(Xavier Athletics Photo)
With a junior season he would like to put in the rearview mirror behind him, Kyky Tandy announced on social media this week that he was returning to Xavier to play for new coach Sean Miller.
The University Heights Academy alum and Big East Conference All-Freshman selection only played in five games in 2021-22. He scored a career-high 24 points against Toledo on Nov. 27 after hitting a career-best six 3-pointers against Oakland two days prior. It still only meant six minutes a game through the first five games of the season. Tandy suffered a season-ending leg injury shortly after that required surgery.
Xavier parted ways with coach Travis Steele, who had publicly bemoaned the defense of his shooting guard that topped 3,300 points in high school. For reasons unclear to several Xavier insiders, Tandy had trouble breaking into Steele’s rotation.
Tandy averaged 18 minutes a game as a freshman and showed flashes of being a mainstay in the Xavier lineup. But after that season, Steele brought in two shooting guards vis transfer and Tandy saw his minutes slip to 14 a game as a sophomore. He still shot 35-percent from 3-point range in each of his first two seasons and has more assists than turnovers for his career. It still never translated to more playing time.
The Musketeers won the NIT after parting ways with Steele early in the tournament and brought back Miller, who coached at Xavier from 2004-09 before moving on to Arizona. Miller is known to like having shooting guards on his roster and that may be one of the main reasons for Tandy staying at the Cincinnati school.
Tandy was observed to be very engaged from the bench in Xavier’s NIT championship run, with emotion something Tandy isn’t necessarily known for. He’s hoping that engagement and a second chance under Miller will allow him to finish his Xavier career on a high and productive note.
Run it back 😊 pic.twitter.com/yhzwIJ4shV
— kyky (@kykytandy) April 6, 2022
