ESPN called it dead. Jay Bilas said it did not exist. For the latest incarnation of the Big East to grow and thrive after 2013, it needed to compete in the lifeblood of the sport: recruiting. The arrival of Trevon Bluiett in 2014 was the first of many top recruits to the new generation of Big East basketball.

Bluiett was one of just three top 40 recruits by Big East teams in 2013-14, but the most productive at a college level. The son of parents which each served in the U.S. Marines, Bluiett was a three time state champion at the high school level. He signed with UCLA in June 2013 following a junior season where he averaged 27.8 points per game. By October, however, he decommitted from UCLA, citing the the distance from his family in Indiana. In a season where he averaged 35.7 points and 11.4 rebounds a game, Bluiett's subsequent commitment with Xavier was a big deal at the school, whose exposure with Top 50 recruits was limited before joining the Big East.

Bluiett was a factor from his opening game in Xavier blue, scoring 18 points in the season opener versus Northern Arizona en route to an 11.0 points per game average and a place on the Big East All-Freshman team. By his sophomore year, he became the first Xavier player named to an All-America team in Xavier's Big East era, leading the Musketeers in scoring en route to a 26-4 regular season and a #2 seed in the Big East tournament, where they fell to eventual champion Seton Hall in the semifinals.

Over his final two seasons, Bluiett may have been the best player in the conference not playing at Villanova. he was a first team All-Big East selection as a junior, with 19 of his 34 games that season with 20 or more points. But with the loss of six players from the 2015-16 team, Xavier struggled at key points of the season, dropping four of five in January, including a 86-78 loss to cross town rival Cincinnati despite 40 by Bluiett.

A 19-12 record and a 9-9 finish in Big East play put the 2016-17 Musketeers on the NCAA bubble, but Bluiett led the team back to the semifinals a second straight season, where they fell late to Creighton, 75-72. An 11 seed in the NCAA tournament, Bluiett averaged 25 points a game in three games leading into the Final Eight, falling to #1 seed Gonzaga.

As a senior, Bluiett took the Musketeers to new heights, resulting in Xavier's first ever Big East regular season title. At one point he scored in double figures in 36 straight games over two seasons, a streak broken in a 89-65 loss at Villanova. From that point in the season, Xavier won 12 of 13 to close the regular season 15-3 in the Big East and 27-4 overall. Bluiett's best game was against Seton Hall, a 37 point game with eight threes and a 13-13 mark at the line. No less impressive was his 31 points versus Georgetown ten days earlier, where Bluiett hit a three pointer at the buzzer to end the first half and a four point play to send the game into overtime.

As great as these Xavier teams were, they could never reach the pinnacle of the Big East tournament. The top seed in the 2018 tournament, Xavier was halted for a third straight season in the semifinals, but still finished a program-record #3 ranking in the Associated Press poll and a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Xavier was bounced in the second round by Florida State, losing a 12 point lead and scoring four points in the final 5:08 of the game. Riddled with foul problems, Bluiett ended his college career with just eight points in the game.

For his career, Trevon Bluiett became the 13th player in Big East history to be named to the first team three straight seasons, with thee straight All-Tournament selections despite never having played for a tournament title. Named second team All-America as a senior, he finished his career second at Xavier all time in scoring and 11th all time in rebounding. His 142 game career is also a school record.

Despite the accolades, a 23 year old 6-6 forward is not a position of strength in the NBA draft, and Bluiett was not selected. "Four-year players are perceived to have less upside," said ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla. "There's an idea that they have less room to grow."

After an abbreviated season in the G-league, Bluiett was waived by the New Orleans Jazz in October 2019.