Xavier forward Ben Stanley will transfer to Old Dominion

First, the news:

Stanley arrived at Xavier having been dominant at Hampton as a sophomore. He averaged 22 and 7 and posted an ORtg of 114.2. He was a workhorse at that level, averaging 35.1 minutes per game and starting 33 times in 34 outings. After a season like that, it's understandable that a player would want to see if he measures up at the highest level of college ball.

Two years later, it's not clear that we have an answer.

Stanley never really got a chance to get his career at the high-major level off the ground. First, he was the victim of some NCAA hijinks, as they lingered over his eligibility for an eternity for no reason except that they could. Once they decided to let him play, he almost immediately destroyed his knee.

An injury that used to end a career or take more than a year to come back from now just costs a player his offseason. Stanley wasn't all the way back for the start of this year, and by the time he was, the rotation was fairly well set without him. He saw sporadic time late in the year, but not enough to make an impression.

I'm his final season at Hampton, Stanley had a three-game run late in the year in which he dropped 84 points in 103 minutes of play. In his entire Xavier career, he had 42 points in 97 minutes. I don't think it's fair to say he failed at this level; through a variety of circumstances outside of his control, I think he was robbed of the chance to show what he could be. Now he's headed to Old Dominion to see if he can recapture the magic he has at Hampton. I hope he does.