Thad Matta attended USA Basketball tryouts in June in Colorado Springs, Colo., to watch his new center, David West. What he saw afterward was the seed for this Xavier season.

        When Matta relayed what coaches there had told him, that XU wouldn't be better than the third- or fourth-best team in the Atlantic 10, he watched West grow angry. “That's a bunch of bull to me,” West said.

        The Xavier team that begins its season tonight at home against Coastal Carolina has been given every out. You're young. You've got a new coach. You're shorthanded.

        But the Musketeers don't want an underdog role. They're fixated on what Matta told them 6 1/2 months ago in their first meeting: They have the talent for a Sweet 16 season.

        “I don't think we're down at all,” senior forward Kevin Frey said. “We don't see ourselves in that (underdog) role.

        “We've got a great group of guys. The chemistry is great. And that (Sweet 16 goal) just sets the tone for anything to happen.”

        Xavier has been to the Sweet 16 just once, in 1990, and missed the NCAA Tournament as often as it made it over the past 10 seasons. Yet the top three scorers return from a 21-8 NCAA team.

        “I'm hyped up about what the season holds,” West said. “You can say whatever you want to say (about XU's chances) in the newspapers and magazines, but you prove your worth between the lines.”

        Of the Sweet 16 goal, West said: “We can get there, but we've got to take it step by step. It's not good if we start stressing ourselves out about early (results).”

        The biggest bugaboo is a lack of depth. XU has just nine scholarship players, with freshman Anthony Coleman the only reserve big man. Yet XU won a lot of games last year with just one frontcourt reserve, Reggie Butler, and had a seven-man rotation much of the season.

        “I don't really buy that whole "shorthanded' thing,” Frey said. “We have guys that are ready to step up that are hungry.”

        Matta said the things XU still needs to improve are its defensive intensity and awareness, plus its ballhandling. “The No.1 thing is guys making better decisions with the basketball,” he said.

        Where he may see the most improvement is in shooting, which he has made a focal point in practices. Last winter, XU had its worst field goal shooting (42.7 percent) in 36 seasons and its worst 3-point shooting (30.3 percent) ever. It shot 45.4 percent (35.5 percent on 3s) in two exhibitions this month.

        ABOUT COASTAL:

        The Chanticleers are undersized, with four starters 6 feet 4 or shorter. They're also undermanned, with Torrey Butler — the returning Big South player of the year and an honorable mention All-American — out with a foot injury.

        Coastal went 8-20 last season. It ranked second in its league in scoring average (70.9) but ranked last in scoring defense (77.6) and field-goal percentage defense (.491).

        Clinton Nagel, a 6-7 freshman, is a Loveland High grad.

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