Xavier Nation Fall 2017

GOING GLOBAL MUSKETEERS PLAYING ON THE WORLD STAGE

DAVID WEST

NBA CHAMPION IN HIS OWN WORDS

XavierNation THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE FOR XAVIER ATHLETICS

+

FOUL ON

DO YOU KNOW WHY NOBODY WEARS NO. 6 OR NO. 9?

DANNY ABRAMOWICZ

FORMER FOOTBALL STAR REMAINS A DIE-HARD FAN

THE

POWER OF TWO

BLUIETT, MACURA ON PACE FOR HISTORIC NUMBERS

Exceptional care

from the court to the campus.

Trust the team that Xavier trusts for health, wellness and everything in between.

• Providing on-campus health care for all students • Broadening our sports medicine program and building a modern athletic center • Creating innovative programs to improve health care and lower costs • Developing highly marketable unique health care leadership experiences for students • Expanding employment opportunities for Xavier graduates

To schedule an appointment or find a doctor, call 513 569 5400 or visit TriHealth.com

Together We Triumph

Contents X AV I E R N AT I O N

FALL 2017

28 | The Power of Two

Seniors Trevon Bluiett and J.P. Macura have already combined for more than 2,600 career points. They could become the greatest scoring duo in school history of Musketeers who played four years together.

P H O T O G R A P H S ( F R O M T O P) B Y G R E G R U S T / C . F. PAY N E / B R E T T H A N S B A U E R , 4 t h F L O O R C R E AT I V E / D AV I D W E G I E L J R . / F C B B A S K E T B A L L T E A M / N B A P H O T O S

34 | House of Payne Check out the sequence of sketches by renowned illustrator C.F. Payne, a Cincinnatian who produced the unique cover for Xavier Nation’s fall issue.

NAVIGATION HERE

WARMUP

WARMUP 14 Lap of Luxury

Look at some of the upgraded areas in Cintas Center.

16 Short Stories

Meet Amber and Mitch Hildebrandt; the four sets of sisters on Xavier’s swim team; the volleyball players who traveled overseas this summer; and the men’s soccer players from New Zealand.

And we say good-bye to pioneer Ray Tomlin, Xavier’s first AfricanAmerican men’s basketball player.

19 Nate Lie

Get to know Xavier’s new women’s soccer coach.

20 Hall of Fame

36 | Young Turk Kerem Kanter grew up in Turkey, began his college basketball career at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and has chosen to play his final season at Xavier.

Xavier’s Hall includes a football trophy from a series with a certain crosstown rival.

22 Getting to Know You

Learn more about the new men’s and women’s basketball players.

COOL DOWN

40| Stepping Up to the Plate He’s just 30 years old, but former Musketeer Billy O’Connor has already landed his dream job—as head coach of Xavier’s baseball team—and he’s determined to continue its path of success.

54 Take a Number

Is it archaic or does it make perfect sense that an NCAA rule prohibits college basketball players from wearing Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9 and many others?

56 Where Are They Now?

44 | All Over the Map Justin Doellman is among several former Musketeers who has made a nice living and experienced different cultures playing basketball all the world.

Former point guard Sherwin Anderson runs his own basketball skills academy in Cincinnati; Amy Reinshagen Carr survives cancer, then goes into business with her twin sister.

58 Program Updates

A look at all 18 Musketeer teams.

64 Post Game Interview

50 | NBA Champion

Danny Abramowicz, a star football player at Xavier and one of the New Orleans Saints all-time greats, talks about his XU memories, football career and more.

That’s what David West can call himself now that he earned a ring with the Golden State Warriors.

XavierNationMagazine.com

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

1

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

by ALYSSA BR AN DT

One Man, One Stone, One Glorious Destiny

by J UST IN W IL L IAM S

THE PILL MILL THAT RAVAGED PORTSMOUTH PAGE 66

IT ' S T H E G O LD E N A G E O F

JE

Hot dogs! ăś 33 ÄĆȟȶƗśȟȶ ©ƲĆĹśȟ ȶǕ OƗDŽōʼn OǕǖȶƲǕDŽƇȟŊ #ƒƗƲƗ /ǕƇȟŊ UǕȶ }śȶȷȟŊ XȶĆƲƗĆDŽ ¸ĆɊȟĆƇśȟŊ ĆDŽō }ǕȔś

HOW WE CHANGED… AND HOW WE DIDN'T A -Z K E Y PEOPLE & MOMENTS

PLUS > Wieners: A Short History How to Eat the Terminator and Live

OCTOBER 2017 $5.95

AND

Cincinnati Magazine (Ivy Bayer, Publisher) Vehr Communications (Nick Vehr, CEO) Xavier University (Greg Christopher, Athletic Director)

PAG E 3 8

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Y!

Michael Perry (Vehr Communications)

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS SEPTEMBER 2017 $5.95

O U R FAVO R I T E C OV E R S ( F O R BETTER OR WORSE) DIGGITY > A selection of all-beef dogs from Senate

Springer and Friends Remember When We Were Young

RR

T H E O F F I C I A L M AG A Z I N E FO R X AV I E R AT H L E T I C S

PUBLISHED & PRODUCED BY

50 ANNIVERSARY ISSUE TH

Pam Kravetz Likes A Lot of Look

XavierNation

[PLUS]

Marty Still Tells It Like It Is

by C R A I G F E H R M A N

(MA I LB OX )

Karen Bells (Vehr Communications) Dan Guttridge (Vehr Communications) Kara Renee Hagerman (Cincinnati Magazine) Amanda Boyd Walters (Cincinnati Magazine)

ART DIRECTOR Danielle Johnson (Cincinnati Magazine)

COVER ILLUSTRATION C.F. Payne

REPORTERS David Driver, Bob Jonason, John Kiesewetter, Rory Glynn, Tabari McCoy, Rodney McKissic, Michael Perry, Shannon Russell

PHOTOGRAPHERS

(I NB OX )

Gregory Carroccio, Doug Cochran, Tom Eiser (Xavier), Brett Hansbauer (4th Floor Creative), Glenn Hartong (Photo editor), Malinda Hartong, Greg Lautzenheiser (Xavier), Kostas Lymperopoulos, Stephen B. Morton, Greg Rust (Xavier), Hayley Schletker (Xavier), Bob Stevens, Anthony Vasser, David Wegiel

SPECIAL THANKS Brendan Bergen (Xavier University) Tom Eiser (Xavier University) Brian Hicks (Xavier University) Greg Lautzenheiser (Xavier University) Mario Mercurio (Xavier University) Hayley Schletker (Xavier University)

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Vu Luong (Cincinnati Magazine)

Visit our home page to subscribe to our email newsletter and get the latest content from CincinnatiMagazine.com delivered straight to your inbox.

Call 1.800.846.4333 or visit cincinnatimagazine.com

2 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Missy Beiting (Cincinnati Magazine)

BUSINESS COORDINATOR Erica Birkle (Cincinnati Magazine)

XAVIER NATION MAGAZINE 700 Walnut St., Suite 450, Cincinnati, OH 45202 513.381.8347 • www.XavierNationMagazine.com

XavierNationMagazine.com

At BB&T, we believe a local approach to banking should never go out of style. For more than 140 years, we’ve been sharing the knowledge our clients need to move in a brighter financial direction.

Supporting our schools, arts and sports programs. Helping businesses grow and families become homeowners. And seeing our connection to this community grow stronger by the year. BBT.com

University Station 3701 Montgomery Rd Katie Stith 513-699-7321

B A N K I N G

.

I N S U R A N C E

.

I N V E S T M E N T S

Branch Banking and Trust Company is a Member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender.

Loans are subject to credit approval. Only deposit products are FDIC insured. © 2016, Branch Banking and Trust Company. All rights reserved.

WARMUP

FROM THE EDITOR

CONTRIBUTORS DAVID DRIVER

ON THE COVER

Covers college basketball for The Sports Xchange, a national content provider. Writes about American basketball players in Europe. davidsdriver.com

RORY GLYNN HEN YOU REACH OUT TO A NATIONALLY RENOWNED artist about working on a project together, you are never sure if you’ll even get a response—let alone enthusiastic interest. But when we contacted the gifted C.F. Payne, who happens to live in Greater Cincinnati, about creating an illustration for Xavier Nation magazine’s cover, he said “yes” before the conversation ended.

Payne’s work has been everywhere. It’s The Singing Mural on Central Parkway across from Music Hall. He created the official poster for the 2012 World Choir Games. His illustrations have appeared in Esquire, MAD Magazine, National Geographic, Reader’s Digest, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, Time magazine, and many others. He has illustrated stamps for the U.S. Postal Service and dozens of books, including the first three “Molly” books for the American Girl series.

Lucky to work with him on Xavier Nation? You betcha.

We consider this a special cover.

Former Xavier beat reporter and former assistant sports editor at The Cincinnati Enquirer. Also worked at Cleveland Plain Dealer and Atlanta Journal Constitution.

BOB JONASON Former general manager and digital operations director at Indianapolis Star and former deputy news editor/sports at The Philadelphia Inquirer. UC journalism professor. @BobJonason

JOHN KIESEWETTER Longtime TV columnist writes a Media Beat blog for Cincinnati Public Radio at WVXU.org/tvkiese. @TVKiese

TABARI McCOY

Sincerely,

RODNEY McKISSIC Former Xavier beat reporter for The Cincinnati Post and former sports reporter for the Buffalo News and The News Tribune in Tacoma, Washington. @RodneyMcKissic

MICHAEL PERRY Former Xavier beat reporter and former sports editor at The Cincinnati Enquirer. Author and publisher of Xavier Tales: Great Stories from Musketeers Basketball (2008). @mdperry14

SHANNON RUSSELL Michael Perry, Editor-in-Chief musketeers@xaviernationmagazine.com

4 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

Former Xavier beat reporter for The Cincinnati Enquirer for eight years. Also covered the Western & Southern Open tennis tournaments.

Now writes for WCPO.com. @slrussell

XavierNationMagazine.com

P H O T O GR A P H C O U R T E S Y V E H R CO M M U N I C AT I O N S

I can’t help but mention that July marked 10 years since the passing of former Xavier coach Skip Prosser (also noted by former Musketeer guard Sherwin Anderson on page 56).

During my years as Xavier’s beat reporter for The Enquirer, I attended practice just about every day and was fortunate that Skip allowed me to listen to pre-practice talks with the team. He always said he was a teacher first, and that couldn’t have been truer.

One of my favorite Skip lessons: He would tell players (especially point guards) that he needed them to be basketballs, not footballs.

When you bounce a basketball, it comes right back up to you every time. You can count on it.

When you bounce a football, it is likely to always bounce in a different direction.

You don’t know what it’s going to do so you can’t count on it.

The message: Be consistent. Every day. So people can depend on you.

Loved that.

Former CinWeekly arts, entertainment, and news reporter.

Professional standup comedian.

Also worked at Community Press papers and was a Bengals intern. @tabarimccoy

JUMP FOR JOY 6 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

PHOTOGRAPH BY TK

XAVIER BASEBALL PLAYERS CELEBRATE WINNING THE 2017 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP IN MAY AT TD AMERITRADE PARK IN OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

XavierNationMagazine.com

PILING ON // The Musketeers defeated 20th-

ranked St. John’s 7–6 to win the conference tournament title for the second consecutive year. Outfielder Matt Fallon, then a senior, comes jumping in on the right (No. 24).

PHOTOGRAPH BY STEVEN BRANSCOMBE/BIG EAST

XavierNationMagazine.com

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

7

CROSSTOWN RIVALRY //

PHOTOGRAPH BY TK

Krause had four kills in the Musketeers’ 3–2 loss to the Bearcats on Sept. 1 during the Xavier Volleyball Tournament. XU dropped the first two games of the match, then came back to tie it 2–2. UC won the final game 15–10.

PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG COCHRAN

8 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

XavierNationMagazine.com

SPIKE IT! PHOTOGRAPH BY TK

FRESHMAN OUTSIDE HITTER MAYA KRAUSE, A GRADUATE OF LAKOTA WEST HIGH SCHOOL, GETS READY FOR THE KILL AGAINST THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI.

XavierNationMagazine.com

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

9

FOR THE WIN! 1 0 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

PHOTOGRAPH BY TK

SENIOR FORWARD MATT VASQUENZA GIVES XAVIER ITS FINAL GOAL ON THE WAY TO A 3–0 VICTORY OVER DRAKE ON AUG. 27 AT XU SOCCER COMPLEX.

XavierNationMagazine.com

REBOUND // Coming back from a

PHOTOGRAPH BY TK

season-opening overtime loss, the Musketeers shut out Drake and got goals from junior Cameron Taylor, sophomore Samson Sergi, and Vasquenza.

PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG COCHRAN

XavierNationMagazine.com

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

11

Appointment TV For a look at the Cincinnati Business Courier’s top stories from this issue and from web stories throughout the week plus a special feature, don’t forget to tune in (or record!) U.S. Bank Business Watch, which airs each Sunday at 6:30 a.m. on Local12 or 10 a.m. on the CW Network.

Think your business should be featured on the show?

Contact editor Rob Daumeyer at rdaumeyer@bizjournals.com. Tune in!

Miss last week’s episode? Watch all US Bank Business watch videos on the Courier’s Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheBusinessCourier

Warmup// THE HILDEBRANDTS PG. 16

NATE LIE PG. 19

FOOTBALL TROPHY PG. 20

JUST TO GET YOU STARTED

MEET THE NEWCOMERS PG. 22

and MORE

P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y X AV I E R AT H L E T I C S

RAY TOMLIN 1934–2017

TRAIL BLAZER // Ray Tomlin,

the first African-American basketball player in the Xavier program, died in April. When Tomlin left Xavier and was drafted into the Army, he was 18 credits shy of graduating.

He returned to campus almost 50 years later and earned his diploma in May 2006—at age 72. See page 18.

XavierNationMagazine.com

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

13

WARMUP

HOME IMPROVEMENTS

SWEET CINTAS

// THIS OFFSEASON SAW SEVERAL ENHANCEMENTS TO XAVIER’S HOME FACILITY. STUDENT-ATHLETES AND FANS WILL BENEFIT.

1 LIVIN’ IN LUXURY The Crawford Stu-

dent-Athlete lounge is a new space for players from all sports to hang out. It includes areas to relax, multiple HD televisions, and arcade-style video games.

1 2

2 WE STAND AS ONE Constant reminders

of what Xavier stands for adorn the walls of the Crawford Student-Athlete lounge.

4 SOAKING IT ALL IN There is a new

hydrotherapy suite, which includes two Hydroworx Pools.

5 BIRDS-EYE VIEW Here’s how it looks

from the Joseph Club on the south end of the court.

6 ON THE LOOKOUT The Lookout provides

an exciting view from seats that are cantilevered over the student section. The Lookout seats include their own hospitality area—The 2,696 Zone (named for Byron Larkin’s career point total)—with food and beverage service.

7 NICE AND COMFY The Front Line seats,

located at center court and close to the action, are 24-inch wide luxury seats with an embroidered Xavier logo.

8 HAVE A SEAT The new taping and

treatment stations in the athletic training room are more comfortable.

9 COMFORTS OF HOME The Living Room

at the Joseph Club includes large, comfortable couch-like seating areas for four that include your own screen for game replays or to watch another game.

Also included is an in-seat, all-inclusive food and beverage service.

1 4 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

3

4

PHOTOGRAPH BY TK

doctor suites in the new athletic training room for student-athletes to consult with team doctors.

P H O T O G R A P H S ( 1 – 4) B Y G R E G R U S T / ( 5 ) B Y G L E N N H A R T O N G / (6 , 8) B Y T O M E I S E R / ( 7,9) B Y H AY L E Y S C H L E T K E R

3 IS THE DOC IN? There are two private

XavierNationMagazine.com

5

XavierNationMagazine.com

6

7

8

9

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

15

ON THE FIELD

CHEERING SECTION

// XAVIER VOLLEYBALL COACH AMBER HILDEBRANDT AND HER HUSBAND, FC CINCINNATI GOALIE MITCH HILDEBRANDT, ARE EACH OTHER’S BIGGEST FANS. — B O B J O N A S O N

THERE WAS A TIME WHEN XAVIER ASSISTANT WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL COACH AMBER Hildebrandt thought she and her husband Mitch would always have a long-distance relationship.

“I gave him [FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt] such a hard time,” Amber says. “You want to be a professional athlete, I want to be a college coach. We’re never going to end up in the same city.”

