Photo courtesy of 247sports.com | It has been decided. In light of Travis Steele being promoted to head coach, he shall now and forever be referred to as “The Steele Curtain.”
“The Steele Curtain” beat out “Mr. Steele Yo Girl” as the super official nickname of Xavier’s new head men’s basketball coach, Travis Steele. It’s so official and definitely not made up that Steele must now sign all official documents as “The Steele Curtain.”
Let’s face it, the month of March for Xavier men’s basketball was a huge rollercoaster of emotions. While Xavier was able to capture its first ever Big East regular season championship and claim its first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament… other things happened too.
A premature exit in the Big East Tournament got the month off to a sour start. A double-digit lead was lost in the second half, and Xavier fell to Providence in the semifinals.
While this was a disappointing loss, the Musketeers appeared to have moved on. In the NCAA Tournament after rolling 16-seeded Texas Southern in the Round of 64, Xavier looked destined for the Sweet 16 and beyond. Florida State, however, had other plans.
Losing another double-digit lead in the second half, Xavier was bounced in the Round of 32 for the second time in three years. This crushing loss, which I still haven’t fully gotten over, left a series of questions for the team to address heading into the offseason.
The largest question was if Chris Mack would leave. Well, on March 27, that question was answered when Mack departed from Norwood for Louisville.
But, this is not an article to dwell on how much Xavier Nation will miss coach Mack and Bill Murray. This is an opportunity to look toward the future.
A future with The Steele Curtain, the new head coach of the Xavier Musketeers men’s basketball team.
The Steele Curtain, a mastermind of offensive play calling and a recruiting machine, is the perfect choice for this job. He has waited for this moment since he first arrived at Xavier in 2008, and now is his time.
Ever since being promoted to Associate Head Coach, The Steele Curtain has brought a lot to the table in terms of offense.
He has been regarded by the coaching staff as one of the top offensive minds in the program.
Now with him as head coach, Xavier fans can expect even more offense than seen in the past few years.
In addition to putting points on the scoreboard, The Steele Curtain has already begun to grab attention from graduate transfers and recruits from all across the country.
In the past, The Steele Curtain has been named one of the Big East’s top recruiters, according to Sporting News basketball magazine.
Along with that, current and former Xavier players have expressed their happiness with this hire. Players want to play for The Steele Curtain, it’s as simple as that.
I’ll leave you all with a tweet from The Steele Curtain himself. Back in 2014 during the NCAA National Championship, he tweeted, “I get goose bumps every year while watching this game.”
Pinnacle of college sports. One day Xavier will play in this game!”
The future is now, ladies and gentlemen. The Steele Curtain is descending, and he will lead us to the promised land.
By: John Buccigross ~Absolute Unit~