A new college basketball season is full of unknowns from how the rotation will come together, how the coach will scheme to get the best out of the offensive weapons at his disposal, whether or not your rival’s head coach will purchase a home on Hilton Head after he gets canned, and so on and so forth. How freshmen translate to the college game is one of the biggest and most difficult to answer because there have been countless examples of players predicted to blow through college on their way to the NBA who failed to get their feet under them in their freshman seasons alongside stories like Keaton Wagler of a player ranked well outside the top 100 who played himself straight into the NBA lottery in one season.
Kalek House comes to Xavier having been ranked as a four star prospect across the board, with class rankings falling between 68th and 114th. His upside is based on his shooting ability and defensive instincts, the latter of which will be what likely gets him gametime early on in his Xavier career. House comes in with at least an intellectual understanding of the defensive philosophy Coach Pitino seeks to implement after his brother Jaelen starred under Pitino at New Mexico for three seasons, making a trio of appearances on the All-MWC team and two on the All-MWC Defensive team. That upside is what garnered House the attention of a host of programs including Kansas, Michigan, Creighton, and Arizona State before he settled on joining Pitino at Xavier. If he can provide an understudy to Tru Washington in leading the defense and develop his offensive game around the other weapons Xavier has this season, it is easy to see how a consistent spot in the rotation can be his.
In the exhibition games Xavier has player, House has logged the most minutes of any freshman with 22, all of which came in the first game against Dayton. He picked up an injury on his way to posting a line of 2/3/3 with a turnover and a steal and missed out against Tennessee and Kent State. He has been confirmed good to go for the season opener and will likely figure significantly into the backcourt mix off the bench. House might not be a guy who lights it up on the offensive end initially, but as he comes to grips with the college game he can become a player Xavier can count on on the defensive end and give them another solid spot up option on offense.