The two started dating in 2009 while both were student-athletes at Oakland University

1 6 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

near Detroit. He was a redshirt sophomore on the soccer team; she was a freshman on the volleyball team.

The long-distance relationship began after Mitch became a pro soccer player in 2012. After that, they saw each other only about two months of the year, communicating primarily by text. No Skyping or phone conversations for Mitch.

“She’s the reason we’re still together because I’m terrible on the phone,” Mitch says. “I swear any other person would have broken up with me a long time ago.”

After Amber graduated from Oakland in 2013—earning all-conference volleyball honors twice during her collegiate career—she took a job with an insurance company in Chicago, a position with salary and benefits.

But the Lake Zurich, Illinois, native wasn’t happy with a 9-to-5 desk job.

With Mitch’s encouragement, she quit to become a volunteer assistant volleyball coach at Oakland.

“I told her that her passion is volleyball,” Mitch says. “She loves volleyball, just like I love soccer.”

When they became engaged, Amber was working for free and Mitch, at the time in a lower level of pro soccer, was barely making enough money to scrape by. “I honestly didn’t know what the future held,” Mitch says. “But I said, ‘We’ll figure it out.’ You’ve got to be happy.”

Then, in 2015, Amber landed a paid assistant coaching job at Appalachian State. A year later, just as they were married, the Xavier opportunity came along. “What were the odds we’d be together the very first year we’re married?” Mitch says.

Now that they live together, Amber says she is a coach at home as well as on the court. She jokes that Mitch gets annoyed when she critiques him.

But he says he appreciates it. “She sees angles that I don’t see, which helps me, for sure.”

Is Amber surprised that Mitch has become a celebrity in town, that fans wear “Mitch Says No” T-shirts and cheer his name? “Not at all. He’s so lovable,” she says, laughing. “No, he works so hard. He finally got a break, and he proved himself.”

XavierNationMagazine.com

PHOTOGRAPH BY MALINDA HARTONG

WARMUP

THE PLAYERS

WARMUP

EUROPEAN VACATION

XU VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS TAKE ON GLOBAL CHALLENGE

ALL IN THE FAMILY

P H O T O G R A P H S (F R O M L E F T ) B Y G L E N N H A R T O N G / C O U R T E S Y X AV I E R AT H L E T I C S

// ONE TEAM: FOUR SETS OF SISTERS. — B . J .

IF XAVIER’S WOMEN’S SWIM TEAM SEEMS TO HAVE MORE OF A FAMILY ATMOSPHERE than usual this year, it’s because the team includes four pairs of sisters.

How’d that happen?

“I wouldn’t say [recruiting siblings] was intentional,” says Brent MacDonald, who has been coach of Xavier’s men’s and women’s swimming programs since 2009. “But it certainly has worked out well.”

The sisters are Annie and Maureen Cummins of Westerville, Ohio; Paxtyn and Riece Drew of Connersville, Indiana; Caroline and Lorelei Gaertner of Mendota Heights, Minnesota; and Emma and Maggie Kauffeld of Wilton, Connecticut.

Swimming tends to be a family sport, MacDonald says, and it makes sense that younger siblings would be attracted to the same program as an older brother or sister. They come from the same upbringing and from a family with the same philosophy about education.

“If our program fits well for one, it should fit well for the other,” he says.

What are the advantages of a team having multiple pairs of siblings? “It allows us to get [younger siblings] moving forward mentally a bit quicker if they’re already familiar with our program and they have this additional support system,” MacDonald says. “You eliminate a bit of that stress and anxiety for the younger sibling, especially early on.”

And the challenges? “Making sure it’s a positive experience for both, and one is not concerned about the other getting more of the limelight,” MacDonald says, adding that’s not a big problem at Xavier. At times, siblings can be competitive. They can bring with them that mentality of “fighting for the bathroom in the morning before school,” he says.

And they’ll motivate each other. “In practice, if I’m not doing something right, [older sister] Annie will be the first to tell me,” says Maureen Cummins.

But overall the team has a positive environment fostered by MacDonald and his coaching staff that is attractive to recruits. “Just the way Coach MacDonald runs everything, it draws people,” says Caroline Gaertner, who will be joined by sister Lorelei at Xavier this year.

Sophomore Riece Drew agrees. “When I looked at other schools, I would think ‘I hope I’m successful there. I hope that I’ll have fun.’ And I knew that [older sister] Paxtyn was on a team that was successful and everyone was having fun. Why not go there? We joke that Xavier has a family atmosphere because it really is family.”

XavierNationMagazine.com

XAVIER VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS AUDREY Adams and Madi Kutruff experienced the trip of a lifetime in July while getting the opportunity to test their skills against international competition.

The two participated in the European Global Challenge, an international volleyball tournament in Pula, Croatia, that matched North American teams with teams from Europe. Adams and Kutruff were among seven BIG EAST players on the U23 Division BIP East Coast roster.

The team did some sightseeing in Poland, Austria, and Slovenia before the tournament, and in Italy afterward.

Adams, a sophomore from Indianapolis, says her favorite stop was Bled, Slovenia: “It was just gorgeous.” Kutruff was moved by their visit to Auschwitz. “I love history, and I’m really thankful that I got the chance to see it,” says the sophomore from Martinsville, Indiana. Another highlight was cliff diving and exploring an underwater cave at a national park in Croatia.

The two chronicled their trip on the Xavier volleyball Instagram and Snapchat accounts.

All of the players in the tournament stayed at a beachfront hotel in Pula, where they got the chance to mingle and trade T-shirts. Xavier shirts were in great demand from international players, according to Adams and Kutruff.

The BIP East Coast team finished in fifth place among 22 in the tournament.

Adams and Kutruff said the tourney gave them a lesson in FIVB rules, which, among other things, put greater limits on subbing than U.S. play.

The trip “was a really great way to see a lot of different countries in such a short period of time,” Adams says. Kutruff agrees. “Playing volleyball was just a bonus,” she says. — B . J .

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

17

THE PLAYERS

NEW ZEALAND CONNECTION

// TWO XAVIER MEN’S SOCCER PLAYERS TRADE ISLAND LIFE FOR LIFE IN THE QUEEN CITY. — B . J .

SENIOR DEFENDER CORY BROWN HAS HELPED CREATE A NEW ZEALAND CONNECTION for the Xavier men’s soccer team.

Brown, one of the best men’s soccer players in the country, was the first New Zealand native to commit to the Xavier program. He helped identify former player Alex Ridsdale, who is from Brown’s hometown of Nelson, and midfielder Joash Sutherland as New Zealanders who could play for the Musketeers.

SAYING GOODBYE IN MEMORY OF RAY TOMLIN

1 8 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

IN APRIL, XAVIER BASKETBALL lost one of its true pioneers when Ray Tomlin died at the age of 83.

Tomlin was the Musketeers’ first African-American basketball player when he joined the team in 1954. “I didn’t think of it in those terms,” he told me when we talked for the book Xavier Tales. “I love the game of basketball and I wanted to play Division I ball.

That was my goal. Very few blacks were getting a Division I education back then. And that’s what I wanted and what motivated me more than being the first black [player].”

After winning the 1952 state

Brown was recruited by several colleges, including UC Santa Barbara, but chose Xavier because he was impressed with Coach Andy Fleming and the closeness of the team. “When Coach Fleming recruited me he said the team was really tight-knit, and that’s true. We are,” Brown says.

He also liked that Xavier was small.

“Some of the schools I looked at had the same number of undergrads as my hometown,” Brown says. “I figured I’d get lost there. Xavier had exactly what I was looking for.”

Brown, the 2016 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, shared his enthusiasm for the program with Ridsdale, who transferred to Xavier his junior year and graduated last spring, and Sutherland. Brown had played with Sutherland at Ole Football Academy in New Zealand, which trains players for U.S. soccer. “I was kind of in-between [between Xavier and the academy] during his recruiting,” he says.

The main difference between play in the U.S. and New Zealand, Brown says, is the U.S. players’ combination of size and athleticism. “New Zealand has a lot of big guys, but they are not as athletically gifted as players here,” Brown says.

Another major difference is the emphasis on winning. “Where I came from, the academy, we really didn’t care about winning—just developing good soccer players,” Brown says. “Here, we want to win every game, of course. I wouldn’t say the tactics are a lot different. I would just say that every game means a lot more than what it did at home.”

championship at Lockland Wayne High School, Tomlin accepted a scholarship from Ohio State. But his time in Columbus was shortlived because of the demands of school and having to work.

He soon moved back to Cincinnati and went to work at Stearns & Foster, a Lockland mattress company.

Tomlin enrolled in Xavier in January 1954. On January 30, 1955, he dressed with XU’s varsity team for the first time for a game against No. 15 Dayton at Cincinnati Gardens.

He vividly recalled walking into the locker room and seeing his jer-

sey hanging in his locker. He saw a new pair of Chuck Taylor All-Star gym shoes and his neatly folded warmups. I made it to the big time, he said he thought to himself.

“When I put the jersey on, I looked around because I just knew everybody in there could hear my heart beating,” he said.

“That was quite a thing for me.”

Tomlin served in the U.S. Army and worked at Procter & Gamble, Kenner, and Equistar Chemicals before retiring in 2000. In 2006, he returned to Xavier to complete the requirements needed for his liberal arts degree. — M I C H A E L P E R R Y

XavierNationMagazine.com

PHOTOGRAPHS (THIS PAGE, FROM TOP) BY GLENN HARTONG / COURTESY ENQUIRER MEDIA; (O P P O S I T E ) B Y B R E T T H A N S B A U E R /4 T H F L O O R C R E AT I V E

WARMUP

ON THE FIELD

BACK IN THE GAME // NATE LIE IS READY TO TAKE THE WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM TO THE NEXT LEVEL. — S H A N N O N R U S S E L L

ATE LIE IS ANYTHING BUT A TYPICAL SOCCER COACH. Lie (pronounced LEE), hired in May to lead Xavier’s women’s program, spent several years in the corporate world before pursuing a coaching career. All that time away from the game proved fortuitous, as he approached soccer with fresh eyes and an open mind.

Success soon followed. The 39-year-old Pleasant Ridge resident helped invigorate the women’s soccer program at his alma mater, Miami University, and went on to become associate head coach at the University of Cincinnati.

“Due to my background, when making decisions, I base them more on logic or reason versus the status quo or what others are doing. As such, we tend to find out-of-the-box solutions,” Lie says.

Lie and his wife, Emily, have three kids: Michael, 5, Grace, 3, and Josh, 1. Here are more fun facts about XU’s new coach:

XavierNationMagazine.com

WARMUP

He played on Miami University’s last men’s soccer team. Lie was the RedHawks’ team captain in 1999, when the university eliminated the men’s soccer program. Although some players transferred, Lie was well into his finance and economic double major. He secured his first job during November of his senior year—at Bank of America—and considered his soccer ties finished.

Oh, but they weren’t. Lie still didn’t know that, though, when he forayed into the corporate world. Before long he experienced a lack of fulfillment professionally. “It didn’t feel right,” Lie says.

He researched volunteerism opportunities and applied at AmeriCorps.

New adventure, new passion. Lie’s first AmeriCorps team implemented an educational project in Sacramento, assisted the San Francisco Food Bank, and planted trees in Utah. The group traveled in a 15-person passenger van and had no access to TV. Lie loved that experience so much that he went on to volunteer in South Carolina. He eventually met his wife working on a Habitat for Humanity house in Florida. She was a University of Cincinnati student on an alternative spring break dedicated to service.

Lie reconnected with his Miami soccer coach. Lie grew up loving sports and realized a career in athletics was the right fit. He met with his former coach, Bobby Kramig, who offered him an assistant coaching position with Miami’s women’s program in 2009. Kramig asked if Lie would like to know his salary. Lie said no. It wasn’t about the money. “I literally accepted a job without knowing I was going to get paid,” Lie says.

All he does is win. Lie’s ability to see soccer through a different lens has helped two programs succeed. Miami went 54–26–5 with Lie on staff for four years; UC went 42–30–12. Although his last UC contract stipulated that he was the Bearcats head coach–in–waiting, Xavier presented an opportunity Lie couldn’t refuse. He was drawn to the university’s mission statement and the prospects of retooling a program that last had a winning season in 2013. “I’ve always looked at Xavier as a program that has great potential,” Lie says. “I like a challenge.”

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

19

WARMUP

HALL OF FAME

XAVIER VS. UC FOOTBALL TROPHY T WASN’T QUITE AN OCEAN’S 11 HEIST, BUT ACCORDING TO RAY LYNCH, a member of one of Xavier’s last football teams, the recovery of the Mayor’s Trophy (awarded to the winner of the Xavier/University of Cincinnati football matchup) does involve altar boys, a former Musketeers adversary, and some good fortune.

Lynch recalls former XU teammate and captain Gil Hyland calling him up one day and saying, “Hey Raybo, you’re not going to believe what I found over at UC!” “He was over at UC to get [former Bearcat coach Bob] Huggins to sign some basketballs for some altar boys up in Lima,” Lynch says. “I said, ‘What’d you find?’ And he says ‘Our trophy! It’s down some dark corridor [where it’s] dark and dusty [with] broken pieces on it and we’ve got to get that out of there. That’s history!’”

Hyland—who was good enough to be considered a pro prospect by Sports Illustrated in its September 13, 1971, issue—is credited with rescuing the trophy from history’s abyss. Now on display in the P. Douglas O’Keefe Athletics Hall of Fame in the Cintas Center, it’s a tribute to the days when Xavier boasted a Division I football team before dropping the sport after the 1973 season.

While the trophy has a special place in Xavier history, its value was and continues to be priceless to Hyland’s family today. Hyland’s daughter Missy, a 2008 Xavier graduate, says her father loved the trophy so much he had a duplicate of it for his own collection. “If you heard his stories, you would have thought he played for 55 years,” she jokes.

It goes without saying, then, why she was thankful to have the actual trophy present at

2 0 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

her wedding this past July. With her father passing away in 2006, Missy says, the trophy was a simple way to have a piece of her father present for her big day, with many friends and family posing for pictures with both the newlywed couple and the artifact.

Memories like those are why she says Xavier football will never completely fade away.

“To the day he died, he was still talking to guys on the football team,” she says. “When they get together, they still tell stories and it just sounds like such an awesome experience. As a Xavier grad, I thought Xavier was awesome, but to have the football experience on top of that would be the icing on the cake to share what he had.”

XavierNationMagazine.com

P H O T O G R A P H S (F R O M T O P) C O U R T E S Y X AV I E R AT H L E T I C S / B Y G L E N N H A R T O N G

// FORMER FOOTBALL PLAYERS SAVE THE MAYOR’S TROPHY FROM THE GRASP OF OBSCURITY. — T A B A R I M c C O Y

See the Court in 20/20 Vision Serving your family’s total eye care needs.

OUR DOCTORS OF OPTOMETRY DIAGNOSE AND TREAT…

Red Eyes Q Eye Infections Q Glaucoma Q

Dry Eye Syndrome Q Eye Allergy Symptoms Q Removal of Foreign Objects Q

Wing Eyecare is your fashion eyewear headquarters!

SAVE $125 OFF

COMPLETE EYEGLASSES

Must present this ticket to receive discount Complete Eyeglasses are frames and Rx lenses. (Includes frames and HD prescription digital lenses in anti-reflective polycarbonate, trivex, or high-index lenses. Cannot be combined with insurance, discount plans or other offers).

Expires April 30, 2018

SAVE $25 OFF SUNGLASSES

(Any in-stock sunglass. Non-prescription or prescription lenses)

BEECHMONT

COLD SPRING, KY

Dr. Celeste Keiser Dr. Paula Thatcher Dr. Tracie Kingsolver 8315 Beechmont Ave.

Dr. Danica Lantz 339 Crossroads Blvd.

513.474.4444

HAMILTON

513.893.8816

Dr. April Reffner 768 NW Washington Blvd.

NEWPORT, KY 859.291.9464

Dr. Mark Lantz 142 Pavilion Pkwy.

859.441.9464

HYDE PARK 513.533.0031 Dr. Matt Muroski 3850 Paxton Ave.

MIAMISBURG (at Austin Landing)

Dr. Jacob Michael Dr. Johnathan Burt 5303 Glenway Ave.

KENWOOD

513.791.2222

Dr. Albert Drees 8740 Montgomery Rd.

Dr. Alicia Zhou Dr. Barry Gridley 3625 Rigby Road

937.376.9439

Dr. Lowell C. Eicher 180 S. Allison Ave.

