Travis Steele looked beleaguered a week ago. Xavier had just somehow snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against DePaul, gone to 11-13, and left their coach standing on the sideline looking, just for a moment, like a man adrift.
Fast forward exactly a week and Travis Steele is a whirling ball of frenetically clapping energy as his team roars past Providence in a packed, but still, Dunkin Donuts Center to cap a week of two desperately needed wins. Today, Steele looked the man Xavier’s athletic department was happy to give the job until Tom Izzo leaves MSU and Steele goes there.