The wildly successful run of "The Three Musketeers" ended with a 76-57 loss to UCLA in the 2008 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.

The loss -- just one win shy of the Final Four -- marked the conclusion of the great college careers of Drew Lavender, Stanley Burrell and Josh Duncan. The trio hit countless big shots and provided unselfish leadership to a squad that went 30-7 this season. All three likely have pro ball in their future -- with Duncan, because of his uncanny outside shooting skill for a guy his size -- being the best NBA prospect.

What is their legacy?

"They led Xavier to a place they hadn't been to before but once," Burrell said on the podium after the UCLA loss. "They sacrificed for the betterment of the team. They led their team the right way. They understood team was more important than individuals. That's it."

Xavier's unselfish nature was personified by its senior guards Lavender -- an Oklahoma transfer who was a blur with the ball in his hands -- and Burrell, a 6-3 senior fully capable of being one of the A-10's top scorers but who was more interested in being a shut-down defender. That unselfishness paid dividends as Xavier boasted a balanced scoring attack with six players averaging between 9.7 ppg and 12.4 ppg.

The graduation losses of Lavender, Burrell and Duncan really smart, but Xavier has a number of key performers back (most notably, double-figure scorers Derrick Brown and C.J. Anderson and B.J. Raymond), welcomes the best recruiting class in the Atlantic 10 and has the league's best facility -- ensuring that the program's best days can still be ahead.

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