Xavier basketball's Dieonte Miles will redshirt this season

Per the team's release:

Dieonte Miles, 6-11 freshman forward from Walton, Ky., and Walton-Verona High School, will redshirt this season. “After discussing Dieonte Miles’ future with him, his family and our coaching staff, we decided that redshirting this season is in his best interest,” said head coach Travis Steele. “Dieonte is a talented young man who has a very bright future. Our coaching staff will work very hard with him during his redshirt year to get him physically stronger and continue to develop his game at both ends of the court. Dieonte has a chance to be a special player and this extra year of development will do wonders for him.”

Miles, a 2019 Cincinnati.com First Team Kentucky All-Star, was named 2019 First Team All-State (Louisville Courier-Journal) and First Team All-Region, while earning Eighth Region Player of the Year (Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches), 32nd District MVP honors and NKCK Conference Player of the Year as a senior. Miles averaged 14.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.0 blocks and 3.0 assists as a senior, while shooting 64.4 percent from the field. He led Walton-Verona to the state tournament for the first time since 1942.

Miles did not play in Xavier’s opener on Tuesday, which was as good a sign as any that he wasn’t going to be participating this season. Xavier has solid interior depth anchored by Tyrique Jones and bolstered by Zach Freemantle, Daniel Ramsey, Dontarius James, Jason Carter, and even Naji Marshall in a pinch. Miles looked good on the defensive end during Xavier’s trip to Spain; if that’s just scratching the surface of what he’s capable of, it’s hard not to be excited for his eventual Xavier debut.