The first week of fall training is scheduled for Xavier’s men’s basketball team. It started with an unexpected wrinkle on the first day of practice when senior forward Zach Freemantle was suspended from all team activities indefinitely.
Sources have said the suspension is something Freemantle will be lucky to come back to.
The other 11 scholarship players on Xavier’s roster all took part in the first week of training.
The practices were fast and competitive. Sean Miller’s coaching style emphasizes his team’s ability to think while tired. As fast as the workouts are in the first week, Miller also spends a lot of time teaching and talking about the ideas and principles of his system.
Jack Nunge started the season with the gold practice jersey and after the first week Nunge won the gold jersey again for the second week.
After:10 thoughts on Xavier’s basketball ahead of the 2022-23 season
Coaching Staff Announcements
Xavier made three coaching staff announcements last week.
Ryan Reynolds has secured a title change from director of basketball operations to special assistant to the head coach.
Cam Miller, Sean’s son, has been named operations manager. Cam spent last season at Saint Mary’s as a graduate assistant coach.
The third spot was former Xavier star BJ Raymond, who announced over the summer on TBT that he was a coach at Xavier. Raymond will act as Xavier’s graduate program manager.
Adam Kunkel, Dieonte Miles Basketball Camp
Xavier’s teammates Adam Kunkel and Dieonte Miles are hosting a kids’ basketball camp on Monday, October 10 at Cooper High School.
Kunkel is a former Cooper. Miles is also a Northern Kentucky product of Walton-Verona High School.
There will be two sessions, one for the youngest (5 to 9 years old) from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., followed by a session for 10 to 16 year olds from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
There will be autograph and photo opportunities.
Interested persons can register here.
Kam Craft launches the NFT trading card
First-year Xavier Kam Craft wasted no time capitalizing on name, image, and likeness opportunities. Student-athletes have that chance after last year when the NCAA passed a new policy.
Craft recently partnered with VerifiedInk, an NIL platform that allows high school and college student-athletes to design, create and sell their own NFT trading card. An NFT, or non-fungible token, is a digital asset that binds ownership to a single asset.
Craft’s first NFT trading card went on sale last week, giving Xavier fans the chance to purchase his digital memorabilia. According to VerifiedInk, 80% of sales go directly to Craft.
The madness of the musketeers
The public’s first chance to see Xavier’s team will be on October 21, at Musketeer Madness.
The free event opens with a fan fest at 5 p.m. in the plaza in front of the Cintas Center. Doors open at 6 p.m. and men’s and women’s basketball teams are introduced at 6:30 p.m.
The event will focus on blue-white scrums for both teams.
Coming soon
There will be plenty of preseason stories on Cincinnati.com. In the near future, keep an eye out for a story about first-year point guard Desmond Claude, a man of many talents.
