Donte DiVincenzo Impressed in First Day of NBA Draft Combine
DiVincenzo Shows Villanova's Winning Colors at NBA Draft Combine
By John Fanta
Donte DiVincenzo: “This Week at the Combine is a Testament to Jay Wright”
Villanova star credits the head coach for the four Wildcats at the NBA Draft Combine
CHICAGO -- It didn’t take long for college basketball’s national champions to start stirring up chatter from NBA general managers, coaches and scouts on Thursday at the NBA Draft Combine.
Just a few possessions into the first 5-on-5 action of the day, Omari Spellman knocked down a three for the gray team. Just seconds later, his Villanova teammate, Donte DiVincenzo, answered with a triple of his own. That was the first of two makes from beyond the arc for the “Big Ragu” in the first five minutes of scrimmage action. For the two Wildcats standouts, they have a decision to make on whether to enter the NBA Draft with an agent or return to Villanova. For the time being, though, it’s about living in the moment and discussing their futures with NBA executives. Joined by Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson, who both will enter the draft with an agent, “Villanova” is commonly heard throughout the Quest Multisport Complex.
“This week at the combine is a testament to Jay Wright and the powerhouse that he’s built,” said DiVincenzo. “He figures out a way to showcase the best out of each one of his players. When you think about us, we’ve got four guys here this week that all have first-round potential. And to think that we won a national championship, it just goes back to the culture of our program. We bring out the best in each other.”
Nobody’s been better at winning than the Wildcats, who have taken two out of the last three national championships.
“There’s no egos in our program,” said DiVincenzo. “We just put our heads down and win.”
Perhaps nobody showed the “no-ego” mentality that the Wildcats have more than DiVincenzo, who accepted his sixth-man role and pulled off history in the national championship victory over Michigan. He won the BIG EAST Sixth Man of the Year award.
Going off for 31 points in the win, DiVincenzo joined Bill Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players to score at least 30 points and shoot at least 66 percent from the field in the national title contest.
“The national title game was when the hype really sped up for me,” said DiVincenzo. “It really began to hit me during the NCAA Tournament that I may have this decision to make.”
Helping DiVincenzo along the way is his head coach.
“We have been talking every single day, and he could not be more helpful,” DiVincenzo said of Wright. “He’s told me to play the way that got me to this point.”
“He just keeps saying it to me - ‘be yourself.’”