COLERAIN

FLORENCE, KY

Dr. Randall Harpring Dr. Lien Nguyen 8340 Colerain Ave.

Dr. Matt Dayringer Dr. Jennifer Michael Dr. Kelly Reitzes 8537 U.S. Hwy. 42 (in the Gunpowder Centre)

513.245.9099

Newly Expanded Sunglasses Dept. in select offices!

937.347.2000

WESTERN HILLS XENIA 513.921.8040

NOW OPEN!

WINGEYECARE.COM

LIBERTY/ W. CHESTER

MASON/ LOVELAND

Dr. Jeffrey Hartman Dr. Christie Francia 7334 Yankee Rd.`

Dr. Mark Herron 12094 Montgomery Rd.

513.759.9464

513.774.0999

TRI-COUNTY

CRESCENT SPRINGS, KY

Dr. Terry Nisbet 1351 E. Kemper Road

Dr. Paul Bertram Dr. Jamie Bertram 705 Buttermilk Pike

513.771.9800

859.341-3937

859.282.0911

MILFORD

513.575.9464

Dr. Jeffrey Cole 1090 St. Rte. 28 (next to Starbuck’s near Home Depot)

To advertise, (513) 275-5967 or eReach.com/advertise

You can request appointments and reorder contacts online! Visit us at

CI 0416 Log # 122

Expires April 30, 2018

All product/brand names are trademarks of their respective owners.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

MEET THE NEW KIDS

// SPEND SOME TIME WITH XAVIER UNIVERSITY’S NEW BASKETBALL PLAYERS. —TA B A R I M c C OY

#24

#3

Jordyn Dawson

Aaliyah Dunham

Talk about playing against teammate Aaliyah Dunham in high school. We played them three times in the regular season and then to go to [the] state [championship], and my team beat her team. We were friends [before we got to Xavier]. We just laugh about it.

You get stuck on a desert island.

What three things would you want to have with you (save for a way to escape)? A case of water, even though I don’t drink water. A machete. And shoes. Shoes because you obviously have to walk, a machete to protect yourself, and water to survive.

Describe yourself. I’m reserved until I get to know you.

Favorite TV show? The Fosters on Freeform [formerly ABC Family]. It’s a drama-type of show and deals with fostering. My brother is adopted and two of my cousins are adopted, too.

It’s just an interesting show.

What inspired the tattoos on your left forearm? I just liked them—saw them on the Internet and got them.

One is of roses and the other is a hammerhead shark. I like fish—ever since I was a kid I liked sharks. The words are “stay weird.” The words were in the picture with the hammerhead.

Hobbies? I like to draw. I can dance.

[But] my teammates do not consider me a good dancer.

Favorite TV show? Prison Break.

It’s interesting, just the whole idea behind it.

Where would you least want to be stuck? The desert. There’s nothing there; [it’s] dry and hot.

Least favorite food? I don’t really have one. I mean, fish I can’t eat because I’m allergic—all fish. I had a bad reaction when I tried to eat fish [once]. My lip swelled up and turned purple.

Favorite Halloween costume? I think it was a lion. It was when I was younger. That year, I just dressed like a lion and, honestly, I don’t know why it was my favorite. I just remember something happened to it and I was very upset about it. I think my dog peed on it and I had to throw it away.

Who would you pick to play you in a movie? Taraji P. Henson. She’s a good actress.

Favorite food? Wings. I like the spiciness.

Favorite Disney movie? Probably Moana. It just told a good story.

Last good book you read? I like Of Mice and Men. It was just a good book and all the genres in it—comedy, drama.

Something surprising about you?

I’m into aliens—don’t look at me like that!—like aliens existing, outer space, and stuff like that.

What’s worse—a teammate who snores or who never stops talking? Snores.

2 2 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

XavierNationMagazine.com

P H O T O GR A P H S B Y B R E T T H A N S B AU E R , 4t h F L O O R C R E AT I V E

WARMUP

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

WARMUP

#21

#4

#11

A’riana Gray

Elias Harden

Kerem Kanter

Favorite thing to do away from playing basketball? Shop for shoes.

And eat.

You’ve said baseball was your first sports love; what made you choose basketball over baseball?

The two sports are kind of active around the same time, so at a certain age, right when I started playing basketball, I was taller than everybody.

I just got a great feel for the game; I really enjoyed it, and it felt like I could be much, much better at it if I just kept working.

Cat or dog person? Cat. I don’t like dogs; they’re too much. They’re too aggressive, and a dog chased me down the street when I was younger.

If there’s a dog next to me and he’s bigger than me, that should be illegal.

Favorite food? Mac-and-cheese and juicy burgers.

Have you ever fouled out or been ejected from a game? I fouled out and got ejected in AAU. This girl bit my finger so I kinda [stiff-armed her].

She bit my finger—the ref didn’t see it—but I showed him the teeth marks.

I didn’t push her, but I’m kinda strong and she fell. You bite my fingers, what am I supposed to do? Let you nibble on me?

You wear glasses; do you wear contacts when you play basketball? No, I wear goggles! I hate ’em.

I can’t get contacts because I have dry eyes. And I don’t look cute in my goggles. I know I’m not supposed to look cute, but there are photographers and stuff.

Game show you’d love to be on?

Family Feud. It’s fun, and Steve Harvey’s funny.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be? I want to be a mind reader so I’ll know if someone is talking about me and what they’re going to do next.

What should Xavier fans expect from you? I’m going to dunk during a game. I tried to dunk in a high school game, but I missed. But I can get up there.

XavierNationMagazine.com

Any tattoos? One. It’s on my chest.

It’s two wings and the year I was born, 1999. I was interested in art and I like seeing them. I asked my parents if they would consider letting me get a tattoo. Of course, every parent either says “no” or asks the reason behind it. Basically, they told me if I stayed on the right track in school, etc., they’d let me get it.

Last place on Earth you’d want to get stuck? In a dungeon somewhere.

You’re on a desert island. What three things other than a map or boat would you want? Shelter.

Food. Just some utensils I could use to make a small hut, and some snacks like chips. The last thing would probably be clothes.

Favorite movies? Space Jam, Like Mike. I [also] like the Mission: Impossible series.

If you were a spy, what’s your code name? “Easy” because I’d just make it look easy.

A one-of-a-kind car or a mansion?

A mansion because I wouldn’t want to sleep in the car. I could make a living there, and then I could work and find a way to get a car.

Favorite food? Salmon.

Least favorite food? Shellfish.

TV show you’d love to be on? Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ’N Out (on MTV).

If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Teleporting.

Pet of choice? Macaw.

Favorite movies? Asterix & Obelix.

Celebrity you’d like to hang out with? Ice Cube.

Favorite musical artist? Meek Mill.

If you could meet anyone in the world …? Sergio Kun Aguero (Argentinian soccer player for Manchester United).

If you could go anywhere in the world …? Dubai.

Something surprising about you?

I have been living by myself for eight years.

Sports role model? Muhammad Ali. Hobbies? Xbox (FIFA, 2k, Mortal Kombat).

Hidden talents? Math.

Superstitions? Right first (shoes, etc.).

What actor should play you in a movie? Ice Cube.

Favorite TV show? The Blacklist.

Guilty pleasure junk food? Lay’s potato chips—sour cream and onion.

Mountains or beach? Beach.

Cook or clean? Cook.

Any fears? Losing a family member.

Favorite book? Quran.

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

23

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

#13

#15

#2

Naji Marshall

Alyson Reiff

Deja Ross

You grew up with five brothers and one sister. What’s the best and worst thing about growing up in a big family? The best? When we go out, we’re always protected. The worst is probably when it’s time to spend money, everyone’s got to share because there’s less money [to go around].

Sports role model? Probably Darby Maggard. She plays for Belmont [University]. I would work out with her all the time when I was home. She lives like 10 minutes away, so she was a good workout partner. She’s made a big impact on my game.

Sports role model? Skylar Diggins-Smith (Dallas Wings, WNBA).

Text or talk on your cell phone?

Both, but I’m more of an in-person type of guy.

Celebrity crush? Most definitely [actress] Lauren London. She’s gorgeous.

Least favorite food? Probably burgers, steaks, or ribs—something like that. I just never ate them growing up, so I never had a desire to. I eat cheesesteaks, but I don’t eat regular steak.

Dunk for a game-winning shot or block someone to win a game? I’d rather dunk on somebody. I just like dunking on people.

Favorite musical artist? Meek Mill.

I’ve been listening to him since I was young.

What annoys you? People who don’t smell good. I hate that.

If you could meet anyone in the world…? La La [Anthony], Carmelo Anthony’s wife, just to stare at her.

She looks so good.

Something surprising about you?

No one on this campus can beat me in Ping-Pong.

How did you discover your love of table tennis? My mom used to work at a rec center, and they had ([able tennis] and I got good [at it]. I’m one of the best players in the world.

2 4 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

Hobbies? Hunting, fishing, fourwheeler riding, and basketball, obviously.

Celebrity you’d love to meet?

Maybe Larry Bird or Seth Curry. I’d just ask questions about basketball and non-basketball and how they did it, what motivated them and whatnot.

Hidden talents? I can juggle and I can spin a basketball on my finger. I’ve juggled oranges, fruit, hacky sacks— only three things.

If you could go anywhere in the world…? Maybe Fiji. It looks nice, warm, and tropical.

Last good movie you saw? War for the Planet of the Apes. It was funny.

Well, some parts of it were. One ape [Bad Ape] was pretty funny.

Food you absolutely will not eat?

Cooked broccoli [and] spinach. I just don’t like it. When I was little, I had to take at least one bite and I would almost gag. I hated it.

Who would you love to see in concert? Right now, probably Thomas Rhett. I like all his songs.

If you could have one superpower, what would you choose? Telekinesis [so I could] move things with my mind.

Pet of choice? Pug. Hobbies? I like to write stories.

TV show you’d love to be on?

Voice over guest star for SpongeBob SquarePants.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Invisibility.

You’re on a desert island. What three things other than a map or boat would you want? My mom, water and food.

Favorite movie? Orphan (2009) Celebrity you’d like to hang out with? Rihanna Favorite musical artist? Rihanna If you could meet anyone in the world…? Rihanna Favorite food? Spanish food.

Least favorite food? Squash.

If you could go anywhere in the world…? The Bahamas.

Something surprising about you?

I can cook.

Superstitions? Karma.

What actor should play you in a movie? Rihanna.

Guilty pleasure junk food?

McDonald’s.

Mountains or beach? Beach.

Any fears? Losing any loved ones.

XavierNationMagazine.com

P H O T O GR A P H S B Y B R E T T H A N S B AU E R , 4t h F L O O R C R E AT I V E

WARMUP

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

#1

Paul Scruggs

WARMUP

#5

Princess Stewart

AT A GLANCE

MEN’S BASKETBALL NEWCOMERS ELIAS HARDEN 6-5, guard East Point, Ga.

KEREM KANTER 6-10, forward Istanbul, Turkey

NAJI MARSHALL 6-6, forward, Atlantic City, N.J. You’ve said you didn’t grow up watching your hometown Indiana Pacers play. What did you spend most of your time watching instead? SpongeBob SquarePants; SpongeBob is real. SpongeBob SquarePants and Tom & Jerry are my shows. And SpongeBob is an oldschool classic now—don’t get it wrong!

Describe yourself as a player? Pass first and guard; get others involved.

Where would you most like to go on vacation? Brazil. It’s a party down there every night.

Favorite junk food? Honey Buns.

That’s what I grew up eating.

If you were going to go on an adventure, what would it be? I would definitely [go] to the island that King Kong is on [Skull Island]. King Kong is the king; he’s a beast. He won’t try to squash me [though] because I’ll be on his side.

Who would you pick to play you in a movie? That’s a hard one. Probably Kevin Hart. He’d fit my personality.

Fears or phobias? I don’t like heights and I don’t like being in tight spots.

Yeah, I’m claustrophobic.

Pregame rituals? I listen to R&B, so I listen to New Edition, Jodeci, Boyz II Men before a game. It mellows me out.

Do you collect anything? I used to collect wrestling figures and never take them out of the box. I cannot remember how many I had. Eddie Guerrero was my favorite. He had the most swagger during his entrance.

XavierNationMagazine.com

Is there something you always wear during a game as a good luck charm? I always wear pink socks under my game socks. I don’t even know [how that started]. My mom just got me a pair of pink socks in my 9th grade year and I liked them. The high school I went to, I led us to state for the first time in like 35 years or something, so I just kept [the tradition going].

Any fears? I don’t like spiders. I was back home in Georgia and we were at my mom’s friend’s house and there was a spider. She killed the spider and then babies started crawling out of it, so that killed it for me.

Would you rather cook for the entire team or do the team’s laundry? Oh, I’m cooking. I’m not doing laundry for anybody! I’ll make everyone some sandwiches or something [instead]. I’m not the best cook, but I can cook.

Where would you love to travel to? California. I have family that lives there and I’ve been there before, but I really haven’t had a chance to explore it.

Any tattoos? I have two. My first one, it’s a basketball, just for my love of the game. The second one is Chinese lettering on the back of my [left] arm, and it stands for “never give up.”

It’s just a reminder for myself. I can’t really look at it, but I just know it’s there.

PAUL SCRUGGS 6-3, guard Indianapolis, Ind.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL NEWCOMERS JORDYN DAWSON 5-10, guard/forward Huntington, W.Va.

AALIYAH DUNHAM 5-4, guard South Charleston, W.Va.

A’RIANA GRAY 6-0, forward Cleveland, Ohio

ALYSON REIFF 5-11, guard South Whitley, Ind.

DEJA ROSS 6-0, forward Providence, R.I.

PRINCESS STEWART 5-9, guard Frankfort, Ky.

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

25

BUSINESS AT XAVIER Expanding our offerings to meet your needs • ONLINE, PART-TIME AND FULL-TIME DAY MBA • MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ACCOUNTANCY • MASTER OF SCIENCE IN CUSTOMER ANALYTICS

With our flexible scheduling, online, evening and weekend classes, and new program choices, there’s even more reason to enroll in a business program in the Williams College of Business.

Learn more at xavier.edu/business.

Before they excelled in the business community, these former athletes earned their MBA at the

XAVIER UNIVERSITY WILLIAMS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

BYRON LARKIN BSBA 1988, MBA 1993 Basketball 1988

JULIE DAUMEYER KADNER BSBA 1985, MBA 1996

STEPHEN CUNTZ III BSBA 1972, MBA 1982 Football 1976 – 2 years

Swimming 1985 • Announcer-broadcaster of Xavier Men’s Basketball with Joe Sunderman • Financial Advisor with Lifetime Financial Planning • Byron Larkin is a dual registered financial advisor in Cincinnati, OH. He has been in practice for 24 years, the last 13 years at Cetera Advisors LLC. – U.S. News • Cetera Advisors LLC is a national financial advisory firm headquartered in Denver, CO. The firm has $11.0 billion under management and employs 1,292 across 53 states.

The firm caters to 51,290 clients of varying types, but focuses mostly on high net worth individuals.

• Division President, Property and Inland Marine, Great American Insurance (GAI) since June 2017.

• Formerly Division Senior Vice President at GAI 2009–2017.

• Former Senior Auditor at GAI. • Volunteer Director of Insuring the Children in 2014.

• Certified as a CPA, chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter CPCU and Distinguished Toastmaster DTM.

• President of Bluestar, Inc., Hebron, KY, since 1992 • Director of AIM—Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility, and board member since 2010.

PHOTOGRAPH BY TK

2 8 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

XavierNationMagazine.com

THE

BY // RORY GLYNN

POWER OF TWO PHOTOGRAPH BY TK

J.P. MACURA AND TREVON BLUIETT: ONE HALF OF WHAT COULD BE THE MOST PROLIFIC SCORING DUO IN XAVIER MEN’S BASKETBALL HISTORY IS NEEDLING THE OTHER HALF. BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THEY DO: SCORE LOTS OF POINTS AND NEEDLE EACH OTHER. WE SAT DOWN AND ASKED THIS DYNAMIC DUO TO TELL US ABOUT EACH OTHER.

XavierNationMagazine.com

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

29

But his half-court shot hits back iron.

“REALLY?” Trevon Bluiett says.

Trevon finds the same spot in the heart of the “X” logo at the Kohlhepp Family Auxiliary Gym at Cintas Center. He launches. Off the backboard, through the basket.

“THAT’S SOME MALARKEY RIGHT THERE,” J.P. says.

Maybe he doesn’t say malarkey. But you get the point.

