did play for White and hit multiple threes. Fil is moving on, but it was great to see him out there. While the team is helping him exhaust every legal avenue for a possible waiver in the ever-changing landscape of college basketball, he is currently practicing with the squad to stay in shape.
Overall Summary
The event went great, between seeing these guys in action to meeting them all, it was a great evening. Shout-out to the Xavier administration and sponsor Horan for getting it done! They even gave a free mini basketball and poster to all attendees. My only complaint is now that all of Xavier Nation now has to wait until November to see this group in action. This team has a lot of potential and if I were you, I’d be extremely excited for this season!
Below are a few pictures of what the event looked like!
