Zach Freemantle, the starting power forward for the #19 Xavier Musketeers, will undergo season-ending foot surgery, according to Adam Baum of the Enquirer.
While Freemantle hasn't played since Jan. 28, there was initially hope that he could return in time for the Big East Tournament. Sadly for Xavier, that won't be the case.
Although Xavier's star guard duo of Souley Boum and Colby Jones receive most of the attention, Freemantle was actually Xavier's second-leading scorer, averaging 15.2 points per game. A 6-9 senior from New Jersey, he provided a necessary counterbalance to Boum and Jones, supplying interior ballast for the Musketeers and averaging a team-leading 8.7 rebounds per game. Within an offense that ranks seventh nationally in adjusted efficiency and bangs in nearly 40 percent of their threes, Freemantle represented a rimward vector, galloping through the creases that Boum and Jones created in opposing defenses.
Perhaps even more harmful than Freemantle's absence, though, is the redounding effect that it has throughout the larger Xavier basketball ecosystem. This is not a deep team. Sans Freemantle, only five other players average more than five points per game. Even if the athletic Jerome Hunter has thrived since joining the starting lineup, the Musketeers have lost their margin for error. No longer can they afford any slump or foul trouble from their principle players.
Still, Xavier has the requisite firepower to compete for a Big East Tournament title, if not the national title. Boum and Jones are as good as any backcourt in the nation and Sean Miller has reclaimed his spot as one of the best (and sweatiest) coaches in college basketball. As Xavier enters March Madness, there's still the outline of a Final Four team here, but without Zach Freemantle it's harder to see.
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