Xavier notes: Don't call XU 'Cinderella,' notable alums following Musketeers

SAN JOSE, California — By virtue of being the highest remaining seed left in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, pundits are slapping labels on Xavier men's basketball.

Phrases like "bracket busters" are bandied about in discussion of the surging Musketeers and, to a lesser extent, the word "Cinderella" gets tossed around.

The Cinderella narrative is a favorite of media-types come March – there always seems to be at least one team that fits that bill, right?

But does 2016-17 Xavier men's basketball, a preseason No. 7-ranked team, fit the narrative?

For his part, Xavier head coach Chris Mack doesn't typically care about such labels, although comments made during a Wednesday press conference at SAP Center indicated Mack doesn't think the underdog script fits for his side.

"You're only an underdog if you feel like you're the lesser team. And I don't feel that way about our guys and I don't think they feel that way about each other," Mack said.

The reality is that this Xavier team is difficult to slot into any of the traditional March story lines.

The Musketeers appear Cinderella-like in some aspects. For instance, their wins this NCAA Tournament have been upsets, if only on paper.

That's one tell-tale sign of a Cinderella.

But no one that's watched Xavier over the last month has been surprised by the results Mack's side has produced this tournament. The team is 4-1 in postseason games dating back to a successful semifinal run in the Big East Tournament, and has two wins over ranked opponents in the last four games.

At the same time, the team was counted out of March Madness at several points along the way this season.

Adversity and being widely doubted – another check in the Cinderella column for Xavier.

The naysayers first started circling when star sophomore guard Edmond Sumner was lost to the season to injury and again late in the campaign when six consecutive losses threatened to keep the Musketeers out of the postseason altogether.

Graduate transfer Malcolm Bernard said he and his teammates still refuse to accept Cinderella billing.

"We're a team that struggled to in the beginning and had a lot of adversity to deal with, but we were beyond picked to be here before the season started," Bernard said. "We've had a lot of adversity and that's jumbled us into a Cinderella story but I think we're well aware of the team that we have and what we can do if we pull it all together."

Elite Eight alumni watching Xavier closely

Justin Doellman is going to set his alarm early Friday morning in Barcelona, Spain and sacrifice some sleep in his team hotel. C.J. Anderson will likely find himself alone in a room in his house in Cincinnati late Thursday night.

Two key members of the only Musketeers teams to reach the Elite Eight will be watching their alma mater take on Arizona in San Jose in the hopes this team can join theirs in the rarefied air that the final eight teams left in the NCAA tournament occupy.

“I’m crazy when I watch the game,” Anderson admitted. “It’s a combination of things. Sometimes I still get the feeling I did when I was a player, but when I was a player I was a lot more confident because I could go out there and control what I could control. Now, watching it in the house, it’s a combination of man, I would have did this, or they should have did that. There’s a lot of that. Then there’s a lot of jumping around and cussin’ and throwin’ stuff and cheerin’ and excitement. It’s a lot of things going on when I’m watching the game. I want it for ‘em so bad. I want them to win so badly and I feel a part of it, so it gets a little heavy here from time to time.”

Doellman is currently playing for FC Barcelona Lassa of the ACB League, and communicated with The Enquirer via e-mail. (Note: Doellman’s responses have been edited for clarity and punctuation).

“It’s difficult for me to watch the regular season games because they come on so late here but I always watch the tournament games,” he wrote. “Losing a few hours of beauty sleep is worth it to be cheering X on this time of year.”

They both feel a bit strange yet again watching the Musketeers take on Sean Miller in the tournament, however. Miller was an assistant coach when Doellman was playing and then was the head coach for Anderson. But in the end, it’s all about “X” for the two alumni.

“Our experience at Xavier is with him and everything we accomplished was with him,” Anderson said. “So, it’s a little weird. But at the end of the day, I’m Xavier through and through. I always want success for coach Miller except for when we play him. Hopefully we can go out there Thursday and get the win. I would love that. I definitely think we can win the game. As much love as I’ve got for coach Miller, I’m rolling with Xavier.”

The two feel there are common threads between their teams, and the current Xavier squad.

This year, the Musketeers used an upset of Butler in the Big East conference tourney to re-establish themselves and reinforce their belief that they could make another tournament run. For Doellman, he felt his 2004 team turned a similar corner in the Atlantic-10 tournament in Dayton.

“Playing against (Jameer) Nelson and (Delonte) West when they were undefeated and ranked number 1 in the country was the highlight of the season for me,” Doellman wrote of Xavier’s second-round matchup with St. Joseph’s. “To be able to take them down in front of a very strong Xavier crowd that traveled up from Cincinnati was an amazing memory for me.  Some of our fans also stormed the court after the win on an away floor which was pretty magical as well, especially because it was Dayton court. I think this was the moment propelled us into having the NCAA  tournament run we did.  We proved we could be the best team in the country and we truly believed in ourselves at this moment.”

For Anderson, he sees the mental toughness from his 2008 squad reflecting on this current group.

“They’re real gritty,” Anderson said. “They’ve been playing real tough right now. They’re playing with a lot of confidence. Confidence is half the battle. Early on, especially right after Ed (Sumner) got hurt, there was a lot of uncertainty about what was going to happen for the rest of the season, who was going to step up for him. … I think now the guys are used to not having him now and guys got confidence that their roles are more defined so I just feel right now they’re playing with a lot of confidence and they’re playing with a lot of toughness. Those two things can carry you a long way, especially in March.”

Golden State Warriors contingent in San Jose

David West, a Xavier alum, veteran of three NCAA Tournaments and five tournament games will be in attendance at SAP Center Thursday night to support the Musketeers.

Also attending from the Warriors organization is head coach Steve Kerr, a four-year player at Arizona.