A Letter to Xavier Nation from Greg Christopher

Dear Xavier Nation,

While it has been only a few weeks since I last wrote to you (March letter/update), a lot has transpired within college athletics and for Xavier Basketball.

Most notably, the Musketeers made the NCAA Tournament, won an exciting game over Texas, and then went through a whirlwind coaching transition in the space of 10 days. Richard Pitino and his staff have hit the ground running. The flurry of activity that is the transfer portal, coupled with our need to virtually rebuild the roster, means 11 new scholarship players will be Musketeers this season. The emphasis with building this team centered on athleticism, size and a desire to get a bit younger – a nod to what Richard built at New Mexico. This staff is striving to mold a cohesive culture and, even in this freedom of movement era, retain a strong core of players for multiple years.

Beyond our campus, the broader collegiate athletics landscape continues to shift rapidly. As you likely saw, the House settlement is now finalized and has begun a new era for collegiate athletics. While comprehensively covering the future of college athletics in this letter is impossible, I want to address for our supporters the questions I am asked most often. Additionally, our team will host a few in-person sessions this summer on the changing landscape of college athletics. Look for details in the coming weeks.

XAVIER'S PLACE IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS
House-related planning had a profound effect on this spring's transfer portal activity in college basketball and other sports. A handful of schools and collectives used the coming revenue sharing rules to circumvent the expected revenue sharing cap by essentially dumping available collective cash into the marketplace, which had an impact on roster construction across college basketball. The net effect has been the creation of some super teams, at least on paper.

Whether through the House settlement or eventual collective bargaining, what played out this spring will even out as greater regulation is brought to college athletics. Xavier navigated successfully the early years of NIL, and I believe in our approach and plan toward revenue sharing. The reality, though, is that our 2025-26 team NIL/revenue sharing cap is in the middle grouping of the Big East, off the league average by 15%. I know our shared expectation for Xavier Basketball is to be among the top teams and competing for the Big East title. With this in mind, we have already started conversations and planning for 2026-27.

Because of your support, Xavier has been competitive and successful in the NIL era and will remain so in the revenue sharing world. Every Division 1 institution has built its NIL approach on the generosity of alumni, donors and new business opportunities. Xavier's strategies have been similar, and we have taken several ideas from you and our peers.

PAYING STUDENT-ATHLETES
Collectively, college athletics generates about $14 billion annually. Although athletic scholarships and the degrees granted for the 500,000 student-athletes are life-changing, it's hard to argue against student-athletes earning a portion of the revenue they generate. How much? Which athletes get paid? And the myriad of other questions that come with this territory? That's what we are watching play out in real time. This is an exciting but messy time to be part of college athletics.

With the House settlement in place, we take a step toward more regulation in a space needing order. Whether via government involvement or collective bargaining, I believe we will eventually get to a sensible structure. In the meantime, we will remain focused on competing at the highest level, while also providing our student-athletes with a first-rate Xavier experience.

As revenue sharing becomes an essential part of recruiting and retaining the most talented student-athletes, contributions to AFO's Basketball Excellence Fund will serve as our primary method of supporting revenue sharing. We are also exploring other avenues to increase revenue through ticketing, partnership opportunities and events, along with identifying cost efficiencies throughout our department.

TRANSFERS AND TEAM IDENTITIES
I often hear from fans about the frequency of transfers in college basketball. This spring, nearly 50% of Division 1 basketball players entered the transfer portal. Although student-athletes no longer have to sit out a year if they transfer, they still must meet a variety of academic thresholds in order to remain eligible and be on track to graduate.

We frequently talk on campus about the uniqueness of Xavier, ensuring our academic programs provide students with the distinctive qualities of a Jesuit Catholic education, whether the classes are online, undergraduate, graduate or certificate-based. I've encouraged this approach with transfer student-athletes as well. Regardless if players are with us one or four years, we want their time at Xavier to be meaningful. Recent transfer basketball players who were with us for just a year or two had remarkable and personally impactful times as Musketeers.

THANK YOU
I often say that Xavier Basketball is your program – the program has been built by alumni and donors over the last four decades, and its future trajectory and accomplishments will be thanks to Xavier Nation.

As we turn the page from an exciting 2024-25 season and point to a new future, I am both confident and grateful. The confidence comes from our direction and place in college basketball. Within the Big East and at Xavier, our focus on basketball will be our strength in navigating this new future. And I am always grateful for what each of you does to support Xavier University and its most visible asset – the Xavier Basketball program.

Enjoy your summer and we'll see you in the Cintas Center again this fall.

Let's Go X!

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