3 0 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

THIS ISN’T MALARKEY—J.P. AND TREVON

are approaching some Musketeer history.

Entering their senior seasons, they’ve already combined for more career points than all but six other duos who played all four seasons together. With 2,639 points and counting, they trail only Stanley Burrell and Josh Duncan, Jamie Gladden and Aaron Williams, Tu Holloway and Kenny Frease, Byron Larkin and Dexter Campbell, Lenny Brown and Gary Lumpkin, and Romain Sato and Lionel Chalmers.

Sato and Chalmers combined for 3,561 points in 253 games. If Trevon and J.P combine for 32.9 points per game, as they did last season, they would become the highestscoring duo by the season’s 28th game.

You might not have known that these two were double-teaming a piece of history. But that’s not what we wanted to talk to them about. Not really. Xavier Nation wanted to know what they knew about one another. Is No. 5 (Trevon) a mirror image of No. 55 (J.P.)?

We asked them to take a few steps in each other’s shoes (easy, since both wear size 13). Here’s some of what we found out.

P-I-G In the familiar, shorter twist on the game H-O-R-S-E, when you make a shot, your opponent has to match or he gets a letter; spell out P-I-G and you lose. J.P. and Trevon agreed to a game for our cameras, because that’s another thing they like to do. Both say they played probably 30 times last year. How often they played is one of the few things they agree on.

TREVON: You only beat me like twice the whole year.

J.P.: That is not true. So not true.

TREVON: If there are 30 games in the regular season, 20. I’m the reigning champ. At least 20. Be honest. All the times at Cintas Center? Be honest.

J.P.: Probably 16–14, Tre. But I know I’m better. I just fold sometimes. So when he wins, this is what happens. I’ll be up, like, three games to zero. And he’ll keep playing and playing until it’s four-two, then five-

XavierNationMagazine.com

PHOTO GR APH S (PRE VIOUS SPRE AD) BY GREG RUS T / ( T HIS PAGE) BY GLENN HARTONG

“BUCKETS,” J.P. Macura says as the ball leaves his hands.

P H O T O G R A P H S (L E F T ) B Y G L E N N H A R T O N G / (A L L O T H E R S) B Y D O U G H O LT P H O T O G R A P H Y S T U D I O S

three, and he’ll stay out there until he gets up six-five. And then he runs through the tunnel.

TREVON: We usually play after our pregame workouts. We have maybe 10, 15 minutes to play, enough to get in four, five games, sometimes more. If I get up one, it’s just smart to leave on that.

J.P.: So that’s what he does.

TREVON: He could do that, too.

J.P.: I like to get extra shots up. I’m dedicated.

TREVON: [The half-court shot], that’s my go-to. That’s how I like to finish people off.

J.P.: Why don’t you ask me that question?

Bank. He can’t bank. Even if he just did, he can’t bank.

SOFTBALL In August, J.P. And Trevon were captains for Xavier’s annual team softball game; the team captained by J.P. and Kerem Kanter beat Trevon’s and Sean O’Mara’s team 11–6.

XavierNationMagazine.com

J.P.: We just drafted way, way better than team Bluiett/O’Mara. We did background checks on every player. We really took the time for our picks. We wanted to take as many coaches as we can, and no new guys.

We took as many coaches as we could, and Tre ended up with a lot of players, and our players aren’t very good at softball, as you can see by the score of the game. Unbelievable draft by myself.

TREVON: I have to disagree. We knew what we were getting out of our picks—obviously, not as much experience as the coaches, who play every single year, but we wanted a group of guys that were going to give us their all.

We were looking to be more athletic, which didn’t work out in our favor. I was proud of my team, Team Bluiett/O’Mara. It was close for the most part. One inning got out of hand.

J.P.: What did you lose by?

TREVON: Five.

J.P.: I thought it was six.

TREVON: Five, six, it wasn’t 10.

J.P.: That’s still a lot of runs, you know.

TOO COOL (Opposite page) Trevon Bluiett (5) and J.P. Macura (55) meet reporter Rory Glynn in the auxiliary gym in Cintas Center to, well, talk about each other. (This page, left) Before their interview, they started with some shooting from halfcourt. (This page, right) Bluiett and Macura clown around for the cameras during a photo shoot prior to the 2017 BIG EAST Conference tournament in New York City.

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

31

HOME Trevon is from Indianapolis, where he led Park Tudor High to three Indiana state championships. J.P. is from Lakeville, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul, where he led Lakeville North to a state title as a senior.

LEADING THE WAY Trevon Bluiett scored a game-high 40 points and J.P. Macura added 13 points and a team-high six rebounds in a loss to the University of Cincinnati in January.

TREVON: Best thing about Minnesota?

J.P. (HELPFULLY): Lots of water.

TREVON: You know, I’ve never been to Minnesota, so it’s hard to say. I’ve heard it’s beautiful. They don’t have many people.

Probably just Kris Humphries.

J.P.: I’d say [Indiana] produces some pretty good basketball players. Other than that, it’s not a very cool place. It’s not as clean as Minnesota. It’s not in the top five places to live in the United States, like Minnesota is.

I mean, it’s a very average place.

CULINARY ARTS Who’s the better cook?

J.P.: I can cook. I usually do frozen pizzas.

And my scrambled eggs are really, really good.

TREVON: Can I ask a question?

TREVON: Because you can put a frozen pizza in the oven, you think you can cook?

J.P.: Yeah. I gotta explain myself. Some people mess a frozen pizza up. Black on the bottom, crunchy…mine are perfect. And my scrambled eggs? [Whistles] Drizzled with cheese. I’m probably never going to make you scrambled eggs, but if I do? You’d love them. Tre can’t cook. He just comes to my room and eats all my food.

TREVON: I will say he’s not lying. When I come up there, I eat his food.

J.P.: Can I say something? When he comes up and asks if he can have a bag of chips, I expect he’s going to eat a bag of chips. If I say yes to a bag of chips, he hears me saying yes to everything else. No matter what’s in there, he’s going to eat it.

TREVON: Once you get that confirmation, why not go all in?

3 2 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

CINEMA

TREVON: Just doing something stupid. J.P. likes doing that kind of stuff himself, so he thinks it’s funny when somebody else does it, too.

What’s his favorite movie?

TREVON: He’s more of an action type of guy. Like Planet of the Apes.

J.P.: Remember that movie Super Size Me? He’s probably watching that. You ever see Home Alone? What’s that kid’s name, Macauley Culkin? That’s Tre. Fat Albert, too.

TREVON: Fat Albert. Big fan.

HUMOR What makes the other laugh?

J.P.: He really loves SpongeBob. That’s his favorite show. He’ll sit in the living room giggling, cracking up. He’s a pretty happy guy. SpongeBob. Tre’s still a little kid.

MUSIC Can the other sing?

TREVON: No. J.P.: Yea, he actually can. He said he was going to sing you a song when he got out here. (Turns to Tre): Remember that? We were talking about it in the locker room.

The other’s favorite artist?

TREVON: That’s tough. Right now I’d say Post Malone. What’s that song?

J.P. “Candy Paint!” “Candy Paint!”

TREVON: Whenever we go on trips, he’s always playing “Candy Paint” by Post

XavierNationMagazine.com

PHOTOGRAPH BY BOB STEVENS

J.P.: Yeah, what’s up?

Malone. Talk about someone playing a song out so quick. One time we had lifting and he played it three times in a row. Three times. Come on.

J.P.: Probably Meek Mill. He’s a big fan of Meek. I’m personally not a fan. He wakes up? Meek. Breakfast? Meek. Lunch? Meek.

Dinner? Meek. Listens to Meek when he goes to bed. Listens to Meek while he’s sleeping. What’s your favorite Meek song?

TREVON: I don’t like Meek.

FEAR What scares the other?

J.P.: I feel like he doesn’t like spiders.

TREVON: No, I definitely don’t like spiders.

J.P.: I’m not scared of anything.

TREVON: Nothing. He does roller coasters.

He does airplane rides.

J.P.: Everybody does airplane rides.

TREVON: I don’t like airplane rides, by the way. But he does cannonballs off cliffs.

Nothing scares him.

J.P.: I mean, I don’t like snakes. At all. Those things are disgusting. Outside of that, no.

HABITS What pregame rituals does the other have?

TREVON: He likes to take a shower. Every single game. We have position meetings before the games so it’s only like three of us.

J.P.: I don’t really see him before games.

ROAD TRIPS What’s his favorite place to play away from the friendly confines of Cintas Center?

J.P.: His is definitely…what is it, Dunkin Donuts Center [in Providence)?

TREVON: (laughs) Oh, man. No. J.P.: That or Butler.

TREVON: Not Providence, but I definitely like going home [to Indianapolis] and see-

ing family. And playing against the crowd and hearing the boos. I’d say his would be Creighton, because it’s closest to his home.

And Georgetown. I don’t know what it is, but he always has great games at Georgetown.

J.P.: It’s their shower.

HIS CHARACTER What trait do you most admire about the other?

TREVON: How caring he is, his love of the game and his love of his teammates. On and off the court, he does whatever he has to do to make a person feel comfortable. A lot of freshmen look up to him.

FAVORITE PLAYERS In the NBA, Trevon likes Carmelo Anthony; J.P.’s guy is Steph Curry.

Who wins 1-on-1?

J.P.: His work ethic. Honestly, he gets in the gym more than anybody I know. He’s also encouraging to his teammates, whether it’s in the gym, weight room, Ignition, sand workouts, hills…he’s always talking. He brings a lot of energy to whatever we’re doing.

J.P.: Steph.

TREVON: No, no, no.

J.P.: Depends who has the ball first.

(Say it’s make it-take it, Steph gets the ball first.)

HIS GAME

J.P.: Steph.

TREVON: How many dribbles? I think they would have a dribble limit. Say three dribbles, play to five. I’m definitely going to say Melo. Steph is not going to score five buckets in a row on Carmelo.

J.P.: You think Carmelo is going to score five in a row on Steph?

What do you like most about what the other brings to the court?

TREVON: His toughness. Not being scared of any situation. He just plays, goes all out, and honestly that’s something that we need.

To be that leader with that toughness, that carries over to all of us.

TREVON: Steph’s gonna settle.

J.P.: He’s a mismatch nightmare for teams.

When bigger guys try to guard him, they can’t. He’s got too many moves, he’s too versatile a player. He can basically score on anybody in the country. You never really know what you’re going to get with him because he’s an elite scorer.

J.P.: Steph’s gonna go wherever he wants.

(Smiles)

TREVON: Not with three dribbles.

With some luck.

TREVON: Steph’s little. You’ve seen Carmelo’s workout videos this summer.

J.P.: Steph has the ball! You think Carmelo’s going to guard him?

TOP-SCORING DUOS IN XAVIER HISTORY WHO PLAYED FOUR YEARS TOGETHER: Romain Sato/Lionel Chalmers Lenny Brown/Gary Lumpkin Byron Larkin/Dexter Campbell Tu Holloway/Kenny Frease Jamie Gladden/Aaron Williams Stanley Burrell/Josh Duncan Trevon Bluiett/J.P. Macura Brian Grant/Tyrice Walker Justin Doellman/Justin Cage Jeff Jenkins/Dexter Bailey* Jamal Walker/Michael Davenport

Years 2000–04 1995–99 1984–88 2008–12 1989–93 2004–08 2014–18 1990–94 2003–07 1980–84 1987–91

Points 3,561 3,392 3,058 2,936 2,853 2,822 2,639 2,620 2,583 2,523 2,505

Games 253 245 199 271 239 260 214 227 263 235 245

Avg 14.1 13.8 15.4 10.8 11.9 10.9 12.3 11.5 9.8 10.7 10.2

*Victor Fleming (1980-84) scored 1,059 points in 114 games

XavierNationMagazine.com

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

33

HOUSE OF PAYNE

The creative process started with renowned illustrator C.F. Payne looking through hundreds of Xavier basketball photos of Trevon Bluiett and J.P. Macura.

To create the best cover image, he needed to find images that would bring them to life, conveying body movement, shape, and action. Here, Payne takes us through the stages of producing his illustration for Xavier Nation’s fall 2017 issue.

S TA G E 1

I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y C . F. PAY N E

After images are selected, Payne, using tracing paper, outlines each player’s silhouette on a separate sheet and places them into a designed composition.

S TA G E 4

S TA G E 5 Payne usese acrylic paint to block color into the shapes of the figures, using the original photos for reference.

3 4 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

With ink and pen, Payne blocks in the black background, then fills it in with a brush. Spray fix is applied to protect what has been done thus far.

XavierNationMagazine.com

S TA G E 2

S TA G E 3 Once the composition is set, a detailed drawing is made to be sure the final arrangement works and reads well. The drawing is sent for final approval.

After approval, the drawing is transferred to the cold press illustration board and drawn with burnt sienna and grey colored pencils.

FOUL ON

DO YOU KNOW WHY NOBODY WEARS NO. 6 OR NO. 9?

GOING GLOBAL MUSKETEERS PLAYING ON THE WORLD STAGE

XavierNation THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE FOR XAVIER ATHLETICS

+

NEXT MAN UP GET TO KNOW THE NEW BASEBALL COACH

DANNY ABRAMOWICZ

FORMER FOOTBALL STAR REMAINS A DIE-HARD FAN

THE

POWER

OF TWO

BLUIETT, MACURA ON PACE FOR HISTORIC NUMBERS

S TA G E 6

FINAL The entire image gets covered with a neutral violet oil wash.

When it’s dry, a kneaded eraser lifts some of the oils to reveal the color beneath. That’s sealed with spray fix, and colored pencils and acrylics complete the piece.

XavierNationMagazine.com

The art director scans the finished illustration and pulls it into the cover layout, adding text and the Xavier Nation logo.

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

35

3 6 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

XavierNationMagazine.com

P H O T O GR A P H B Y B R E T T H A N S B AU E R , 4t h F L O O R C R E AT I V E PHOTOGRAPH BY TK

TURKISH-BORN KEREM KANTER HOPES TO FULFILL HIS CHAMPIONSHIP DREAMS AFTER TRANSFERRING TO XAVIER FOR ONE SEASON. BY SHANNON RUSSELL

XavierNationMagazine.com

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

37

AT 6-FOOT-10 AND 240 POUNDS, KEREM KANTER IS GRAND IN STATURE but gentle in speech. On a summer day in a Cintas Center office he responds to questions with smiles and short sentences, speaking so softly that at times he’s difficult to hear.

He’s different than other Xavier newcomers. Turkish-born Kanter is a student of the world, the son of a doctor and a former nurse, the brother of NBA star Enes Kanter, an Under-18 Turkish National Team gold medalist.

The things he does not say about himself—like scoring a perfect 800 on the math portion of the SAT, or the close relationship he has with Enes—make him even more intriguing.

It’s worth leaning in when the 22-year-old forward, who began his career at Wisconsin-Green Bay, has something to say.

“I had a really good game last year against Central Michigan and made it to SportsCenter,” Kanter says. “I had 20 straight points in four minutes. Lay-ups, free throws, all kinds of stuff. At the half I had three points, but from the 14-minute mark to the 10-minute mark of the second half, I had 20.”

The game was last December. Green Bay lost despite Kanter’s burst, but it was in some ways a national debut for the moderately utilized big man. His 23 points were a career high. The first of his nine double-doubles in 2016–2017 arrived several games later, and Kanter evolved into one of the most productive post players in the Horizon League.

In his final game in a Phoenix uniform (against former Xavier assistant Kareem Rich-

3 8 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

ardson’s University of Missouri-Kansas City team in the College Basketball Invitational on March 15), Kanter amassed a team-high 20 points in just 18 minutes behind eight of nine field-goal attempts, including a three-pointer.

His propensity to maximize points in limited minutes while drawing opponents’ best defenders spoke volumes to the programs that sought him as a graduate transfer. Xavier assistant basketball coach Luke Murray learned about Kanter on the AAU circuit several years prior and was a little surprised Kanter wasn’t an impact player earlier at Green Bay. “It took him some time to kind of get going,” Murray says. “Green Bay had a style of play on offense with a previous coaching staff where they played really, really fast and they got the ball up and

XavierNationMagazine.com

PP HH OO TT OO GG RR AA PP HH B( LYE TF TK T O R I G H T ) B Y G L E N N H A R T O N G / C O U R T E S Y K A N T E R F A M I L Y

LEFT: Kerem Kanter works out at Cintas Center this summer after transferring to Xavier from Wisconsin-Green Bay. BELOW: Kerem, right, hangs out with his brother Enes, who is playing for this third NBA team this season. Enes played four years with the Utah Jazz, then three seasons for the Oklahoma City Thunder. On Sept. 25, he was traded to the New York Knicks.

