August has been called the February of the summer (usually by me), and with good reason. The month brings with it oppressive heat and drags on for about 70 featureless days. Baseball (for those of us who care) is stuck between the excitement of the fresh season and perverse joy of watching the playoffs to hope the team from the AL East loses. To top it all off, the only lifeline thrown out for NCAA basketball fans is news from the late recruiting period, which is often sketchy and sometimes self-contradictory.
One of the only good things about August was that it was our first full month on the SBN platform. We came over at the end of July and have been making ourselves at home. Xavier's roster has changed since the end of last year, so we also took a moment to look over the comings and goings that the Muskies experienced since the last time they stepped onto the court. Of course, no sooner had we opened our mouths than things changed again, with Sim Bhullar leaving before he ever really got here.
It was an eventful summer for the Muskies; the team added sharpshooter Myles Davis and point guard Semaj Christon and Vandy transfer Andre Walker to go with spring commit James Farr and Towson transfer Isaiah Philmore. Around here, Mario Mercurio was good enough to speak with us about the Butler series, his scheduling approach, and the direction of the program.
Despite all the news that came out of the summer, I'm glad it's winding down. Anyone who has followed college hoops for any matter of time knows that summer news is mostly scuttlebutt created by similarly bored fans who are trying to fill the time until real games begin. There's a nip in the air some nights that tells me we're getting closer to putting idle chatter to bed for another winter so we can focus on poring over highlight reels and stat sheets from actual, meaningful games. For me, it can't come soon enough.