Xavier power rankings: March 9th

By this time next week, we'll know where Xavier landed in the postseason. In the meantime, here's our latest ranking of the players who will have gotten them there. As always, keep in mind that this is about as unscientific as a ranking can be and that it's slightly skewed toward recent results, though the whole season is ultimately kept in mind. Use the comments section to yell at me about Brandon Randolph, just like always.

13. and 12. Makinde London and Edmond Sumner
Ed always looks happy when they pan the bench, so I can't wait to see his grinning face on the floor next year. I didn't see a good shot of Makinde this week. This concludes your weekly redshirt update.

11. Brandon Randolph
Here's a ridiculous thought: what if Randolph redshirted next year? He's not going to be a feature of the team, and mid-career redshirts - while rare - have revived some players' careers. If he transfers he's sitting out next year anyway, so why not take a redshirt here and work on building his game into what it will need to be for the last two seasons of eligibility?

10. Sean O'Mara
O'Mara is probably legitimately fifth on the big-man depth chart if you throw in Bluiett at the four. That's not a recipe for being difficult to replace. I hear he's working hard and playing well in practice, and I expect good things from him in the future.

9. James Farr
This is less about Farr - who is hitting jumpers again and still rebounding and defending at the customary levels (i.e., well and poorly) - than it is about the rest of the team. Xavier is seeing less time with two traditional bigs on the floor, and when they are running that out there, Stainbrook and Reynolds are playing well enough to take most of the minutes. Farr is the odd man out in the frontcourt right now.

8. JP Macura
Teams are really getting up in JP's chest on defense, but when he gets free it's going up and it's probably going in. On a side note, have you ever seen someone pick up as many off-ball fouls on both ends of the court as JP? He's always up in someone's business. Frankly, it doesn't bother me all that much.

7. Larry Austin, Jr.
Say Dee Davis picks up three fouls in the first half or really stubs his toe badly or something and we need an emergency point guard for meaningful game time. LAJ is the guy standing between us and whatever Coach Mack sees in Brandon Randolph that keeps him rooted to the bench. Larry has done well recently in handling pressure and running the team, and that's about all you can ask from a freshman backup PG.

6. Myles Davis
The gap between number four and number six this week is incredibly fine in my mind. You could probably shuffle these three guys into any order and make a case for it. Myles's shot appears to be returning after a brief hiatus, which is a nice development.

5. Remy Abell
Remy doesn't hunt his own shot, but he's really good at scoring when the opportunity presents itself. More importantly, he gives Xavier a grand total of one player who you feel good about defending the basketball when the game is on the line and the zone is out of the question. If you were watching during pucker time against Creighton, you know how much we'd like a couple more guys like that.

4. Jalen Reynolds
"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." -Proverbs 16:32
When Jalen gets to the point where you can trust him a game the officials have completely lost track of, he'll be a dang star. Until then, he'll continue to have the occasional game where nobody on the other team can stop him and the occasional game where he fouls out in seven minutes.

3. Dee Davis
Another day, another 5 assists and no turnovers. His shooting was off, but he only shot three times. Also, he knocked down the game-winning free throws. Xavier absolutely needs him at his very best for as long as the rest of the season lasts; nobody else on the team pulls the strings like Dee.

2. Trevon Bluiett
I'm in love with this guy's feel for the game. Sure he shot like garbage against Creighton, but did you see how he got on the board? Back cuts and offensive rebounding, putting himself in position to score easy buckets. He also dished out 4 assists and didn't turn the ball over. He's had his ups and downs throughout the year, but there's no question he's the real deal.

1. Matt Stainbrook
How about Matt Stainbrook? In a game Xavier desperately needed, he devoured the Creighton front line. It's hard to say what he might have done (or be held to) in a better officiated game, but he played within the confines of the rules as they were being enforced that particular day and poured home 26 and 9 on 11-14/0-1/4-7 shooting. I don't even care about the turnovers, except for the fact that I'm mentioning them right now.