PP HH OO TT OO GG RR AA PP HH BB YY BT KR E T T H A N S B A U E R , 4 t h F L O O R C R E A T I V E

down the court in a hurry. It wasn’t necessarily an ideal fit for Kerem, who’s probably somebody who’s a little bit better in more of a half-court, slower-paced game.”

How Kanter even landed at Green Bay is a story unto itself. He arrived in the United States eight years ago to pursue his education and basketball, spending the bulk of his prep career at Wilbraham and Monson Academy in Massachusetts. He headed to IMG Academy in Florida for a year after that.

Kanter flew home to Turkey over spring break his final season and was offered a $2 million Turkish lira professional contract by Galatasaray, “one of the best professional teams in Europe,” Kanter says. He weighed his options.

“I was leaning toward more playing professionally but then me and my family had a talk,” Kanter says. “I was like, ‘I already did high school in the States. Why not continue what I started?’ But by the time I decided to go back to college, all the big names that recruited me already had players because I told them I was going to go professional. Schools like Miami, Pittsburgh, Auburn, Michigan State… they had players on their rosters. The only schools I had left were Green Bay and Tulane.”

He chose Green Bay, sight unseen, from nearly 6,000 miles away.

Mehmet Kanter, a respected physician and researcher, was a big force behind his son’s educational pursuits. Besides, a pro contract wasn’t a rarity in the family; Kerem Kanter says Enes was offered “$4 or $5 million [Turkish lira] because he was the top player in Turkey” as a teenager. “My dad had a bigger vision,” Kanter says.

Kanter’s transition to college ball was tinged by surgery he underwent for tendinitis in his right knee. The procedure was completed before his freshman year at Green Bay. The Green Bay Post-Gazette reported that Kanter arrived on campus about 30 pounds heavier than he is now.

Kanter developed and stuck with Green Bay through a coaching staff change. His stats ballooned last season

XavierNationMagazine.com

(11.3 points per game, 6.3 rebounds), and after graduating in the spring with a business administration degree, he re-opened his recruitment.

Experienced, versatile, and immediately eligible, Kanter was a hot commodity. Kansas State, Creighton, Pittsburgh, Washington, Baylor, Purdue, Seton Hall, and Providence expressed interest.

More programs might have followed, but Kanter made just one official visit—to Xavier—and committed.

“I WANTED TO PLAY WITH GOOD PLAYERS AND THEN I WANTED TO WIN MORE THAN INDIVIDUAL STATS. THAT’S WHY I THOUGHT XAVIER WAS THE TOP SCHOOL.” He sought a program that could win and compete deep in the NCAA Tournament while preparing him for the NBA. Coach Chris Mack and the Musketeers had everything on his wish list.

“One thing I wanted was to have good players on my team,” Kanter says. “At Green Bay I was getting double-teamed as soon as I would catch the ball, especially in the second half of the season. I wanted to play with good players and then I wanted to win more than individual stats. That’s why I thought Xavier was the top school.”

He tested the NBA draft waters with-

out hiring an agent but did not participate in any workouts before withdrawing his name from contention May 22. At nearly the same time, his brother Enes became embroiled in controversy abroad.

The Oklahoma City Thunder center was detained at a Romanian airport because Turkey canceled his travel documents. Enes Kanter contended it was the result of his political views, including his criticism of the Turkish president.

Asked if he was comfortable shedding light on his brother’s situation, Kerem Kanter abstained. He said he “generally stays away” from political discussions. “I don’t want to get into much detail, but he’s standing for what he thinks is right,” Kanter says.

Kanter keeps his focus on academics (sport management, specifically) and developing relationships with his teammates. He also plays a mean game of PingPong, loves chess, and adores soccer and his family. He stays in touch with his parents and siblings in Turkey via Web chats and remains in regular contact with Enes.

Cincinnati provided a soft landing for the student-athlete, who was recognized immediately by fans while out and about.

The late timing of Kanter’s commitment to Green Bay in 2014 doused the effect of a Twitter announcement, but this time around he has been able to soak in congratulations and well wishes.

Murray, who headed up Kanter’s recruitment, considers him a valuable addition to the program. “He can shoot the ball from the three,” Murray says.

“He can really, really pass. He can play with his back to the basket. He’s not very athletic. He’s not super quick. He doesn’t jump very high. But he’s got a kind of savvy, cerebral game, kind of what you think or envision a European big guy would play.”

After a long journey to his final year of collegiate eligibility, the world traveler is eager to finally fulfill his basketball aspirations. “I want to get to the Final Four,” Kanter says, smiling. “And I want to be one of the reasons we get there.”

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

39

PHOTOGRAPH BY GREG RUST

COACH

STEPPING UP TO THE

PLATE BILLY O’CONNER LANDS HIS DREAM JOB AS HEAD BASEBALL COACH AT XAVIER— AT ONLY 30 YEARS OLD.

• BY JOHN KIESEWETTER •

at him. He’s used to it.

At 30 years old, O’Conner is the youngest head baseball coach in the BIG EAST and one of the youngest head baseball coaches in Division I. The four-year assistant coach and senior captain of Xavier’s 2009 NCAA Division I tournament team was promoted after the departure of Scott Googins, 49, in June.

Throughout O’Conner’s playing days, he was a catcher, the one who faced all his teammates on the field.

“I loved every aspect of catching and having an impact on every pitch,” says O’Conner, who played two years of professional baseball after starring at Xavier and Elder High School.“All eight guys are looking at you. You’re the face of the defense. It rubs off on the other guys.” He hit .333 with two home runs and 39 RBI his senior year in 2009 to help the Musketeers win a record 39 games and advance to their first NCAA Division I tournament.

“I’ve been preparing for this day for a long time,” he says. “When I played

DOWN ON THE FARM Lefty Zac Lowther was Xavier’s highest draft pick (second round, 74th overall) in the 2017 June MLB First Year Player Draft. Four players were drafted in June, also a Xavier record. Here’s a look at Musketeers in the minors:

4 2 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

2017 MLB draft

2016 MLB draft

• Zac Lowther, LHP, Baltimore Orioles

• Andre Jernigan, INF, Minnesota Twins

• Rylan Bannon, INF, Los Angeles Dodgers

• Dan Rizzie, C, New York Mets

• Greg Jacknewitz, LHP, San Francisco Giants • Garrett Schilling, RHP, Colorado Rockies

2015 MLB draft • Jacob Bodner, RHP, Kansas City Royals

XavierNationMagazine.com

P H O T O G R A P H B Y A N T H O N Y VA S S E R

ILLY O’CONNER DOESN’T CARE THAT PEOPLE ARE LOOKING

here, I hoped people thought I was a coach on the field.”

He grew up in Green Township rooting for the Reds—closely watching Joe Oliver, Jason LaRue, and Eddie Taubensee behind the plate—and dreaming of playing professional baseball. After his senior year, he signed with the Texas Rangers as an undrafted free agent. He came home in 2011, at age 24, to be a volunteer coach at XU and head coach for the Cincinnati Steam wood bat summer collegiate league.

“I wanted to play as long as I could,” he says. “The day they told me I couldn’t play anymore, the next best thing was to get into coaching because I love being around the game and I love competing.

For the lack of a better word, it’s an addiction. Coaching is that next best thing. The rewarding aspect is getting to work with these kids.”

O’Conner also volunteered for Northern Kentucky University’s baseball team in 2013 before Googins offered him a paid assistant job in 2014 as hitting and catching coach. During his four years as an assistant, the Musketeers won the BIG EAST and advanced to the NCAA tournament three times, including a second straight NCAA tournament regional final this year. But the glow from the nationally televised NCAA games in Louisville in June quickly disappeared when Googins, Xavier’s winningest baseball coach (341– 357 in 12 seasons), left for crosstown rival University of Cincinnati.

“Usually the next couple of weeks everybody is telling you how great your season was,” O’Conner says. “That wasn’t the case this year. It was stressful. There were lots of questions: Are you going to get the job? Are you going to be here?”

Would he have to use his Xavier finance degree and get a 9-to-5 office job?

“That was the worst-case scenario,” says O’Conner, who lives in Newport with his fiancé Elizabeth Hemberger. “I love baseball too

P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y X AV I E R AT H L E T I C S

much. This is what I was meant to do.”

Adding to his stress: O’Conner had never interviewed for a job before sitting down with Athletic Director Greg Christopher. This was his pitch: “I’m not sure how many coaches across the country would say ‘This is my dream job’ about Xavier. It truly is my dream job. I want to make this program great.”

During the search, Christopher was impressed by the positive responses about O’Conner from other coaches and current players. Senior catcher Nate Soria told Christopher that O’Conner “was the right man for the program, a great fit.

He can relate to us a little more because he’s younger. All the guys wanted him,” Soria says.

O’Conner got the job because of his “passion for Xavier, mind for the game, and tireless recruiting efforts,” Christopher says. “He presented a strong vision for the program. He played for us and returned to help build the program.”

To be honest, Xavier didn’t want the 5-foot-11 catcher in 2005, after he helped Elder win the 2005 Division I state championship. “They recruited my teammates but didn’t have any interest in me,” says O’Conner, who started attending Xavier basketball games at Cincinnati Gardens as a preschooler with his father, Bill, a 1980 Xavier graduate.

O’Conner played two years at Indiana University for former Miami University coach Tracy Smith. He transferred to Xavier his junior year and became the starting catcher.

O’Conner spent this past summer recruiting the next generation of talent to replace the eight graduating seniors and six players taken in the June MLB First Year Player Draft. The Musketeers lost junior third baseman Rylan Bannon (BIG EAST leader with 15 home runs) to the Dodgers and lefty Zac Lowther (who set the school strikeout record at 123 last

Independent Leagues • Mitch Elliott, OF, Normal CornBelters, Frontier League • Vinny Nittoli, RHP, St. Paul Saints, American Association (drafted in 2014

by Seattle Mariners)

XavierNationMagazine.com

season) to the Orioles.

Also drafted were junior pitcher Garrett Schilling (Rockies); senior pitcher Greg Jacknewitz (Giants); and two players committed to Xavier this fall, pitcher Matt Givin (Marlins), younger brother of Xavier shortstop Chris Givin, and Lackawanna College pitcher Jared Solomon (Reds).

Losing Bannon was bittersweet. He was O’Conner’s fi rst recruit in 2014, as a high school senior playing a tournament game at University of Louisville.

When Bannon played his last game for XU on the same field in June, in the NCAA regional fi nals, “I almost started tearing up. It was so cool how it came full circle,” O’Conner says. He predicts Bannon “is going to be a big leaguer. He’s so talented.”

O’Conner admits he has “very big holes” to fi ll. He’s counting on his captains—Joe Gellenbeck and Will LaRue (both outfielders), catcher Soria, and infi elder Conor Grammes—to be role models for the nine freshmen and one junior college transfer during individual winter workouts. Team practices start in late January under returning associate coach Nick Otte, 38, and new assistant coach, Matt Reida, 25, from Indiana University. Xavier opens at Florida State on February 18.

O’Conner knows people will be watching him. He hopes they see what he sees.

“I want to take the next step—to go to a [NCAA] super regional, go to Omaha, and win a national championship,” he says. “That’s something I passionately believe in. People might not see that vision just yet, but I don’t think five years ago they thought of the success we’re having now. I know the talent we have coming in. I think we’re on the cusp of something special.”

Just you watch.

• Tommy Shirley, LHP, Lancaster Barnstormers, Atlantic League (drafted in 2010

by Houston Astros) • Charlie Leesman, LHP, Wichita Wingnuts, American Association (drafted in 2008 by Chicago White Sox)

MAJOR LEAGUE MUSKETEERS Hall of Famer Jim Bunning

(Xavier ’53), pictured above, is the biggest star produced by the Xavier baseball program.

Bunning, the former U.S. senator who died in May at age 85, was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in 1950, after he threw three one-hitters for the Musketeers freshman team. He returned to coach freshman basketball while earning a bachelor’s degree in economics before his 1955 Tigers debut.

The Southgate, Kentucky, native pitched 17 seasons (1955–1971) for the Tigers, Phillies, Pirates, and Dodgers. He was the first to throw no-hitters in each the American and National Leagues—for the Tigers in 1958, and a perfect game for the Phillies in 1964. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996, Xavier Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995, the U.S. House of Representatives in 1986, and the U.S. Senate in 1999.

Xavier’s other Major Leaguers are pitcher Charlie Leesman (Chicago White Sox, 2013– 2014); outfielder Matt Watson (New York Mets, 2003; Oakland Athletics, 2005 and 2010); and catcher Jim Boyle (New York Giants, 1926), according to Baseball Almanac. www. baseball-almanac.com/college/ xavier_university_baseball_players

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

43

XavierNationMagazine.com

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY FCB BASKETBALL TEAM PHOTOGRAPH BY TK

4 4 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

PHOTOGRAPH BY TK

ALL VER THE MAP

JUSTIN DOELLMAN IS IN THE MIDST OF A PRODUCTIVE 10-YEAR CAREER OVERSEAS. BY DAVID DRIVER

XavierNationMagazine.com

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

45

JUSTIN DOELLMAN Birthplace: Cincinnati Birthdate: Feb. 3, 1985 Height: 6-foot-10 High school: Larry A. Ryle, Union, Kentucky Pro career: France, Spain Did you know?

• Played at Xavier from 2003–2007 and averaged more than 10 points and 5 rebounds per game • Began pro hoop career in Cholet, France, in 2007 • Played for a team in Barcelona, Spain, from 2014–2017 • Played for the Kosovo national team in the summer of 2017 though he has no family ties to that region • Was league MVP in Spain in 2014 • Scored 1,402 points at Xavier and played in 132 games • Father, Dan, played basketball at Northern Kentucky University.

as he watched upperclassmen Lionel Chalmers and Romain Sato develop into second-round NBA draft picks in 2004.

Chalmers was the 33rd overall selection by the Los Angeles Clippers, while Sato went 52nd overall to the San Antonio Spurs.

“They kind of paved the way for myself. Lionel and Romain were drafted by the NBA. I felt realistically for me I could possibly go that route,” Doellman recalls.

But the pro career paths of Chalmers and Sato, who were three years ahead of Doellman, also had a major impact on the Cincinnati native. And this time it was different.

“Then they got waived,” Doellman notes.

Chalmers played in 34 games as a rookie in the NBA, was traded to Minnesota in 2005 and then waived before the 2005–2006 campaign began. Sato, meanwhile, was waived by the Spurs before he ever played in an NBA contest.

But both players headed overseas—considered a hoops Siberia to some American fans and media—and have had productive pro careers in Europe.

“I thought that would be a great career path,” says Doellman, an all-Atlantic 10 Conference player who was not drafted by the NBA. “This is what kind of opened my eyes to the whole European side. Going into my senior year I had some NBA buzz. It ended up not working out.”

4 6 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

A CAREER PATH A decade after ending his Xavier career, where he averaged more than 10 points and five rebounds in four seasons, Doellman has spent 10 seasons playing for pay in France and Spain.

And along the way he has had to educate family and fans that playing in Europe is the beginning and not the end of basketball dreams.

“I completely agree,” he says. “It is kind of funny. A lot of [people] think it is more of a semi-pro league and wonder when are you going to find a real job? You’re making great money and people have no idea. It’s not public knowledge.”

Many Americans don’t realize that a former NCAA standout can have a nice, long and productive career overseas, and many

XavierNationMagazine.com

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY FCB BASKETBALL TEAM

JUSTIN DOELLMAN WAS A YOUNG BASKETBALL PLAYER AT XAVIER

MORE OVERSEAS MUSKETEERS REMY ABEL Years overseas: 2 Countries: Finland Last played? Helsinki, Finland Where will you play this coming season? Helsinki Best part of playing overseas?

Seeing the world. Living in a different environment.

Biggest challenge? Culture change, food, language, weather, etc.

Thoughts on making a living playing basketball? Love it. It’s something I have worked my entire life to do—make money playing basketball, the game I love.

Anything else you’d want fans to know? God is good. I’m definitely enjoying the experience.

DEE DAVIS Years overseas: 3 Countries: Slovenia, Germany Last played? Slovenia Where will you play this coming season? Germany Best part of playing overseas?

