By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Three games into the post-David West era, the future of Xavier University basketball looks remarkably bright.

The current freshman class is making its presence felt on the court and will be followed next season by one of the most highly regarded incoming classes to set foot on campus. Not since the days of Lloyd Price in 1998 has there been this much anticipation about Musketeer recruits.

The 2004 class is about more than one player. When the fall signing period ended Wednesday, Josh Duncan of Moeller and Stanley Burrell of Hargrave Military (Va.) Academy had signed letters of intent to attend Xavier next season.

Xavier has an oral commitment from Montrose Christian (Md.) School's Churchill Odia, who might or might not sign a letter but says he will attend Xavier next year regardless.

Add Vanderbilt transfer Brian Thornton, and Xavier has the makings of one of the finest recruiting classes in the nation.

Clark Francis, a recruiting analyst and editor of Hoopscooponline.com, doesn't include transfers in his rankings, but if he did, Francis said, Xavier's class would be the 17th-best in the nation.

"If I were a Xavier fan, I'd be thrilled," said Francis, who is particularly keen on Odia, a 6-foot-6 point guard from Nigeria. "Every team that advanced to the Final Four last year had a single great player. Churchill Odia is that great player. He's a big steal for any team in the country. How many guys at 6-6 can play point guard?"

Francis has Odia ranked as the 25th-best overall player in the class of 2004 but said he could move him higher on that list after this season. Odia was heavily recruited by Atlantic Coast Conference schools North Carolina (with current coach Roy Williams) and Florida State, but Xavier got involved with him early enough to secure a commitment. Odia plays for Montrose Christian coach Stu Vetter, whose players rarely sign letters of intent early but follow through on their oral commitments.

Duncan is the local star player who chose Xavier ahead of Kentucky, which possibly says more about Duncan's ability than the player rankings. Duncan is ranked between Nos. 70 and 110 by most experts, many of whom have seen limited glimpses of him because Duncan did not play summer basketball last year.

Burrell is a 6-2 shooting guard out of Indianapolis Ben Davis who caught a lot of interest on the summer scene after he had already orally committed to Xavier. He's playing at Hargrave, the same prep school West attended.

"Stanley fits in with some of the better shooting guards out there," Hargrave coach Kevin Keatts said. "He's got a scoring mentality and a nice body. Right now, we're working with him on learning how to put the ball on the floor."

Thornton, 6-8, 260 pounds, might have the most immediate impact when he becomes eligible next season. He'll have two years to play after transferring from Vanderbilt, where he made the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team in 2002.

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com