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Mar 12, 2026; New York, NY, USA; Xavier Musketeers head coach Richard Pitino coaches against the Connecticut Huskies during the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images
With the World Cup having dominated the sporting headlines over the summer, Xavier has been building out their roster and beginnings of their schedule as well as getting back to work on and in the court in preparation for year two of the Richard Pitino Era.
Roster building
Xavier has added two final pieces to their roster over the late spring in Drake guard Braden Appelhans and Robert Morris big Nikos Chitikoudis. Appelhans is a veteran of Pitino’s system, having spent three years under him at New Mexico, one of which was lost to a medical redshirt, and is a career 37% three point shooter who averaged 4.5 points per game last season but topped out at 30 on 10-14 from deep against Western Illinois. Chitikoudis started his career with two years at North Carolina A&T before heading to Robert Morris for a year and has established himself as a standout offensive rebounder and strong defender in his three years at the college level, having been named to the Horizon League All Defensive Team this past season. Both bring a wealth of experience to an already fairly experienced Xavier squad and will look so solidify a rotation that now boasts depth as well as quality.
Preseason tune-up
Xavier will be alongside Ohio State, Cincinnati, and Dayton taking part in the CareSource Invitational on October 7th at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. The event will pit Xavier against Dayton and is being put on to raise funds and awareness for mental health and suicide prevention, two areas where Dayton coach Anthony Grant has been a standout community leader in recent years. The doubleheader serves as an early preseason look at four of the area’s most promising college basketball rosters as well as raising money and awareness for a very worthy cause.
Off to the Greenbrier and Battling 4 Atlantis
Xavier has also been busy getting high major games which will dot their non conference slate on the schedule for the upcoming fall. On November 13th, Xavier will head to White Sulphur Springs, WV to take Mississippi State at the Greenbrier Invitational. The Bulldogs are coming off a disappointing season, which saw them fall 76 spots from their preseason KenPom ranking of 26th to finish outside the top 100, but still boast standout guard Josh Hubbard and have added a familiar and dreaded foe for Xavier in Seton Hall transfer TJ Simpkins.
Xavier will also be headed to the Bahamas the week of Thanksgiving to take part in the 15th Battle 4 Atlantis. The event will not be bracketed and each team will play twice within their 4 team group in order to determine final standings. Xavier’s group consists of them, Marquette, Texas A&M, and Virginia, the latter two of which will be both the Musketeers and the Golden Eagles’ opponents since they can’t play one another. Both A&M and Virginia were in the Round of 32 at the NCAA Tournament a season ago with the Aggies knocking out Saint Mary’s before getting blown out by Houston and Virginia outlasting Wright State before falling to Tennessee.
Serb-ice requested
Perhaps the most intriguing offseason storyline for Xavier has involved fan favorite Filip Borovicanin, who has sought a 5th year of eligibility in conjunction with the NCAA’s new 5-in-5 rule. Although the NCAA sought to prevent players who had exhausted their 4 years of eligibility last season from being grandfathered in, the Hamilton County Court has ruled that Borovicanin, Malik Messina-Moore and 13 others are eligible to play in the upcoming season. While Messina-Moore intends to do so elsewhere, Borovicanin has made clear that his intention is to play for Xavier next season and, as of the current moment, he will be allowed to do so. There is almost certain to be a challenge to the decision by the NCAA and whether the injunction stands up is yet to be seen, but for the time being Xavier has added a stat sheet stuffer who racked up double figures in 13 of their 20 Big East games last season and posted a 38% mark from three in conference play while also being top 15 in offensive and defensive rebound rate and assist rate.
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