One of the all-time greats will get his due this season
Let me go on record as not being a huge fan of the summer. The extra daylight is fantastic, but 97 degree days are not. This year, thankfully, Euros and the Olympics are on, but it’s usually just baseball and the existential dread of waiting for the Guardians front office to not do anything. That heat induced ennui makes it a little hard to trawl the internet for news of a basketball season that seems ages away.
But that doesn’t mean there is no news. Trevon Bluiett is going to have his number in the rafters at some point this season. While the exact date has not been announced, the school laid out the rest of the pertinent details.
The first name revealed on the list today is No. 5 Trevon Bluiett, a consensus Second Team All-America selection as a senior, is one of the most decorated players in Xavier history. Xavier made the NCAA Tournament in each of Bluiett’s four seasons, including the 2017 Elite Eight, the 2015 Sweet 16 and the Second Round in 2016 and 2018, giving him a school-record tying seven NCAA Tournament wins on his resume. Bluiett made his mark on the Xavier record book, finishing second on XU’s all-time scoring list with 2,261 career points and 12th on Xavier’s all-time rebounding list with 762 career rebounds. Bluiett was one of only 13 players in league history to earn BIG EAST First Team honors three times (2016, 2017, 2018). “Just as hanging a championship banner is a symbol of excellence, honoring former players with retired jersey numbers is one of the highest honors a program can bestow,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Greg Christopher. “Each of these former Musketeer greats contributed to building the foundation of Xavier’s basketball programs.”
That’s all accurate, if a little dry. Trevon Bluiett was the ice cold blood in the veins of the best Xavier teams in history. In the minds of Xavier Nation he’s forever leaping at Malcolm Bernard after Bernard’s sprint against Arizona. He’s dropping 40 on UC. He’s returning after an injury layoff to hit a game winner off one functional leg. He’s scoring 21, 29, and 25 in a run to the Elite Eight.
There’s so much more that can and will be said about Tre, but a lot of that will be said on the day his number is retired like the other four players who have received that honor, he has left Xavier with far more memories than one little story can tell.