Shootaround

Despite the lifting of the oppressive heat and the end of the Olympics, it is still definitely summer. And, as we often lament, summer means there isn't all that much college basketball news out there. Up here in Cleveland we can at least console ourselves with the return of Roberto Hernandez-Heredia, the artist formerly known as Fausto Carmona. As the boys of summer begin to give way constant breathless updates about meaningless training camp stories and preseason football games (Chad Johnson might not be good anymore? Shocking! More with Trey Wingo next!), we finally start to get some tidbits worth reading.

Thankfully, you don't have to take your eyes off that fantasy football article that boss doesn't know you are reading for one extra second, because we have all the news worth reading right here. (Also, don't draft anyone from the Browns. Call this an insider tip/fair warning).

- Semaj Christon is starting to build up a good deal of pre-season momentum. Rant Sports just named the youngster one of the top five freshman point guards in the nation. Semaj retweeted the link to that story himself, so he's not afraid of trying to live up to some rather lofty expectations.

- Jeff Borzello is reporting that Xavier is one of 16 teams involved in a Nike event slated for 2017. Jeff has the details, but it sounds like a rather impressive undertaking. Massive preseason tournaments are becoming the new thing now, but the scope of this one is amazing.

- ESPN broke down the conference in the end of July and sort of dances around the issue of how good Xavier may, or may not, be this year. The crux of the article boils down to one statement at the end, though "Xavier always goes to the NCAA tournament, and almost always makes some noise while there. Projecting anything less than that this season feels like folly."

- Scott Springer over at the Enquirer says that Semaj Christon was the best player in the city last year and again at Deveroes this summer. Of course, he also likes Marty Brennaman.

- Disliking Notre Dame is something of a family tradition for us. Our grandfather used to travel to watch Notre Dame play Purdue simply for the enjoyment of cheering against the sanctimonious South Bend contingent. Xavier's recent run ins with the Irish in basketball has only heightened that sense of dislike. I mention all of this because Notre Dame, as detailed nicely by Rick Reilly, is in danger of slipping so far off the national radar that it can never recover. Unlike Reilly though, I'd like to see Notre Dame recover. Having a team to love is fun, but so is having someone ever-present to hate.