The Chris Mack recruiting map: superlatives

Best signing: Trevon Bluiett

You could throw Semaj in here and not get too much of an argument from me or anyone else, but I think Trevon edges him. Bluiett was a recruit from Indiana with a national profile, as evidenced by the fact that he first committed to UCLA. Even after he reopened his recruitment, Bluiett had plenty of attractive options with top national profiles but instead chose to sign with Xavier. That kind of work is what is going to be necessary to keep Xavier near the top of the Big East on a regular basis.

Best overall work: Matt Stainbrook

To me, this was Coach Mack and the staff's best work. Running down a player like Semaj or Trevon is impressive, but it's a fairly obvious task. Find the best dude and try to convince him to play at your school. If Disney took a character who looked like Western Michigan Stainbrook and had him leading a team into the second weekend of the NCAA tournament just three years later, we'd all openly laugh at how ridiculous that was. Scouting reports on Stainbrook both out of high school and after two years in college set his ceiling as a productive low-major player if he got his act together and lost weight. To look past that and see the player that we all ended up enjoying in his two years at Xavier was a stroke of recruiting and developmental genius.

Best development: Dee Davis

Am I biased towards Dee? Jury's still out. What I can tell you is that Davis came in as a fairly pedestrian recruit and is leaving with a respected place in Xavier history. When we think of the kind of player X is all about, it's a guy who stays four years, works hard and steadily improves the whole time, and then steps into a leading role as an upperclassman before leaving with a degree. Dee ticks all the boxes.

Most disappointing: Brandon Randolph

I thought this guy was going to be great. When a top-100 player comes all the way across the country to join your program, you naturally assume that's because it's a great fit. Two years later, Randolph is on his back across most of the country to play at Utah Valley. This was a swing and a miss in either evaluation or development; either way, it didn't work out how I had hoped.

Most disappointing four-year guy: Jeff Robinson

The scouting reports on him questioned his urgency and energy, and they were spot on the whole way. From his listless, up-and-down performances through the mental lapses like the foul against Wofford, Robinson always seemed like a pile of physical skills had been left unattended somewhere and he was what came out. He could have been an A-10 Anthony Davis.