Last year was just another chapter in the “Same Old Villanova Story.”
The Wildcats posted 13 conference wins, won 25-plus games for a sixth consecutive season, won the BIG EAST regular-season crown for the fifth time in the past six seasons, captured the BIG EAST Tournament title for the fourth time in the last five years and saw head coach Jay Wright be named the conference’s coach of the year.
So a lot of the same is expected for the Wildcats in 2019-20.
But what’s this? The Wildcats were not even picked first in the Preseason BIG EAST Coaches’ Poll? The Wildcats are
always first in the preseason coaches’ poll. That’s not hyperbole, they actually always are. Villanova should demand a recount. There must be a kind of horrible mistake.
Nope, no mistake, as Nova was edged by the slimmest of margins, 77-76, by Seton Hall. Guess that’s the price Villanova pays for seeing program cornerstones Phil Booth and Eric Paschall graduate.
Well, this is sure to rile up the Wildcats this season. Just what the BIG EAST needed, a motivated Villanova. So do the Wildcats take this as a slight against their mighty program?
“Not necessarily,” said 6-7 junior Jermaine Samuels. “Everyone has to prove themselves every year no matter where you are in the rankings. So we’re just focused on being the best team at the end of the year.”
But surely this will lead to some bad blood between the Wildcats and Seton Hall this season. How can it not?
“Seton Hall is a great team so they deserve to be tops in the preseason poll,” Samuels said. “We’re just focused on us and being the best team we can be.”
As you can see, there is not much that fazes Villanova. Not the departures of Booth and Paschall. Not being picked as top dogs in the preseason poll for the first time. Nothing. They just go forward with their usual mantra:
“We’re just concerned with being the best Villanova basketball team we can be,” said junior Collin Gillespie.
And this time around it will be Gillespie and Samuels who will be charged with leading a young Villanova roster that is without any seniors but does have a combined nine freshmen and sophomores. So leadership will be every bit as important as scoring and rebounding for the Wildcats’ old sages, Gillespie and Samuels.
“I’d say the biggest challenge is focusing on getting everyone on the same page,” Samuels said. “Understanding what’s going on and executing. As a leader that can be challenging sometimes, getting everyone into one mindset. But I’m embracing it and learning how to do it and trying to get better at it. But I love it. I haven’t had an opportunity like this since high school.”
The whole leadership thing might come easier for Gillespie, who feels his basketball life as a point guard has readied him for this season’s new role.
“I’m comfortable with it,” said Gillespie, who was third on the team in scoring last season (10.9 ppg.) while his 97 assists placed him second to Booth’s 137. “I’m accepting the role but I feel like I’ve been a leader my whole life, just being in the position I’m in. But I learned a lot from Phil and Eric last year and Jalen (Brunson) in my freshman year being behind him. So I just take bits and pieces from all of them.”
Both Gillespie and Samuels will have a wide array of young talent which to mentor in the upcoming season, beginning with the uber-talented freshman recruiting class Wright brought in.
Eric Dixon, a 6-8, 270-pound forward, was the first commit of the class. Dixon averaged 27.6 points last year as a senior at Abington High School and was named the Pennsylvania Player of the Year by USA Today. He was also the first player in Abington history to top 2,000 career points.
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is a 6-9, 232-pounder from Kansas who was ranked as the No. 34 recruit nationally by ESPN and who chose the Wildcats over Kansas, North Carolina and Notre Dame. Ryan Arcidiacono’s little brother, Chris, a 6-4 guard from the Perkiomen (Pa.) School where he averaged 20 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists, is also coming as is the super-talented Bryan Antoine, who will not be ready for game action until December after off-season shoulder surgery.
That’s a lot of newbies to indoctrinate into the Villanova Way.
“I think (Wright) will be leaning on us a lot,” Samuels said of him and Gillespie. “We’re the foundation of the program and we’ve been in it for a long time. So we have to set the example and pave the way in order to be a great team.”
Of course not everyone will be new. Outside of Gillespie and Samuels, the Wildcats return Saddiq Bey, who averaged 8.2 points as a freshman last season, Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, who chipped in with 5.1 points and 5.8 rebounds and reserves Brandon Slater and Cole Swider.
So who might Samuels think is poised for a breakout season?
“I think Brandon Slater,” Samuels said. “I think a lot of people are going to be surprised by his ability to play defense, his scoring ability and his ability to be disruptive on both ends of the floor.”
But with so much youth, and no seniors, where does Samuels see Nova fitting in in the BIG EAST this season?
“I think the league is going to be very, very competitive this year,” Samuels said. “It’s just a matter of who is going to step up and who is going to have the big games. I think it’s going to be really interesting. But we learned from Phil and Eric what it takes to win. It’s not about hitting big shots, it’s not about making the big play. It’s more about the little things. Doing the things that we know how to do in order to win games.”
Or in other words, The Villanova Way.