Each place has its own new experience, learning about the culture and being around new teammates that you build a bond with forever—and the food!

times that landing spot is in central or western Europe.

Nearly every country in Europe, Asia, and South America has pro basketball leagues, though the level of competition and salary can differ not only from country to country but from club to club.

Many of the European basketball clubs are based on a soccer model, with young native players coming up through the ranks as they improve. Some of the best European hoops leagues are in Spain, France, Italy, and Russia.

“My first contract was just under six figures coming right out of college. The teams pay your taxes and you may be tax exempt from the United States,” Doellman says.

He said the base salary for a first year overseas, even for non-NBA level talent, can

XavierNationMagazine.com

be $80,000 to $150,000.

“It all depends. A lot depends on your agent. Most Americans have Americanbased agents. By doing that U.S. agents, at least 95 percent, don’t even touch the overseas market. They have European agents that handle that for them,” he says.

“NBA guys can make $400,000 or $500,000 a year over there. If you do it correctly you can set yourself up and retire at age 35. My close circle knows that is my main source of income. They all kind of understand we have chosen this and we have done pretty well overseas.”

TRAVELIN’ MAN Dolleman has a map at his home that marks the number of countries he has been to, estimated to be around 20 to 25. That in-

Biggest challenge? The rule differences in these leagues—at least in Europe. The first step, spin moves, and other things we as American players have learned while growing up in the states get taken away from you.

Coolest story? Making it to the championship with my team in Slovenia that was located in a small town. The amount of support from the fans and people I got to know over the course of the season was really motivational.

Thoughts on making a living playing basketball? It’s a blessing to be able to do something your whole life that you genuinely love and have worked at for years. To go through the process, the grind, the struggle and then for it to become your job, it’s almost surreal. You don’t really miss a step moving forward from college.

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

47

JOSH DUNCAN Years overseas: 10 Countries: France, Belgium, Israel, Germany, Turkey Last played? Eskisehir, Turkey Where will you play this coming season? Eskisehir Best part of playing overseas?

Experiencing different cultures and meeting new people. It really opens your eyes to how big the world is.

Biggest challenge? The communication barrier and being away from family for 9–10 months at a time.

Coolest story? I’ve had many; too many to count. The one that sticks out in my mind right now was when I lived in Israel and went to the Dead Sea for the first time. The salt content is so high that you when you lay in the water the natural buoyancy makes you float. I had heard about it but didn’t believe it until I did it myself. Also, it was pretty cool knowing that I was at the lowest point on earth.

Thoughts on making a living playing basketball? Many people think that it’s just a vacation, but it’s far from it. I put a lot of hard work into my craft both in and out of season. However, I still love playing the game. I’m grateful for all the opportunities that I’ve had for the past 10 years to be able to make a living doing something that brings me joy.

Anything else you’d want fans to know? I want to thank all the XU fans who supported me throughout my college career and those who continue to throughout my professional career. It really means a lot to me. Let’s Go X!

ROMAIN SATO Years overseas: 12 Countries: Italy, Greece, Turkey and Spain Last played? Valencia, Spain (ACB league) Where will you play this coming season? I haven’t signed a contract.

I’m at home in Houston, Texas, now.

Best part of playing overseas?

Getting a chance to play ball and compete, playing against great players, and doing what I love.

Biggest challenge? For me, traveling a lot to different countries; every league is different. Every team you play on you have to win games to stay in the league, if not, the

4 8 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

cludes Italy, Turkey, Germany, Russia, and Montenegro.

Some of those travel highlights include seeing Lake Como in Italy, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame in Paris and the historic sites of Rome.

And during the summer of 2017 he played for the national team of Kosovo, though he has no family connections there.

“They contacted me and they needed someone to fill a position,” Doellman says.

“I thought it would help me play international competition going into this [2017– 2018] season. It was a great experience for me.”

The former Xavier standout dealt with injuries this past season and parted ways with his team, FC Barcelona, in Spain this past summer. He and his agent are looking into spots for him for the 2017–2018 season, probably in Europe.

Off the court, Doellman and most Americans must adjust to FIFA rules that differ from NCAA and NBA rules.

In Europe, a player must clearly put the ball on the floor with his dribble before he picks up his pivot foot.

“The biggest thing would be the travelling call,” he said. “They call it on first-year guys all the time. That was one of the biggest adjustments. But I feel my play is more European style; moving the ball around [with team play] and not as much one-on-one” that is the hallmark of the NBA.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME There some drawbacks of course.

The main one is missing time with family who are back in the United States.

An American overseas misses out on weddings, funerals, Labor Day picnics, and many times Thanksgiving turkey and opening presents on Christmas morning.

That is compounded with young children who do not get to see grandparents, uncles, and aunts as often as their cousins.

To help compensate for that time away Doellman, his wife Meredith (a Xavier gradu-

WHERE IN THE WORLD? Here is a list of former Xavier Musketeers who played overseas during the 2016–2017 season and/ or will play overseas in 2017–2018, with most recent country:

ate who played soccer and was a captain for the Musketeers), and two children come back to Ohio for several weeks each summer to catch up with family.

For Doellman, that includes trips to Xavier to see head coach Chris Mack, who was an assistant when Doellman played there.

“I am really proud of what he has done,” Doellman says of Mack.

Doellman played three years with FC Barcelona from 2014–2017 and during that time his daughter was able to be part of the storied youth soccer program there, as she was the only girl who trained with boys.

IN THE BEGINNING …

The journey to Europe began when he scored 1,402 points at Xavier.

“I don’t think Doellman gets enough credit for being a really good athlete,” analyst Tim McCormick once said during a broadcast on ESPN. “He’s very versatile. He can score in the post, in transition and hit the three-pointer...how can you cover him?

If you put a little guy on him he’s able to go inside. If you put a big guy on him he can hit 3s and run you to death in transition.”

Mark Adams, then with ESPN, once said of him: “Justin Doellman is just a great allaround basketball player.”

His journey began 10 years ago when Doellman arrived in the small town of Cholet, France.

“I was never in Europe. I was there for four days before my wife,” he recalls. “Cholet is a very small town and I arrived on a Saturday afternoon and nothing was open. Everything had been closed and everything was closed on Sunday. It was like a ghost town in August.

“I got off the plane and went to the apartment. The team had left two ham sandwiches and a Coke. That is what I lived on. I had packed some granola bars and some peanut butter. It was a wild and crazy experience.”

But 10 years later those “wild and crazy” times have shown that Xavier products can have productive basketball careers without playing in the NBA.

Remy Abell, Finland

Justin Doellman, Spain

Malcolm Bernard, Argentina

Josh Duncan, Turkey

Derrick Brown, Turkey Justin Cage, Belgium

James Farr, France Kenny Frease, Germany RaShid Gaston, France

Dee Davis, Germany

XavierNationMagazine.com

team can drop down to the second division. There are a lot of practices, twice a day, sometimes no days off or just half a day off. That becomes harder and harder with a wife and kids, and you spend a lot of time on the road away from your family.

Coolest story? Getting to play with my Xavier teammate Justin Doellman for one year in Valencia, Spain. We had a lot of fun. It felt like we were back in college. Our wives and kids got to meet and hang out.

He’s a great athlete, teammate, and friend. It was a great experience.

LUCRATIVE OPPORTUNITIES P H O T O G R A P H S (L E F T T O R I G H T ) C O U R T E S Y M I G U E L Á N G E L P O L O , VA L E N C I A B A S K E T / E S K I E H I R B A S K E T

MORE THAN 20 FORMER MUSKETEERS ARE SLATED TO PLAY OVERSEAS during the 2017–2018 season, including 1,000-point scorers Tu Holloway (Puerto Rico), Doellman, Josh Duncan (Turkey), Justin Cage (Belgium), B.J. Raymond (Italy), Kenny Frease (Germany), and Derrick Brown (Turkey).

Jordan Crawford, a first-round NBA pick in 2010, played with four NBA teams until 2014 when he ended up going to China to play. He spent 2014 with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers, then 2015 with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA G League. Then it was back to China.

In January 2016, Crawford scored 72 points (and added 16 rebounds) in a Tianjin Ronggang loss to Sichuan. Last March, he signed a 10-day contract with the New Orleans Pelicans, and he ended up staying with them for the rest of the season. He is on their 2017–2018 roster.

Romain Sato, who last played in Spain but had not signed a new contract as of press time, acknowledges that he had opportunities to return to the U.S. and compete for an NBA roster spot. “But nobody could guarantee minutes,” he says. “I had a great career already. I was in Europe playing, winning titles, not on the bench, so I preferred to stay in Europe and play. I had a great experience with some of the best players and coaches in one of the best organizations, the San Antonio Spurs. I practiced, and at the end of the day didn’t get a chance to play in the regular season. After that experience, I wanted a chance to prove myself, play minutes and make a career for myself.”

Stanley Burrell played nine years overseas—most recently in Poland—and with the money he earned he just started a real estate investment and home remodeling company in Indianapolis.

“I never imagined starting my own business, but because of basketball that opportunity was made possible,” he says. “Basketball changed my life. It has opened so many doors for me. It’s all been a blessing.”

Tu Holloway, Israel Jason Love, Ukraine Mark Lyons, Turkey Justin Martin, Colombia Jamel McLean, Greece

Isaiah Phillmore, Germany

Travis Taylor, Bulgaria

Benjamin Raymond, Italy Jalen Reynolds, Italy Romain Sato, Spain Matt Stainbrook, Spain

XavierNationMagazine.com

Tim Stainbrook, Spain

Source: Eurobasket

Thoughts on making a living playing basketball? I always say I’m blessed from the man above to be able to play ball for a living, do what I love, and the biggest part, staying healthy. It’s definitely not a normal job. It’s a lot of work and traveling. It’s not easy, but it’s a part of being a professional. There’s no easy road.

Anything else you’d want fans to know? It’s a great honor to be a part of Xavier. I had a chance to learn how to be a great student, focused athlete, and work hard for what you want. I owe a lot to Xavier.

Great university, professors, and coaches that taught us to know what’s right and wrong, to make good choices, and how to be a good person, which is something that you can carry in any profession in life.

MATT STAINBROOK Years overseas: 3 Countries: Germany, Spain, Hungary Last played? CB Breogan, Spain Division LEB Oro Where will you play this coming season? CB Breogan Best part of playing overseas?

Traveling and experiencing different cultures, all while playing basketball Biggest challenge? Not knowing where you will be 10 months from now. The stress of a new contract almost every year is hard.

Coolest story? My first year in Germany, my face was plastered on the side of my car, and this last year in Spain it was on the back of the team bus.

Thoughts on making a living playing basketball? Beats a 9-to5. I get to travel the world and get paid playing the sport I love.

Anything else you’d want fans to know? It truly is a small world. I have found myself playing against other Xavier players overseas.

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

49

XavierNationMagazine.com

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY NBA PHOTOS

5 0 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

A H M C PIO A B N N

DAVID WEST When the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers to become the 2017 NBA champions, the 2003 Xavier University graduate helped make it happen.

As

to ld to X

XavierNationMagazine.com

el a h Mic avie r ito r Nat ion magazine Ed

ry r Pe

FA L L 2 0 1 7

| X AV I E R N AT I O N 5 1

BEFORE THE FINALS, WE HAD BEEN CHAL-

THE NIGHT BEFORE GAME 5, AS GROUP, WE

lenged once in the playoffs—by the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. We were going into the Finals against Cleveland relaxed, but the Spurs really had us on the ropes in Game 1 and we were intent on not letting that happen again. We obviously wanted to protect home court and get the series against the Cavaliers off on the right foot. The energy in the locker room and everybody’s focus was where it should be for what was really the most important series of the year.

The feeling was more we’re here, let’s take advantage of it. We felt like we had the stronger team and the more together group.

That was something we felt we could rely on through the ups and downs that would come in the series. I never felt a great amount of pressure.

were locked in. We were focused on closing out the series. I was watching game film and watching guys’ tendencies. Every single guy on our roster wanted to have the impact that was needed from him.

I wouldn’t say I slept well the night before, but I was rested. You’re just lying there thinking about the game. Every NBA game is won in a two- or three-minute stretch. I’m thinking about all the different scenarios that could happen in that two or three minutes. But my mind was at ease in that there was no pressure. We knew we had let the golden opportunity slip away in terms of closing the series out in Cleveland in Game 4, and we weren’t going to allow that to happen again.

That morning at shoot around, there were not nerves. There was just this calm, like we’re going to get this done.

5 2 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

My role had changed over the last couple of years. The most important thing is constantly trying to figure out how to have an impact in the window that I am out on the court. Going into Game 5, the focus remained on that—with maybe a little more at stake. I felt like there was a certain timing to everything in that game. We knew what they were going to do, and I was just trying to fill in the gaps, match the other team’s emotion.

The little scuffle with Tristan [Thompson] was just a tense moment. They were trying to turn it up a notch to try and win that game. I just felt like we stood our ground and stayed firm. I’m a strong-willed person.

I’m probably always going to hit first and hit last. That’s just the way I’m wired.

AS THE CLOCK COUNTED DOWN TO THE END

of the game, I was excited. I was happy to have won. I try to look for a deeper meaning in life and not carry a shallow thought process. That’s just not who I am. It was all about winning and experiencing that journey, going from the beginning of the season when everybody came together. We talked about putting together a team we felt could win. Teams have done that in the past and it hasn’t worked out. It’s hard to lead from the front. I was proud of that—proud of being a part of a group that took some risks. I mean professional risks, in terms of myself.

XavierNationMagazine.com

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY NBA PHOTOS

On June 12, 2017, David West capped his 14th professional season by winning his first NBA title. After eight playoff appearances, West finally earned that elusive championship ring as a member of the Golden State Warriors. Here, West talks about playing alongside such stars as Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games in the NBA Finals and re-signing with Golden State on July 25.

TITLE TIME Left, David West totaled 21 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in 50 minutes during the 2017 NBA Finals. Middle, West squeezes into the postgame celebration.

Right, West embraces Golden State star Stephen Curry, who averaged 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 9.4 assists during the fivegame series against Cleveland.

Kevin [Durant] did the same thing. Zaza [Pachulia] did the same thing. Other guys could’ve left for other opportunities but stayed around. That comes with a lot of criticism; that comes with a lot of pressure.

I’m proud that as a group we were able to stand up through all of that and the pressure to perform every single night.

When the game ended, it was overwhelming. It felt really, really good to win.

I was just happy, excited, overjoyed. It was loud. It was sort of like this joyful chaos that was going on. People were yelling out instructions where to stand, where not to walk off to, what to wear. It was chaos but this joyful exuberance in the midst of it. Just that thrill of winning, sort of a weight was lifted off me. Personally, I always want to win. It felt better than I thought it would.

Basketball has been a huge part of my life. I started playing organized basketball when I was 5 or 6 years old. For 30-plus years you’re doing this specific thing, and to have the opportunity to win the championship felt really good.

IT WAS SPECIAL TO PLAY WITH ONE OF THE

great teams in NBA history and to play with future Hall of Famers like KD [Kevin Durant] and Steph [Stephen Curry]. I think there are times as a player that you don’t think you belong with that class or that level of talent. At times, you have doubts as to whether you deserve to be a part of the Golden State Warriors, or whether you

XavierNationMagazine.com

can contribute in that environment and hold your own. Those high-level environments where expectations are through the roof intimidate a lot of guys. But I look forward to embracing that challenge.

When you win, you remember what it was like on a non-playoff team and then you think about a team that made the playoffs but didn’t have a shot at making the championship. All those things flash through your mind. And also all the things that fueled you to get to this point. You think about recruiting and the people who made observations about the viability of you being a credible professional athlete at the very beginning.

Those things are very real—the emotions and what those things do to you as an athlete. They force you to become hungrier, force you to be humbler, force you to really want to succeed.

The night we won was cool. I hung with my family a little bit and then we went out and had a little celebratory night out in San Francisco, a few of the guys. It was a Monday night. People were out until like 4 in the morning. We were having a good time, enjoying the championship. We celebrated for a couple of more days and then had the parade and then had a celebration in Vegas.

ONE OF MY PASSIONS IS COACHING AAU

and grass-roots basketball. What gives me real joy and real fulfillment is teaching young people the game and watching them get better. The more well-versed I am in the

game, the better of an outlook I have on basketball and the level of resources I have to contact later make me better and allow me to impact other people more. That is all part of my journey. It’s ideal for me to be in an environment where I can watch and learn from great coaches and players.

