Collin Gillespie knew his time was coming.
After last season saw the departures of four Villanova icons in Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo and Omari Spellman for the NBA, the only ones left to mind the store were seniors Phil Booth and Eric Paschall. And Villanova, it was reasoned, would go as far as that senior duo could carry a young Wildcats team.
And while Booth and Paschall have been everything Villanova could want - savvy players on the court, brilliant leaders on and off of it - the gnawing question surrounding the defending national champions was this: Who else was going to step in and fill the void and help keep Villanova, well, Villanova?
There was no clear-cut answer to that question coming into the season and many college hoop mavens expected a solid, but not spectacular, Wildcats team this season.
But this is Villanova we’re talking about. Winners of four of the five regular-season titles since the league reformed. Winners of three of the past four BIG EAST Tournament titles. A team that has posted a league mark of 87-13 the past four-plus seasons, including Wednesday night’s overtime thriller over Creighton. A team that last lost a BIG EAST regular-season game on Feb. 24, 2018, in another overtime thriller against Creighton.
So you just knew someone was going to step forward and fill the role of able sidekick to Booth and Paschall, the one who will be anointed the next leader of a Villanova program that never rebuilds but reloads.
That someone is Philly’s own Collin Gillespie.
The 6-3 sophomore guard has transformed himself from a bit role player who averaged 4.3 points a game last season into “the next big thing” at Villanova. This season Gillespie is third behind Booth (18.3 ppg.) and Paschall (17.3) in scoring at 12.1 a game, second in made three pointers (51), tops in three-point percentage (41.8%), first in steals (26), second in assists (65) and is an 83% free throw shooter. Yeah, that’s tops on the team as well.
We don’t know how Villanova head coach Jay Wright keeps finding top-shelf backcourt talent year in and year out. But he has found another one in Gillespie.
“Over the summer I was working on my all-around game and working on being a leader, knowing the group we had was young,” Gillespie said. “We were going to need guys who could step up this season so I was open to accepting that role and I tried to prepare as best as I could.”
Gillespie said he didn’t need any sit down with Wright prior to the season, no heart-to-heart about what his coach expected from him this season. Gillespie already knew what his job would entail.
“He just expects us all to work hard,” Gillespie said.
But how does a program that loses four studs to the NBA and, outside of Booth and Paschall, lists four freshmen and three sophomores among its next eight leading scorers, still thrive in the BIG EAST?
“I just think it’s the culture the guys who were here before built and we’re continuing to build,” said Gillespie, who poured in a career-high 30 points in a win over Georgetown last Sunday. “Our main thing is playing hard every game no matter who we have on the court. It’s a younger team this year but we’re sticking to our core values of defending and rebounding and playing for our teammates and coaches. As long as we do that we’ll be fine.”
Yes, Villanova seems to be just fine, thank you, The Wildcats are currently riding the crest of an 11-game winning streak (their last loss came at Kansas on Dec. 15) and at 10-0 in conference play are the lone unbeaten team in the BIG EAST. The scary part, at least for Villanova’s opponents, is Gillespie still has lots of room to grow, he says.
“I definitely always want to grow defensively,” said Gillespie, who is coming off a 13-point, six-assist outing in the Wildcats’ overtime win over Creighton Wednesday. “I feel like I can get better every time I step on the floor, whether it’s off-the-ball or on-the-ball defense or communicating with my teammates. But I’m really just trying to grow as a leader. We have two seniors this year so next year we’re going to be even younger. So I’m just trying to learn from our seniors this year and try to grow as much as possible and learn from what they’re doing.”
Since arriving at Villanova last season, Gillespie has been like a sponge, absorbing all he can from past and present greats, taking a little from here and a little from there along the way and making it his own.
“I talk to Phil and E (Paschall) a lot but even last year, just watching how those leaders acted on and off the court, whether it was Jalen, Mikal or even Phil last year as a captain or Donte, I learned a lot,” Gillespie said. “Those guys were all great leaders for our program and I’m just trying to take from what they’ve done, from being leaders on those teams, and try to make that into how I’m becoming a leader now.”
Brunson, Bridges, DiVincenzo, Booth, Paschall, Josh Hart, Ryan Arcidiacono, Kris Jenkins. The list of iconic Villanova players goes on and on. And with two-plus years left of his career on the Main Line, it’s Gillespie’s hope to see his name listed with the Villanova elite one day.
“That’s always a goal I had,” Gillespie said. “As a guard here at Villanova you want to be able to lead your team to a championship and make sure we’re playing Villanova basketball everyday. That’s really my main goal, make sure we’re playing Villanova basketball, defending and rebounding, and we’ll live with the outcome. I definitely want to become the best player I can be. I’m trying to grow everyday with my game on the court and being a leader on and off the court as well.”
Yes, life is good for the kid from Philly. Nothing like building a legacy in your own backyard.
“I think that’s one of the main reasons I chose Villanova two years ago, because I got to stay close to home,” Gillespie said. “My family gets to come see me, my coaches from high school, all the people I grew up with can come see me play. It was important to be close to home for me when I was choosing a school. It’s been really fun and I’m enjoying it.”