Xavier 2015 Season Review: Sean O'Mara Player Report Card

Thanks to everyone who participated in our inaugural Banners on the Parkway postseason player report cards. We'll be breaking down each player's grades for the rest of this week and on into next week, where we'll reveal the top three finishers according to the community. We'll also be assigning and explaining our own grades of each player. We'll start with the player who got the lowest community ranking and work our way up to the MVP.

Our second player off the board in our season review is mountain of humanity Sean O'Mara. O'Mara joined Brandon Randolph in being rated a D for the season, coming in just shy of 100 votes for a C, and being weighed down by 47 below that line to only 25 above it. 7 people were even sure enough this was anonymous to give a 6'10" college athlete a grade of F. Although a generous soul may have counted this as a D+ for young Sean, there are no pluses and minuses here, only hard hitting analysis (and sometimes other stuff).

Offense: D

O'Mara only played 106 minutes this season, which is a little less than three a game, so we didn't get a greatly extended look at his offensive game, but what we saw needed some work, which is to be expected from a freshman big entering at the Big East level. In the three games in which he got over 10 minutes this year (Murray State, Alabama, and Providence), O'Mara averaged 6.67 points and 3 rebounds, which is respectable returns against NCAA and NIT competition. However, O'Mara tended to struggle, especially at the line, in his limited role the rest of the year. A final field goal percentage of .560 is a mark which O'Mara can both regard as a limited success and an area to try and make the jump to equal Stainbrook and Reynolds more gaudy numbers from this season. A free throw percentage of .474, on the other hand, is not anyone's idea of good and represents the need for refinement in O'Mara's offensive game.

Defense: C

While Sean did not do a lot on offense in some of his more limited appearances, he did make an impact for the Muskies, mostly on his opponents, on defense. Listed at 6'10", 247, O'Mara certainly has the build to be a physically imposing presence in the lane, and he showed a lovable willingness to mix it up in there on defense. He set the tone by fouling out in only 6 minutes in the season opening win against Northern Arizona, and while his rate of fouling slowed significantly from there, O'Mara's bruising style showed no sign of changing. While he did not claim a strong portion of the defensive boards available- only 9%- he did show a knack for getting in the lane and blocking shots, sending 5 attempts away in only 31 minutes in the middle of Big East play in February. O'Mara's lack of boards is not indicative of a lack of effort, he was notable often for finding a man and sealing, so a necessary adjustment to the pace of the game at this level should see it rise in the future.

Overall Grade: D

I have to go with the people on this one, as I feel a high D is probably fair for O'Mara. He didn't really play enough to merit any higher, but he definitely showed signs of being capable of being a good player for X at this level. Although I am not privy to Xavier's daily practices, reports would occasionally report O'Mara as wearing the gold jersey, meaning he had been singled out as the hardest worker over that stretch, which is a promising sign for the development of what most X fans hope is the next in a series of hard nosed big men.

Be sure to stop by our comments section and discuss what you rated Sean and why this year. Did the community at large miss something that you think should have raised his grade? Did you not see what all the "grade above f" fuss was about on this guy? Or maybe you think you and the rest of Xavier Nation got it right and would like to pat yourselves on the back. Feel free to discuss O'Mara's freshman season in the area below.