In just the last two years, I got to experience Greg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs for a season. Then I got to experience Steve [Kerr] at Golden State, along with assistant coaches Mike Brown and Ron Adams. Mike is one of the best basketball minds I’ve ever been around. Ron is a legendary defensive coach but also a brilliant basketball mind. I can say I have learned from those people and been able to extrapolate certain things, their basketball knowledge and basketball background and add it to my own.

WHY COME BACK FOR ANOTHER SEASON?

Maybe I’m chasing that thrill again. I really enjoyed the ride. I felt like I became a smarter basketball player with these guys. I felt like the environment is such that I’m still growing and developing as a person, and it’s a positive environment in which I feel like I’m getting better.

Mix in the fact that we have a really good team with damn near everybody coming back. We like each other. This will make 15 years for me. That’s a nice number. So, let’s do it. I feel great. My body feels great.

Why not?

FA L L 2 0 1 7

| X AV I E R N AT I O N 5 3

ON THE COURT

TAKE A NUMBER

// BUT NOT JUST ANY NUMBER. NCAA RULES PUT LIMITS ON WHICH ONES PLAYERS CAN WEAR. WILL THAT EVER CHANGE? — R O R Y G L Y N N

HEN JIM BOOTHE PLAYED BASKETBALL AT XAVIER 60 YEARS

ago, he had one guiding principle when it came to choosing a jersey number.

“At 5'8", I was a small player, so I got the smallest jersey they had,” Boothe says. “I didn’t really have a number per se.

Whatever number was on the small jersey that year, that’s what I wore.”

One year that meant a small number: 7. Boothe is one of three men’s basketball players to wear it as a Musketeer, and barring a rule change on the NCAA level, he may be the last.

The NCAA prohibits players from wearing numbers 6 through 9, or numbers beginning or ending with 6 through 9, a rule that goes back at least three generations without generating much outrage.

5 4 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

“It’s certainly not the NCAA’s highest priority,” Xavier Athletic Director Greg Christopher says, “but it does seem rather antiquated.”

Rule 1, Section 22, Article 7, Clause b (2) of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules states: “The following numbers are legal: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 00, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55. Team rosters can include 0 or 00, but not both.”

The rule was put into place to facilitate communication between game officials and the scorer’s table on foul calls, says Art Hyland, secretary-rules editor of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee.

“For example, if the number 8 were used, an official might use the right hand to show a three and the left to show a five,” says Ty Halpin, NCAA associate director, championships and alliances.

“If there were a number 3, 5, 53, or 35, it might lead to more delays in the game at a time when everyone is trying to get the foul adjudicated and the game restarted…the official scorer, public address announcer, etc. are all used to this, and it works well.”

That’s certainly true.

But in the past half-century, college basketball has experimented with, implemented, and revised any number of innovations, including the shot clock, the 3-point shot, alternate-possession rule, and instant replay. All certainly required adjustments, and none was insurmountable.

If a referee fl ashed a hand signal (one or both hands) for the fi rst digit, paused, and fl ashed the second digit, would that be too confusing? What if he also yelled out the number in question? Couldn’t readily available replay help as a fallback?

Wouldn’t everyone figure out the figures in question quickly?

Confusion isn’t an issue in the NBA, where higher digits are permitted and referees successfully signal fouls on everyone from Kristaps Porzingis (No. 6 for the Knicks) to new Cavalier Jae Crowder (No. 99 for the Celtics). Nor is it an issue with FIBA, the world governing body of basketball. Only U.S. high schools and colleges are the holdouts on the jersey number issue.

Numbers that couldn’t be issued today

XavierNationMagazine.com

P H O T O G R A P H S B Y I U R I I S T E PA N O V, S H U T T E R S T O C K

COOL DOWN

ON THE COURT

once were common at Xavier. According to school records, Boothe was preceded as No. 7 by Dick McQuade and Richard Pohlkamp. Bill Hoffer wore 6; Bob Alston wore 8. The four 9s include Hall of Famers Socko Wiethe (1932–1933) and Hal Pennington (1933–1934).

Players also wore 16, 17, 18, 19, 26, 27, 28, 29, 36, 37, 38, and 39. None of those numbers appeared after 1956–1957.

Four other numbers are no longer used in men’s basketball because they were retired in honor of Musketeers greats who wore them: 23 for Byron Larkin, 30 for David West, 33 for Brian Grant, and 42 for Tyrone Hill.

The Musketeers still have myriad options when issuing numbers, though the program’s sustained success and caliber of players certainly suggest that more could someday be retired.

Some programs draw a distinction between retiring a number (taking it out of circulation) and retiring a jersey (prominently displaying the jersey of one player while allowing others to wear the number).

At Kentucky, 43 players, coaches, and other contributors have been honored with a retired jersey, but “with the streamlining of jersey numbers by the NCAA, the jerseys are retired but the number remains active,” according to the athletic department website.

But at Duke, 13 numbers are off-limits retired—4, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24, 25, 31, 32, 33, 35, 43, and 44—leaving equipment personnel to recirculate the same combinations over and over to outfit today’s teams.

Halpin says the numbers rule “has been raised occasionally during my time at the NCAA, and we have surveyed the membership on the issue. There has not been—to date—a big push or support for making a change in basketball.”

To initiate a change, member schools or conferences may make a proposal to the Men’s Basketball Rules Committee during its proposal phase, Halpin says; the committee compiles suggestions, surveys members, and deliberates at its annual meeting in May, emerging with proposals.

Proposals are sent back to membership for comment, Halpin says, then reconsidered. Some may be rescinded, others amended, while others may remain unchanged. Finally, they’re sent to a Playing

XavierNationMagazine.com

Rules Oversight Panel for approval. If approved, a rule goes into effect with the next season.

“This all sounds a little more complicated than it actually is,” Halpin says.

“The key point is to try and be sure changes are fully vetted and considered before they are made and the membership is fully aware of the changes and has had an opportunity to provide feedback.”

Christopher suggests that perhaps the number rule could be part of a larger conversation of rigid uniform standards in general. The NCAA outlines in explicit detail aspects of names, numbers, and logos of schools, conferences, and manufacturers. The NBA’s best-selling jersey— in which Steph Curry’s No. 30 is incorporated into the Golden State Warriors’ Bay Bridge logo—wouldn’t pass muster in college.

Christopher also mentions Major League Baseball’s successful Players’ Weekend promotion in August, during which players can wear nicknames instead of surnames on the backs of their jerseys.

“If a league as traditional as Major League Baseball can say yes to playground uniforms, why can’t college hoops do the same?” he says. “Again, I’m not saying this is the most pressing issue facing college athletics. But I do think this is a small example of who makes the decisions in the NCAA. Coaches and administrators drive discussion, and our industry can be slow to change. It’s not like the pro leagues, where the athletes have a voice and are part of the process.”

At St. John’s, a player did get one of the BIG EAST’s most famous numbers back in circulation. Chris Mullin, now head coach of the Red Storm, agreed to give his No. 20—one of four numbers retired by the school—to Richard Freudenberg last season if the freshman from Germany could beat him in a game of H-O-R-S-E. Mullin won, then let Freudenberg wear 20 anyway. “It’s a number. It’s not that big of a deal,” Mullin told the New York Post.

Boothe, a Xavier Hall of Famer who last year retired as dean of the Xavier School of Education, agrees that at the end of the day, the number doesn’t make the man.

“My coach used to say, ‘If you’re good enough, they’ll figure out who the hell you are.’”

COOL DOWN

“IT’S CERTAINLY NOT THE NCAA’S HIGHEST PRIORITY. BUT IT DOES SEEM RATHER ANTIQUATED.” — GREG CHRISTOPHER, XAVIER ATHLETIC DIRECTOR

FA L L 2 0 1 7 | X AV I E R N AT I O N

55

COOL DOWN

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Sherwin Anderson appeared in 106 games at Xavier from 1993–1997 and was part of the program’s transition from the Midwest Collegiate Conference to the Atlantic 10 Conference.

WORDS OF WISDOM

T IS THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PASSING OF SKIP PROSSER, AND Sherwin Anderson is in a reflective mood.

Anderson, an intense competitor for Xavier in the mid-1990s, recalls the litany of quotes the former Musketeers coach produced for his players, and how at first he was resistant.

“He gave us quotes I couldn’t stand when I saw them on the board,” Anderson says. “I was like, ‘What do these quotes mean? They don’t make sense to me.’”

Eventually, one quote resonated, one that Prosser probably borrowed from the movie A Bronx Tale: “The greatest sin in life is wasted talent.” Anderson, now a coach and mentor of youth like Prosser once was, had that one printed on a T-shirt.

“He implanted a way of life for me,” says Anderson, who runs the Sherwin Anderson Skills Academy in Cincinnati. “He implanted the way I handle myself and the way I do things to the best of my ability.… He made me become a better man.”

For the past 20 years, Anderson has been training, mentoring, and guiding more than 300 players throughout the tri-state.

“I have kids who do my basketball camp, and I have kids who play in my basketball league,” Anderson says. “I do basketball clinics throughout the city. I travel and I have kids who come to me.”

Initially, Anderson admits, he didn’t know what he was getting into when he started training.

He went to help a friend coach at a local high school, where he saw a young guard who showed some potential. Anderson took the player aside and showed him some drills, and the player’s father watched from the stands.

“The dad came up to me and said, ‘What do you charge for that?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know,’” Anderson says. “I told him, ‘It’s not something I do for a living.’”

That quickly changed. Anderson started with a few players at the North Avondale Recreation Center, but word spread and soon he was training as many as 50.

“Every parent can do training, every kid can do training, every college kid who picked up a ball can do training,” he says. “But the key to training is how well you motivate kids to do things

5 6 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

they feel they can’t do. That’s what the really good trainers do well. If the trainer is doing his job, they believe they can be the next Xavier player or the next UC player.

They just work their butts off to get there.”

That’s exactly what Anderson did to earn a scholarship to Xavier out of Brooklyn’s Bishop Loughlin High School, but it wasn’t an easy transition. He had to buy into Prosser’s disciplined style. When he did, Anderson found success on the court and in the classroom.

Prosser pushed Anderson hard and punished him harder because he saw a gem that needed polish. Never a full-time starter throughout his career, Anderson was named the team captain in each of his last two seasons, earned his bachelor’s degree in three years, and eventually a master’s in sport administration.

“I worked hard to get through Xavier,” he says. “I’m not a smart guy; at least I didn’t feel like I was a smart guy going in.

But I worked hard to get in and get out, and Coach Prosser was a strong part to that. I give great thanks to the life he shared with me.”

XavierNationMagazine.com

PHOTOGR APHS (THIS PAGE) BY GLENN HARTONG / (OPPOSITE) COURTE S Y AM Y REINSHAGEN C ARR

// SHERWIN ANDERSON TAKES INSPIRATION FROM COACH SKIP PROSSER AS HE TRAINS YOUNG BASKETBALL PLAYERS. — R O D N E Y M C K I S S I C

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

SECOND CHANCES // FORMER SOCCER PLAYER AMY REINSHAGEN CARR SURVIVED CANCER. NOW SHE’S ONTO NEW BEGINNINGS. — R O D N E Y M C K I S S I C

MY REINSHAGEN CARR SAT MOTIONLESS, GAZING AT THE

phone for nearly an hour. She wasn’t waiting for a phone call, but contemplating whether to call her doctor back, something that in hindsight saved her life.

It was November 2014 and Carr—who played women’s soccer at Xavier from 1996 to 1999—felt lumps under her armpit and groin just months after discovering lumps on her collar bone. Something wasn’t right. She called her primary physician but was informed the doctor couldn’t see her until March.

She was pregnant with her fourth child.

Carr hung up, and thoughts ran through her head: Should I try and make it sooner? Should I tell them what’s going on? Geez, I don’t want to sound like a baby.

It was a good thing she called back. The staff was able to schedule an appointment on the same day, and within five minutes of being with the doctor Carr’s worst fear was realized: She had stage four non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“My OB doctor said that was totally normal [lumps], but I had three prior pregnancies and that had never happened,” she says. “So I started searching on Web MD and getting online to see what was going on, and I started seeing lymphoma everywhere. I suspected it could be that, but I didn’t tell anybody—not my husband, not my mom, not my sister, nothing. I just focused on the pregnancy.”

The doctors couldn’t initially decipher whether it was Hodgkin’s lymphoma—which has a 90 percent cure rate—or non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, so they sent Carr to the Mayo Clinic

Amy Reinshagen Carr is busy raising her sons Declan (10), Finley (6), Dempsey (4), and Cillian (2) with her husband Colm, who graduated from Xavier in 1996.

XavierNationMagazine.com

COOL DOWN

in Rochester, Minnesota. Test results were not encouraging—the cancer had spread from the lymph nodes into her bone marrow. Further testing revealed it had spread to her spine.

“I had four young kids, and that was a really dark time, a really scary time to obviously think I wouldn’t be around to raise my kids,” Carr Says.

Because the cancer had spread to her spine, Carr had to receive the standard non-Hodgkin’s treatment as well as chemotherapy that would penetrate and kill the cancer in her spine. That December she contracted the H1N1 flu virus, ended up in the hospital, and missed Christmas with her family.

But once Carr began chemo, she felt empowered, and by March 2015 test results showed the cancer was in remission. “It’s been two years’ remission for me,” she says.

After completing her soccer career at Xavier, Reinshagen Carr moved to Cleveland and attended ClevelandMarshall College of Law. She later practiced as a prosecutor for five years in Cuyahoga County before moving back to Cincinnati, where she continued to practice law in real estate foreclosures.

“I never really loved it,” Carr says about her law career.

After Carr’s cancer went into remission, she received a text one night from her twin sister, Christie ReinshagenWallace, who also played soccer at Xavier. Wallace was a pharmaceutical rep who didn’t enjoy her career path either, so she had an idea. “Do you want to start a business?” the text read.

“Yes!” came the response.

They decided to start a custom furniture business called Salvage Sisters Restoration and Interior Design, which has been featured in Cincinnati Magazine and Cincy Chic. A New York-based television production company has filmed Salvage Sisters for a potential reality show.

Carr is also involved in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which in March nominated Carr for Woman of the Year.

FA L L 2 0 1 7

| X AV I E R N AT I O N 5 7

COOL DOWN

OUTLOOK

PROGRAM UPDATES

Senior Lauren Ghidotti went undefeated in singles and doubles at the Cincinnati Invitational at UC in the fall. Ghidotti was named Tournament Singles MVP. She also won Tournament Doubles MVP with junior Sophia Abelson.

BASEBALL COACH: Billy O’Conner (Xavier ’09), first season NOTEWORTHY: Xavier swept its way to a second straight BIG EAST championship in May and reached the regional final in Louisville at the NCAA tournament, winning against Oklahoma and Radford before bowing out to the host Cardinals. Following the season, XU set a program record with four players selected in

5 8 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, including Zac Lowther (Comp.

Round B, 74th, Baltimore Orioles), Rylan Bannon (8th round, 250th, Los Angeles Dodgers), Garrett Schilling (18th round, 536th, Colorado Rockies) and Greg Jacknewitz (22nd round, 666th, San Francisco Giants). O’Conner, a member of Xavier’s first NCAA tournament team, was named head coach after the departure of Scott Googins following the season.

BASKETBALL MEN’S COACH: Chris Mack (Xavier ’92), ninth season NOTEWORTHY: Mack welcomes back four of the five starters who led Xavier on its late-season run to the 2017 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. Senior guards Trevon Bluiett and J.P Macura, who have combined for more than 2,600 points so far in their careers (See page 28),

lead a consensus top-25 team. Bluiett, First-Team All-BIG EAST and All-BIG EAST Tournament two years in a row, is on several preseason All-America teams.

The two other returning starters are a pair of sophomores, point guard Quentin Goodin and post man Tyrique Jones. Senior Sean O’Mara played well in the NCAA Tournament run and is looking for a big year as well.

XavierNationMagazine.com

PHOTOGR APHS (C LOC K WISE FROM LEF T) BY DOUG COC HR AN / COURTESY ABERDEEN IRONBIRDS / BY DOUG COCHRAN/ BY GREGORY CARROCCIO

XAVIER UNIVERSITY HAS APPROXIMATELY 300 STUDENT-ATHLETES PARTICIPATING IN 18 SPORTS DURING THE 2017–2018 ACADEMIC YEAR. HERE IS AN UPDATE ON EACH TEAM.

