Trevon Bluiett’s return primes Xavier for another deep March run
By Chris Stone
Trevon Bluiett’s return is a huge win for the Xavier Musketeers
The South Carolina Gamecocks’ run to the Final Four last season overshadowed what was arguably a more surprising Cinderella story.
The Xavier Musketeers were one of the last teams to receive an at-large bid into the 2017 NCAA Tournament. They entered the field on the back of a semifinals appearance in the Big East Conference Tournament, but the Musketeers had lost six of their final seven regular season games heading into the event. The loss of point guard Edmond Sumner to an ACL injury loomed large.
None of that seemed to matter in March, however, as Xavier reeled off three straight upset wins over the Maryland Terrapins, Florida State Seminoles and Arizona Wildcats to make the third Elite Eight in program history.
Junior wing Trevon Bluiett was the driving force behind the Musketeers’ late season resurgence. He averaged 25.0 points per game on 52.2 percent shooting from the field in the team’s three tournament wins and was named to the West Regional’s All-Tournament team after losing to the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the regional final.
Bluiett’s performance in the NCAA Tournament inspired him to test the NBA Draft waters without an agent, but on Tuesday night, the 21-year old announced he was returning to school for his final season.
Bluiett’s tournament success wasn’t an anomaly. He averaged 18.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting 37.3 percent on 3-point attempts as a junior, but his return to Xavier means much more to the Musketeers because of how he can put points on the board.
The 6-foot-6 rising senior is one of the few wings in the country who excels at creating his own offense. Bluiett scored 1.017 points per possession (PPP) (87th percentile) on isolation plays last season and also averaged 0.928 PPP (86th percentile) as the pick-and-roll ball-handler, per Synergy Sports. His ability to shoot off the dribble (0.963 PPP, 82nd percentile) was a key feature of his offensive game.
Bluiett also creates offense with his off ball movement. He scored 1.161 PPP (84th percentile) coming off of screens as a junior. His success away from the ball helps open up driving and passing lanes for his teammates as well as defenses are forced to communicate and rotate while tracking Bluiett around the floor.
The 21-year-old’s offensive impact had a spillover effect for the Musketeers. Xavier’s offense was eight points per 100 possessions better with Bluiett on the court than with him on the bench last season, per Hoop Lens. Much of that difference was the result of improved 3-point shooting with Bluiett on the floor as he was one of only two players on the roster to shoot better than 34.0 percent from deep in 2016-17.
Much of that roster will be back next season as the Musketeers will look for a repeat of their performance last March. Sumner is off to the NBA and seniors Malcolm Bernard and Rashid Gaston have exhausted their eligibility, but J.P. Macura will be back for his final season to create a formidable backcourt alongside rising sophomore Quentin Goodin, a former top 100 recruit. Xavier will also welcome the 11th ranked recruiting class in the country to campus in the fall, including 6-foot-4 point guard Paul Scruggs and 6-foot-6 wing Naji Marshall.
At the center of everything, though, will be the 6-foot-6 sharpshooter who powered a Cinderella run in 2017 that fell just short of a Final Four appearance. Bluiett’s decision to return for his final campaign will give the Musketeers the dream that they can accomplish more in his senior season.