It’s been four years since Eric Paschall was faced with making The Decision.
Paschall, a native of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., was just coming off a stellar freshman season at Fordham University which saw him average 15.9 points a game and be named the Atlattic 10 Rookie of the Year.
But then his coach Tom Pecora was let go by the university following that season and with the Rams, who had struggled mightily in the A-10 since joining its ranks in 1995, looking at yet another change in leadership, Paschall felt it was time to move on.
So when word circulated among basketball circles that Paschall was on the move, many schools came calling. But one school in particular, one familiar with his elite game, was at the top of Paschall’s wish list. The Villanova Wildcats.
“They were one of the first teams to recruit me out of high school,” said the 6-8, 255-pound Paschall. “They were recruiting me a few days before I committed to Fordham so I’ve always had a connection to them. (Former Villanova assistant) Coach (Baker) Dunleavy recruited me and when I was transferring they were one of the first schools to call me. I just really liked the school. It was close to home and they had great academics, so it was just great.”
Since his arrival at Villanova, all the Wildcats have achieved is winning two BIG EAST tournament titles, one regular-season championship and, oh, a National Championship, all since Paschall became eligible at the start the 2016-17 season. During that span Villanova posted a 68-8 overall record and a 29-7 BIG EAST mark. On the other hand Fordham, in the three seasons since Paschall’s departure, has logged a 39-55 overall mark and just a 19-35 record in the A-10.
Turns out it was a no-brainer decision for Paschall.
“I would definitely say it was the best decision I’ve made,” said Paschall, who is averaging a career-best 15.8 points a game for the 6-2 Wildcats. (Fordham) seems like a while ago. It was four years ago in my freshman year and now I’m in my fifth year of school. So it definitely seems like a while ago but it was good. I liked it a lot. But I definitely had more fun down in Philly. My time here hasn’t been too bad. Now this year I just want to keep it going, keep playing Villanova basketball “
Paschall arrived on the Main Line just in time to snag a front row seat and see Villanova win the 2016 National Championship over North Carolina, the school’s first since 1985. But it was a bittersweet experience for Paschall as he could not participate in the Wildcats’ title run during his transfer sitout season.
“Of course you want to go out there and play for a national championship,” Paschall said. “But it wasn’t too bad for me. I still got to be part of something special, something bigger than myself. I thought about that the whole time I was redshirting, that it’s a lot bigger than me so all I could do was be happy for my teammates and be glad to be part of a team like that.”
It was that experience that made last year’s title run, in which Paschall was a pivotal player, that much more enjoyable.
“The second time I really tried to take full advantage of it,” said Paschall, who lit up Kansas for 24 points in the national semifinals last year as he shot 10-of-11 from the field. “It was a lot of fun, actually. It was cool. We had a great group of guys and had great chemistry on and off the court and it turned out to be a special season.”
This year Paschall has taken on a new role as leader and mentor for a young Wildcats team and he plans on passing on the knowledge he has learned from predecessors like Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart.
“I know offensively I’m going to be the focal point of the other team’s scouting report this year so we just got to keep playing Villanova basketball,” Paschall said. “That’s my main job as a senior and a leader of this team. That’s what I try to do with Phil (Booth). We’re a very young team but even me and Phil could still grow. I definitely feel we can keep getting better as a group with me and Phil as leaders and showing the younger guys what to do. We can definitely all grow as a team.”
The Wildcats’ December schedule sees them facing four straight Big Five games with Temple up next Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. at Finneran Pavilion. That game will be followed by a home date with Saint Joseph’s on Saturday and a contest against Penn at the Palestra coming next Tuesday. The Wildcats knocked off LaSalle last Saturday, 85-78, in the first of the Big Five games. It’s a Philly rivalry previously unknown to Paschall that he has become particularly fond of in his time at Villanova.
“Before I came here I had not heard of it but being part of it is really cool,” said Paschall, who scored 27 points in the win over the Explorers. “There’s great atmosphere every game and there are good teams going at it so I really like it a lot.”
As a senior, Paschall knows that his Villanova career will be coming to an end this spring. So he said he’s trying to slow down the ride a bit and enjoy each game as it comes.
“I try to do that every game,” Paschall said. “I just go out there and give it my all. I don’t have much time left so I just have to make the best of it.”
So what would it mean for Paschall, in his final go-around, to lead a young and inexperienced Wildcats team to another strong BIG EAST season and a deep run in the NCAA Tournament?
“Of course that would be great, but I try not to focus on that,” Paschall said. “We’ll just try to be the best Villanova basketball team we can by the end of the year and see where that takes us. If that means a deep run, then it’s a deep run. If not, it’s not. But we’ll just try and be the best Villanova basketball team we can be.”