Coming into the season, expectations were that Federico Mussini would play off the ball at the shooting guard position with Marcus LoVett taking over the main ball handling duties as the lead guard. Instead, LoVett was ruled ineligible by the NCAA, forcing the Italian freshman, who was still adjusting to the speed of American basketball, to play heavy minutes while leading other inexperienced players against some high quality basketball teams.
Playing out of position and going head-to-head versus some of the best guards in the country (Kris Dunn, Isaiah Whitehead, Yogi Ferrell and Mo Watson), the 6'1" Mussini has progressed, taking his role in stride and has shown head coach Chris Mullin why he is an important building block for the next three seasons.