The nickname is Ant, which he's anything but. He is Xavier's next 7-footer, just the second in school history. Oh, and he was a shooting guard this time last year.

        Meet Anthony Coleman, who's growing so fast it hurts.

        “It has been shocking,” the 6-foot-11 XU freshman said. “My mom's 5-9; my dad's barely 6-2. I was about 5-10 as a sophomore (in high school), when I was told I'd be lucky to be 6-4. Supposedly.”

        He was 6-2 beginning his senior year at Compton (Calif.) Centennial, when he went to a doctor to get an X-ray on what he thought was a hairline fracture in his wrist. It wasn't.

        “My growth plates were so far apart that it caused an ache in my wrist,” he said. “Then it went down to my knees. And now I get back spasms.”

        They're growing pains. Coleman grew eight inches last year, and he's still going.

        Doctors project he'll reach 7 feet before this season's over, 7-2 by the start of his senior year. The only other 7-footer in school history was Bob King in the late 1970s.

        Formerly a trim guard, Coleman is now a reed-thin big man. He's listed at 210 pounds, but preseason conditioning dropped him from 200 to 194. He and XU's coaches decided Friday he would redshirt this season.

        “(Strength) coach (Dave) Armstrong told me to eat five meals a day,” Coleman said. “I try to eat more than five. I lift every day. I try to come in here at night sometimes and lift by myself.”

        Coach Skip Prosser said he hopes he'll be “one of those classic Xavier sleepers,” in the mold of Aaron Williams or Brian Grant, who went from skinny to sculpted.

        “I figure I'll end up like Posey: skinny but strong,” Coleman said. “I don't see myself gaining a lot of weight, just getting stronger.”

        Though he switched to small forward late last year, his days as a guard gave him valuable ballhandling and shooting skills. Though he says he's still adjusting to his longer arms and bigger hands, he has been impressive shooting 3-pointers in practice.

        “This year will make or break my college career — all the effort I put into the weight room, learning the plays, shooting jump shots,” he said. “It's tough (redshirting), but I don't want to waste this year.”

        YOUNG GUNS: Big debuts Friday by newcomers Lionel Chalmers and Romain Sato, who scored 15 points apiece, were no fluke.

        In the team's five intrasquad scrimmages, Chalmers had team-best averages of 12.6 points, 4.2 assists and 3.4 steals, shooting 51 percent (50 percent from 3-point range). Sato was next in scoring with a 12.4 average and shot 61 percent.

        “Coach said, "You have to be aggressive,' so I tried to shoot as well as pass (Friday),” Sato said.

        Chalmers relished Friday's exhibition after sitting out his freshman year as a partial qualifier.

        “It felt real good to be out there,” he said. “It made me more confident, but this is just one game.”

        HIGHEST HYPE: XU has generally been mentioned just beyond the top 25 in most preseason magazines, but Hoop Scoop bucks the trend. It has the Musketeers ranked 13th and states, “Xavier might be the most underrated team in college basketball.”

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