Villanova's Jalen Brunson Is the Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year
It’s been five seasons now since the new-and-improved BIG EAST Conference was unveiled. The previous four years have seen Villanova not only named the BIG EAST preseason top pick but has also seen the Wildcats go on to win four straight regular-season titles -- a league record.
During their four-year reign in the conference, the Wildcats have posted a superlative 63-9 conference record and a stunning 129-17 overall mark that has included three straight 30-plus win seasons and, oh yeah, that National Championship two seasons ago.
So what’s new in Season 5 in “As the BIG EAST Turns?” Not much. It’s sort of like “Groundhog Day,” as the Wildcats were once again anointed as the team to beat in the conference again.
Not bad for a team that not only lost its heart to graduation in Josh Hart, but its soul as well in Kris Jenkins, national championship game hero.
So what does Villanova have to do this season to extend its string of penthouse finishes?
“We still got some guys that have to prove themselves,” Villanova head coach Jay Wright said. “Mikal (Bridges), Jalen (Brunson) and Phil (Booth), they’ve been around, they’ve proved themselves. I think Donte DiVincenzo and Eric Paschall are ready to come on the scene. But (freshman) Omari (Spellman) has got to prove himself. The freshmen have to prove themselves. So we still got a lot of work to do and we, as a team, got to prove we’re worthy of some of the accolades we’re getting preseason.”
Let’s start with Brunson, the Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year who is entering his junior season. Brunson averaged 14.7 points last season to go along with 4.1 assists, good for second in the BIG EAST. But now on a team with no senior contributors, Wright will be leaning heavily on his talented point guard, more so than he has done in the past couple of seasons.
“He’s one of the few guys that ever came in as a freshman and knew how to play and was humble and realized that, even though he was a McDonald’s All-American, it wasn’t his team and he took a complimentary role to allow the team to be successful, which is rare for a freshman,” Wright said. “So when you start that way you have great respect from your teammates and that just rolled into him being a natural leader. And I do think he is one of the best point guards in the country. But I think we have some great point guards in this conference so he’s going to get tested in the league this year probably more than in our non-conference games. But I think we’re very fortunate to have a mature, very-talented player and a pretty humble guy.”
Junior Mikal Bridges is the only other returning starter but he’s a keeper after he shared BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honors. He’ll be joined by sophomore guard Donte DiVincenzo and junior forward Eric Paschall, who each logged quality minutes in reserve roles last season. No Hart and no Jenkins? No problem, according to Brunson.
“We have a good bunch of leaders, and not just the captains but also Donte DiVincenzo and Eric Paschall are definitely doing a great job of leading,” Brunson said. “And getting Phil back is great. I’m excited to see him back on the court. (Booth missed most of last season due to a knee injury). I’m definitely excited and we definitely have the potential to be a really good team. But we just have to keep going day-by-day. We can’t look ahead, we just have to focus on the now.”
Wright is happy to have Booth, who scored 20 points in the 2016 national title game win over North Carolina, back healthy this season.
“I love it. As talented as he is, he’s a guy on our team who is very well liked by his teammates and very well respected,” Wright said. “He’s a great student, a great teammate and an unselfish guy so his leadership is just as important as his talent.”
Speaking of talent, the Wildcats will get a big influx of it up front this season in the form 6-9, 260-pound freshman Omari Spellman. He missed last season due to an NCAA ruling, but now Wright can’t wait to see what he can give the Wildcats on a nightly basis.
“He’s a coachable, humble kid who is talented and in great shape,” Wright said. “But he’s still a freshman. He’s a good one, though. But he’s going to learn a lot in this league and it will be interesting to see how he can grow through the year.”
Wright said Spellman used his sit-out year to get himself in better shape for the rigors of the BIG EAST.
“He came in talented but not well conditioned and he used last year to really get in great shape,” Wright said. “And you can tell a big difference in his game this year because of his conditioning and his weight loss. He’s able to use all of his abilities. It was kind of like Kris Jenkins. When Kris Jenkins got himself in shape he became a hell of a player and I’m hoping Omari can do the same thing.”
One season after winning it all, Villanova failed to make it out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament last year when the Wildcats went down to Wisconsin. So is there a matter of unfinished business motivating Villanova coming into this season?
“No, we don’t look at it as unfinished business,” Wright said. “We look at it as a great new opportunity, a new season. We look at the next year to prove ourselves all over again.”
Which might mean another “Groundhog Day” scenario for the Wildcats and the BIG EAST.