Chance Westry is a Xavier Musketeer

Feb 22, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; UAB Blazers guard Chance Westry (11) shoots the ball against the Memphis Tigers during the second half at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Wesley Hale-Imagn Images | Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

First the news:

Xavier had lost quite a bit in terms of perimeter presence with Malik Messina-Moore and Isaiah Walker having exhausted their eligibility and Roddie Anderson, All Wright, and Mier Panoam all entering the transfer portal. With the return of Gabriel Pozzato, and the additions of Kalek House, Tru Washington, and Reuben Dominguez, Xavier really only lacked a table setter and Westry represents one of the best ones available, ranking as the 6th best combo guard in the portal by 24/7. Westry’s career has been marked with no shortage of adversity, having begun as the 37th ranked prospect in the class of 2022, out of which Xavier recruited Kam Craft and Desmond Claude. Westry lost most of his freshman season after undergoing knee surgery and missing all of preseason, featuring just 11 times for Auburn that season. After transferring to Syracuse, Westry missed all of the next season with a separate leg injury which also required surgery, and made it back to feature just three times for the Orange the following season. After logging 115 total minutes in his first three years out of high school, Westry finally shook off the horrible injury luck that could so easily have claimed his aspirations of playing college basketball and put together a season at UAB that made him back into a hot commodity on the recruiting circuit this offseason, landing himself on the AAC’s All-Conference Second Team, following in the footsteps of Tre Carroll, and re-establishing himself as a impact talent that was ready to make the jump to the high major level.

What stands out about Westry on both the stat sheet and film is his ability to set his teammates up. His 5.5 assists per game (5.9 in conference play) were the best in the American and he managed an assist rate of 34.3, 33rd best in the country, with a turnover rate of just 13.6, the exact same as Malik Messina-Moore managed for Xavier lsat season. Beyond that Westry also managed 15.5 points per game largely off his ability to create for himself with just 25 of his 142 makes from inside the arc being assisted. He was not overly reliant on the three, shooting only about a quarter of his shots from deep, and didn’t shoot it particularly well at 24%, but did take 188 free throws last season, 71 more than any Xavier player did, and converted 71% of those. With the ability to stretch the floor Milicevic, Dominguez, and Washington have already displayed against college defenses, a player like Westry who can exploit driving lanes and set up shooters is a perfect compliment to give Richard Pitino and Xavier a greater ability to impose their playing style on the offensive end this season.

Xavier’s roster now stands at 11 including walk-on Henry Thole and the ingredients of a very good team are assembling. The addition of Westry further fuels the excitement Xavier fans should rightly feel about year two of the Pitino Era.