OUTLOOK

COOL DOWN

(Clockwise from left) Zac Lowther broke a 20-year-old XU record for strikeouts in a season with 123 and was the highest MLB Draft pick in school history, going to the Baltimore Orioles after the second round as a compensatory pick (74th overall). He continued to dominate after the draft, spending the summer with the Aberdeen IronBirds (Single-A) and recording a 1.66 ERA in 54.1 innings to go with 75 strikeouts in a sterling pro debut; Maddie Britton posts a school-record time to finish third at the Queen City Invitational, leading the Musketeers to a second-place finish; From left, Zachary Polk, Russell Platt, Chris Taylor, and Matthew Bryant won the men’s 4X100 relay at the BIG EAST Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

WOMEN’S COACH: Brian Neal (Northern Kentucky ’91), fifth season NOTEWORTHY: They graduated four players, including AllBIG EAST selection Raeshaun Gaffney. Xavier reloaded by signing six newcomers with impressive high school athletic resumes. Xavier also returns its top 3-point shooter from last season in Kindell Fincher.

The redshirt-junior hit 52 shots from behind the arc to rank

XavierNationMagazine.com

No. 10 in the BIG EAST. The Musketeers will play 16 games at Cintas Center this season highlighted by the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout on Dec. 10 against Cincinnati. Xavier has won three straight in the series, including 10 of the last 13 meetings.

CROSS COUNTRY MEN’S COACH: Ryan Orner (Towson ’99), sixth season

NOTEWORTHY: The men placed fourth at the Queen City Invitational to open the season. Senior Garrett Knapik continues to pace the team, while a number of freshmen have posted top-five team times. Freshmen Brady Harless and Evan Britton (younger brother of teammate Maddie Britton) were ranked Nos. 4 and 5 on the team at the Bluegrass Invitational as the Musketeers placed fifth at the meet Sept. 9.

WOMEN’S COACH: Ryan Orner (Towson ’99), sixth season NOTEWORTHY: The team opened the season with a second-place finish at the Queen City Invitational, highlighted by Maddie Britton’s third-place finish. The senior runner posted a school-record time of 17:25.90 in the 5K race. The team was ranked in the top 10 of the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region twice in September.

FA L L 2 0 1 7

| X AV I E R N AT I O N 5 9

COOL DOWN

OUTLOOK

GOLF MEN’S COACH: Brian McCants (Ferris State ’94), second season NOTEWORTHY: Senior Matt Wetterich was named a Srixon/Cleveland Golf AllAmerica Scholar, continuing an impressive streak by the program. At least one Musketeer has earned the honor in each season since 2009. Wetterich averaged a career-low 75.91 to pace XU and finish 22nd at the BIG EAST Championships. The Musketeers finished fifth as a team at the league tournament, finishing three strokes ahead of Creighton and Butler.

6 0 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

Senior Fox Morrissey led XU with a 15th-place finish, ranking No. 3 at the tournament with nine birdies.

the low round of the season for XU, carding a 69 (-2) at the Yale Fall Intercollegiate.

SOCCER WOMEN’S COACH: Breanna Patz (Xavier ’13), third season NOTEWORTHY: Mikayla Fitzpatrick was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, a first for XU women’s golf, after breaking the school record for scoring average by a first-year golfer (76.48). Xavier finished fourth at the BIG EAST Championships, highlighted by top10 finishes by Fitzpatrick and Mikayla Smith. Fitzpatrick had

MEN’S COACH: Andy Fleming (Marist ’97), eighth season NOTEWORTHY: Through late September, the Musketeers have appeared in the national rankings and are 5-2-2 with a win against No. 9 Georgetown and a road draw against No. 15 Kentucky. XU is led by MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List and Preseason BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Cory Brown,

a center back who is one of the top players in college soccer.

LIU Brooklyn transfer Simen Hestnes has made an instant impact, leading the team in points (11) through nine starts.

In early September, Xavier tied Cincinnati 1-1 to extend its unbeaten streak in the rivalry to eight years.

WOMEN’S COACH: Nate Lie (Miami ’00), first season NOTEWORTHY: Lie’s first squad featured the first preseason All-Conference honoree for the Musketeers since joining the BIG EAST Conference

XavierNationMagazine.com

P H O T O GR A P H S (C L O C K W I S E F R O M L E F T ) B Y S T E P H E N B . M O R T O N / KO S TA S LY M P E R O P O U L O S / G R E G L A U T Z E N H E I S E R / K O S TA S LY M P E R O P O U L O S

(Clockwise from left) Mikayla Fitzpatrick earned the first-ever BIG EAST Freshman of the Year award for women’s golf in the spring after finishing tied for 10th at the 2017 BIG EAST Championships and breaking the school record for scoring average by a first-year golfer (76.48); Sam Johanns celebrates with Nathan Runyon after winning the BIG EAST Championship in the 100 backstroke.

Xavier claimed the top three spots in the event during The BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships; Women’s soccer players celebrate after Sydney Schembri scores against Pittsburgh to tie the game 1–1. The double-overtime draw was XU’s first ever match against an Atlantic Coast Conference team; Xavier Athletic Director Greg Christopher congratulates new women’s soccer head coach Nate Lie after a 3–2 victory over Cleveland State in the season opener, Lie’s first win as Xavier’s head coach; Caroline Gaertner celebrates with teammates at the 2017 BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships.

OUTLOOK

in junior forward Samantha Dewey. Lie picked up a win in his first outing, topping Cleveland State 3-2 to open the season.

Through Oct. 6, Lie’s squad was 6-2-2 at home, including the first result in program history against an ACC school, playing Pitt to a 1-1 draw through double-overtime. The Musketeers started 3-0-1 in the BIG EAST, the best start to conference play since 1997.

NOTEWORTHY: Among the 12 returnees are seven Musketeers who earned All-BIG EAST honors, including Matthew Dyer, reigning conference champion in the 100 breast and 200 breast. Xavier also returns a trio who collected the top three spots in the 100 back at the conference meet, including Sam Johanns, BIG EAST Champion in the event, Nathan Runyon and David Bunnell. Xavier also added eight newcomers.

SWIMMING MEN’S COACH: Brent MacDonald (Valparaiso ’03), ninth season

XavierNationMagazine.com

WOMEN’S COACH: Brent MacDonald (Valparaiso ’03), ninth season

NOTEWORTHY: Xavier returns eight women who earned All-BIG EAST honors, including junior Caroline Gaertner, the reigning BIG EAST Champion in the 100 fly. Gaertner became the second woman in program history to set an NCAA B-Cut time last season, joining teammate Paxtyn Drew, who returns for her senior season. The Musketeers also return sophomore Emily Conners, who set a standard for Xavier women’s swimming in the freestyle sprints during her freshman campaign with school records and top-three finishes in the 50 free and 100 free during the conference meet.

COOL DOWN

TENNIS MEN’S COACH: Doug Matthews (Xavier ’09), third season NOTEWORTHY: Matthews has plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future of the men’s team, which showed tremendous improvement in the fall. The team leaders are seniors Connor LaFavre and Gabriel Araujo, a native of Brazil. Other international talent: junior Trent Smith, New Zealand; freshman Jan Vrba, Czech Republic; and freshman Alejandro RodriguezVidal, Puerto Rico. Junior Jack Dykema is being counted on

FA L L 2 0 1 7

| X AV I E R N AT I O N 6 1

COOL DOWN

OUTLOOK

Senior Kristen Massa eclipsed the 1,000-kill mark for her career in a 3-1 victory over Albany.

WOMEN’S COACH: Doug Matthews (Xavier ’09), third season NOTEWORTHY: Two of the best players in program history— Sydney Liggins and Cristina DiLorenzo—graduated, but the team enjoyed a strong fall season. Senior Lauren Ghidotti took home MVP honors in singles for the Cincinnati Invitational at UC, while also earning doubles MVP honors with junior partner Sophia Abelson. Sophomore Rachael Reichenbach is poised for a strong season in the spring. Elizabeth Bagerbaseh, a senior transfer from UCF, is among a talented group of newcomers. XU is shooting to compete for a BIG EAST Cham-

6 2 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

pionship and an NCAA berth in the spring, something the team accomplished in 2016.

TRACK AND FIELD (INDOOR & OUTDOOR) MEN’S COACH: Ryan Orner (Towson ’99), sixth season NOTEWORTHY: The men’s track and field seasons were highlighted by two studentathletes earning the BIG EAST’s “Men’s High Point Performer of the Meet.”

Russell Platt earned the award at the indoor meet after winning four medals (three gold, one bronze). Zachary Polk earned the award at the outdoor championships after collecting four medals (two gold, two silver). He has now won 17 BIG EAST medals in three seasons at Xavier. The 4x100meter relay team of Chris Tay-

lor, Polk, Matthew Bryant and Platt also won the gold medal at the outdoor championships.

scored were the second most by the program at the outdoor championships (45 points in 2014 is the program high—BIG EAST Championships).

WOMEN’S COACH: Ryan Orner (Towson ’99), sixth season NOTEWORTHY: The indoor conference championships were highlighted by Kara Robinson’s third-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles. The two-time All-BIG EAST performer posted a school-record time of 8.81 seconds. The women’s squad set four school records at the meet. Xavier recorded nine top-10 finishes at the outdoor championships, highlighted by Karmen Auble’s third-place finish in the heptathlon. The Xavier women tied for sixth place, their best finish at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships since joining the conference. The 44 points

VOLLEYBALL COACH: Christy Pfeffenberger (Dayton ’05), third season NOTEWORTHY: Senior Kristen Massa eclipsed the 1,000-career kill mark in the Musketeers’ 3-1 win over Albany on Sept. 16. The twotime All-BIG EAST selection has 1,017 kills in her career as the outside hitter has averaged 2.59 k/s during her career. Two other Musketeers hit career milestones in September in junior libero Meredith Klare and senior setter Mackenzi Humm.

Klare moved into the top 10 for career digs at Xavier, while Humm moved into the top 10 for career assists.

XavierNationMagazine.com

PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG COCHRAN

to provide leadership as the Musketeers shoot to compete for a BIG EAST Championship in the spring.

ALL FOR ONE FUND SPOTLIGHT: KAREN BYERLY-LAMM

Sure, she has undergraduate (2000) and graduate (2004) degrees from Xavier, but the true measure of DR. KAREN BYERLY-LAMM’S devotion to the Musketeers might be taking her engagement photos with husband Brian and … the Blue Blob at Cintas Center in late 2012. They even used one as their Save the Date.

HOW WERE YOU INVOLVED AS A XAVIER STUDENT? I was in the pep and concert bands

all four years of undergraduate. I participated as a staff member in Manresa my sophomore year, and I was a work-study student at the Psychological Services Center on campus.

TALK ABOUT YOUR CONNECTION TO XAVIER FOLLOWING GRADUATION? What is that

saying, “Once a Musketeer, always a musketeer?”

That is written on the back of one of the t-shirts I bought at the bookstore. For me, that rings true. It does not matter what year you went to Xavier, you are forever a part of this community.

WHY ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT XAVIER?

My years at Xavier were some of the most rewarding and fun years I have experienced. Xavier is not only a phenomenal educational institution, but it is a place that feels like home every time I walk onto the campus. I follow Xavier news through its social media pages. I am never surprised by the integrity displayed by Father Graham or any individual affiliated with the university. Xavier truly is a special place.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO CONTINUE SUPPORTING XAVIER ATHLETICS? I was

happy to hear that Xavier Athletics now includes the pep band and cheerleaders. These are both groups that are an integral part of Team Xavier, as they contribute so much to the atmosphere of a game and provide support to the team. Being able to support a group that meant so much to me is such a great feeling. I only hope that today’s students have as wonderful of an experience as I did.

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO GIVE BACK AS A MEMBER OF THE ALL FOR ONE FUND? I always

WHAT WOULD YOU TELL OTHERS ABOUT SUPPORTING THE PEP BAND? When I was in

knew that at some point I wanted to give back to Xavier. My years at Xavier were defining years in my life and helped shape me into who I am today.

When I purchased that first set of men’s basketball season tickets, I could only afford the upper level end zone, as I was a new graduate. I made my very first donation to the All for One Fund last year. This year, I had the opportunity to upgrade my seats during seat selection. For the first time in 18 seasons, I will be seated in the lower level for every home game.

the band, there was little funding for new instruments and materials needed. When I came to Xavier I played the clarinet. However, I was interested in learning another instrument for pep band. So, I was lent a school instrument and taught myself to play the saxophone. Without needed funds, the band would not be able to purchase needed upgrades to instruments, pay for repairs or purchase music. I was lucky enough to receive small a fine arts grant towards tuition from the university during my four years for playing in the band.

Visit GoXavier.com/AFO or call 513-745-3223

COOL DOWN

POSTGAME INTERVIEW

DANNY ABRAMOWICZ // FORMER FOOTBALL STAR REMAINS A DIE-HARD XU FAN

Was it a good fit? Perfect. Small school, Catholic. The Jesuits were special— they tutored us and helped many of us athletes academically. It is difficult to participate in extracurricular activities at a university like Xavier and keep up with academics.

What was the level of football like?

At that time, X was all men. Small enrollment. But our schedule was mostly against MAC schools, Cincy, etc. Much larger enrollment than us, but we more than held our own.

from the Christmas dance at Mount St. Joe. Do you follow XU basketball now?

Yes. I love it when we kick butt against those major powerhouses like Arizona.

Did it bother you when Xavier dropped football? It bothered a bunch of us— especially the way it was handled. It hurts to see Dayton, Villanova, etc. with football programs while we don’t.

Are you still close with former XU teammates? Yes. Jim Louder, Tom Palmer, Dick Erosevich, Beetle Bailey, and the late Jim Koch, just to name a few.

When you were playing at Xavier, did you aspire to play in the NFL? I entered X at 5'10½", 160, and finally got up to 5'11", 180. I was a receiver and defensive end. Not a lot of NFL teams were looking to draft a person with those credentials. Oh, by the way, I also played baseball my freshman and sophomore years. I always dreamed about playing in the NFL and MLB.

What was draft night like when you had to wait until the last (17th) round to be selected? Believe it or not, the New Orleans Saints never did tell me I was drafted—my dad called me late that night and gave me the news. About a month later, the Saints finally contacted me to offer me a contract. Big money: $17,500. All this did was get me fired up.

I reported to Saints training camp in the best shape of my life. My attitude was: I’ll show them. Not words, but action.

Favorite memory as a student? Major food fight in the cafeteria! Also, when we got caught taking the Santa Claus

How satisfying was your NFL career?

It was satisfying personally with some individual accomplishments, but I never

experienced a winning season in eight years. That’s tough to take. Last year I was named to the top 50 list in the history of the Saints. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Give it your best effort, and sometimes amazing things happen. I thank God that I had the opportunity to play and coach in the NFL and broadcast.

Did Xavier prepare you for life after your career? Yes. I was able to get a tremendous education at X. Many thanks to the Jesuits. They loved sports—but they worked our butts off academically to prepare us for life. One for all and all for one.

When was the last time you were on campus? Probably at least 10 years ago.

I heard many good things have taken place. I would like to visit again.

Talk about Crossing the Goal ministry.

CTG is one of the most powerful tools that we have been able to use to attract men’s attention. Rather than explain, please go to our website, crossingthegoal.com.

How did it come about? Once I turned my life around 30 years ago, the Lord spoke to me and said that he wanted me to evangelize to Catholic men, and I have been doing that ever since.

Danny Abramowicz, a star wide receiver at Xavier, played eight years in the NFL and was named one of the New Orleans Saints’ top 50 players of all time. He has been a coach and broadcaster and now works with Crossing the Goal ministries, which focuses on outreach to Catholic men.

6 4 X AV I E R N AT I O N | FA L L 2 0 1 7

XavierNationMagazine.com

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY DANNY ABRAMOWICZ

How did you end up at Xavier? I was offered a football scholarship by Coach [Ed] Biles—the only offer I had received.

It didn’t take me long to say yes.

JOIN XAVIER IN NYC 2018 BIG EAST MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP MADISON SQUARE GARDEN • NYC MARCH 7-10, 2018 For ticket, fan travel, hospitality and entertainment information, please visit GoXavier.com/BIGEAST

What’s your Healthy

–FACTOR?

Interact for Heatlh’s vision is to make Greater Cincinnati the healthiest region in the country. For 20 years we’ve worked with partners such as the Xavier Musketeers to make our community healthier for everyone. Together Interact and Xavier have challenged thousands of school-aged children to be active, to eat healthy foods and to find their Healthy X-Factor.

www.interactforhealth.org /InteractForHealth

@Interact4Health