Anyone who has gone somewhere new in life, whether through changing jobs, graduating and moving into a new level of education, ore just changing locations, knows it is important to put your best foot forward and make a good first impression. For Gabriel Pozzato, that chance should have been November 3, 2025 when Xavier took on Marist to open their season. Fresh off an impressive Freshman campaign at Evansville, Pozzato committed to Xavier and was ranked as the top acquisition of last summer’s transfer haul. Unfortunately, Pozzato’s chance at that first impression, and indeed his entire 2025-26 season, was taken from him by a torn meniscus which led to him taking a medical redshirt. As much of the roster scattered to the four winds in the transfer portal, Pozzato opted to stick around and give it another go at Xavier hoping this time to be able to make his long awaited debut and show Musketeers fans what he can do.
Pozzato was highly regarded in the portal because of his positional size and explosiveness. Pozzato works on the perimeter as an off ball guard, but his 6’7” frame gives him a height advantage against many of the opponents who end up guarding him. Couple that with an ability to get to the rim and elevate that makes his highlight tapes truly a marvel to behold and you have a player who profiles as someone who can make an impact, especially if he is surrounded with capable shooters. Pozzato converted on 67% of his attempts at the rim at Evansville, for comparison his fellow 6’7” 2025 Xavier transfer Tre Carroll clocked in at 60% in his final season at FAU (he improved to 64% with X). Before we jump straight to the conclusion that Pozzato will replicate Carroll’s First Team All-Big East performance from a year ago, there are obvious differences in their profiles as well. Pozzato doesn’t contribute on the boards or block shots as consistently as Carroll does and is not nearly as prone or adept at shooting from the midrange. Pozzato attempted roughly the same number of threes in 23 games at Evansville (134) that Carroll did last season at Xavier (135) and shot 31% on them. Still, there is reason to think that his impressive numbers at the rim can translate from the MVC to the Big East and the things that made him such a strong player for Evansville can suit him to succeed at X as well.
The big question with Pozzato is where he is health wise. He missed seven games as a Freshman to a back injury, lost last season to the torn meniscus, and had a separate injury sideline him from summer workouts before this season. With all that being said, he did log 12 minutes against Dayton, scoring 5 points on a perfect 2-2 from the floor, before pacing Xavier with 9 in the first half against Tennessee and ending that game with a line of 11/5/2 with 4 steals in 25 minutes. If the issues are behind him he has every chance this year to provide Xavier with a scoring punch and a high level athletic presence in their well stocked backcourt.