The 2016–17 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team represented Xavier University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by eighth-year head coach Chris Mack, they played their games at the Cintas Center in Norwood, Ohio and were fourth-year members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 24–14, 9–9 in Big East play to finish in seventh place. In the Big East tournament, they defeated DePaul and Butler before losing to Creighton in the semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 11 seed in the West region where they defeated Maryland, Florida State, and Arizona before losing in the Elite Eight to Gonzaga.
Previous season The Musketeers finished the 2015–16 season 28–6, 14–4 in Big East play to finish in second place. They defeated Marquette in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Seton Hall. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they received a No. 2 seed. They defeated Weber State in the First Round to advance to the Second Round where they lost to Wisconsin.
Preseason Prior to the season, Xavier was picked to finish second in a poll of Big East coaches. Trevon Bluiett and Edmond Sumner were selected to the preseason All-Big East first team.
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Larry Austin Jr. 0 G 6'2" 174 Sophomore Springfield, IL Transferred to Vanderbilt Jalen Reynolds 1 F 6'10" 232 Junior Livonia, MI Declare for 2016 NBA draft James Farr 2 F 6'10" 247 Senior Evanston, IL Graduated Remy Abell 10 G 6'4" 195 RS Senior Louisville, KY Graduated Makinde London 13 F 6'10" 210 RS Freshman Nashville, TN Transferred to Chattanooga Kevin Coker 32 F 6'6" 200 Senior Plainfield, IL Graduated
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Malcolm Bernard 11 F 6'6" 190 RS Senior Middleburg, FL Transferred from Florida A&M. Will eligible to play since Bernard graduated from Florida A&M. RaShid Gaston 35 F 6'9 239 RS Senior Warren, OH Transferred from Norfolk State.
Season summary
Preseason Junior Trevon Bluiett entered his name in the NBA Pre-Draft, but withdrew his name prior to the deadline and will return to Xavier.
Incoming recruits
Future recruits
2017–18 team recruits
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style=""| Regular season
!colspan=9 style=""|Big East tournament
!colspan=9 style=""|NCAA tournament
Rankings
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings
References