Musketeer Madness

I looked at X (Twitter) this morning and saw the hate for a lot of players and teams, as I have all season. I wish players would insulate themselves and not publicize their accounts. I read a story about a Texas A&M player who said he received a lot of threats and racial slurs for missing free throws in a game erlier this season.

Though I’m not a big fan of Dayton or UNLV East, I know Dan Skillings has received similar hate. I hope he kills it in the Crown. He’s uber-talented but regressed this year. It happens. Dayton fans have been relentless with their hate against Anthony Grant and UNLV East fans, the same with Wes Miller. I don’t think either deserves to come back. Grant’s retention probably depends on their performance in the NIT and Miller’s buyout is too big to swallow. However, in my mind, just like Travis Steele, all you can ask is for them to work their asses off and represent their universities well, which they both have.

Marquette is mercilessly coming down on Shaka Smart who is a victim of his team overachieving. They have one pro who doesn’t shoot well from the outside and a bunch of good role players. I know much is due to the emotion of the aftermath, but the meltdown is unreal. Rodney Terry had a very talented team, and I don’t know how you lose 16 games with them, but the guy bleeds orange and has for 13 years, and he’s also getting hammered. I’m sure the same can be said of all coaches to a degree, at different times of the year.

I have a lot of X fans in my feed, and there is some criticism, but fortunately, it seems measured, relatively speaking. I don’t want Hugley back, but it’s not his fault he was a bust. I hope no one is engaging him directly, but I’m sure some do. I’m glad he got a nice bag and hope he takes his talents elsewhere.

As the moderator of a board with over 40k members, including 3,000 premium ones, I am happy to report that discourse has been very respectful this year. I hope it continues as the portal opens on Monday, and with every player being a free agent, who knows who stays and goes? They need to pay whatever it takes to retain Conwell and Swain and fill in the parts. Hopefully, Swain doesn’t go to the League, as he isn’t a finished product, and will go straight to the G League.

Also, Sean Miller, being an elite coach, will draw interest as usual, especially with Texas, who courted him two years ago. Texas Tech also had him in their sights but picked a great coach who I think was coaching a mid-major. I have no idea if Sean stays or goes, but I am not as concerned as I would have been 10 years ago, especially in this era. If he does go, I’d wish him well. His interest should be family 1st, Xavier 2nd. He has restored X to its glory as a near-elite cbb team, evidenced by having the 15th-best winning percentage since 1985, even withstanding the Steele years. Remarkable.

I would simply slot Chris Mack back in, or a talented mid-major coach, as many have stepped up this year. If something happens, I just hope it happens before/soon after the portal opens up on Monday. If your coach isn’t sought out during openings, your team probably isn’t very good. Looking forward to seeing the premium members at the Moderator's Banquet in a couple of weeks.

Anti-homer I for one would be outraged if Miller leaves again. It took me 10 years to get over him leaving last time. I doubt we could hire anyone close to Miller's ability. Not so confident we could just slot someone in. We have had a great run with coaches till Steele. Mack Never. Don't care if any or all the players leave. They are replaceable. Miller isn't. As far as Terry you can't make 5.4 million and finish 19-16 and expect to keep your job.

Kevin Reilly wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 22, 2025 12:46 pm

Anti-homer I for one would be outraged if Miller leaves again. It took me 10 years to get over him leaving last time. I doubt we could hire anyone close to Miller's ability. Not so confident we could just slot someone in. We have had a great run with coaches till Steele. Mack Never. Don't care if any or all the players leave. They are replaceable. Miller isn't. As far as Terry you can't make 5.4 million and finish 19-16 and expect to keep your job.

I respect your opinion on this, but people switch jobs all the time. Why should Miller be tethered? He wants a title, and it's hard to do at a small, private university. He can get paid twice the salary, and get a bigger NIL budget, and even though X's NIL is competitive, TX is probably in the top 5.

Frankly, if Swain or Conwell left for a bigger bag, I'd root for them as well, as I do for Claude. Both will definitely be highly sought after. College sports are the Wild West now. Even Hurley said two weeks ago (paraphrasing) that he has no idea who will be on the team next year. He even said a couple of his players already have deals in place elsewhere next year. I assume they are bench guys. My guess is one of them is Mcananey (sp?), who was a big fish in a little pond at St. Mary's and has a limited role in the BE. He just isn't athletic enough, in a league with great athletes.

Kolek probbaly convinced Hurley to take a chance on him, but he's a unicorn. Who knows, I am just speculating.

Anti-Homer You make a lot of good rational points. I on the other hand am not rational when it comes to Xavier. Miller is free to go anywhere but if he leaves I think it will be because of the N.I.L. money. I believe he makes over 5 million a year at Xavier .I think he would have a easier time getting a title at Xavier than Texas. The SEC is brutal. Auburn, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Missouri ...hell 14 teams made the tournament. I can't think of a harder place to win the title .I still follow weekly Claude, Craft, Ducharme, Ousmane and my favorites Ciani and Edwards. Hurley and Jay Wright both won a couple titles in the Big East probably because the league was very winnable. The college basketball landscape is crazy but I could see Xavier gong a lot farther than Texas in the tournament with Miller at either school. The SEC is too tough.