Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Fans celebrate title fruit of Villanova ‘vine’
RADNOR » It was 40 mostly dominant minutes of basketball Monday that earned Villanova its second NCAA Tournament basketball championship in three years, a feat realized by just three other programs since 1975.
It was 31 points from the Big Ragu, Donte DiVincenzo, and Jay Wright’s X’s and O’s, including the decision to apply strategic full-court pressure on an already gassed Michigan backcourt in the second half, that enabled the Wildcats to be the last ones standing in the 68-team field.
Leave it to Wright at the welcome home party Tuesday to praise the team chaplain for the Easter homily that helped make a difference in the 79-62 decision over Michigan at San Antonio. The sermon was about staying on the vine. If it’s like the lecture in the bible, basically you have to stay connected to it to have the best chance to bear fruit. Leave it and you could perish.
The message is apropos for a small handful of Wildcat players who could soon leave the college basketball vine for the NBA. No one had to remind Mikal Bridges or Jalen Brunson, who have eligibility remaining, how much Villanova fans want them to return and defend their championship. But they did, anyway, serenading the captains with “one more year, one more year!” when each stepped up to the microphone at the Jake Nevin Field House.
Well, is it going to be one more year?
“Uh, I’m just about our guys right now,” Bridges said. “I’m not even thinking about that. I’m enjoying this with my guys, getting ready for the parade Thursday. It’s cool. It’s a lot of love from Nova Nation. It’s a great feeling. It was a great year. It was fun, and we came out on top.”
Let the record show that Brunson also passed on the opportunity to say if he would return. Had either guy said they would stick around, it would have triggered mass hysteria. Maybe not like the Villanova crowd that rushed Lancaster Avenue immediately after the victory over the Wolverines in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. The celebratory bonfires, thankfully, were out. The campus was back to normal.
Then again, Wildcats fans are diehard fans. One of the newest, freshman Emily Markley, a business major out of Cardinal O’Hara, certainly enjoys being part of a Nova Nation celebrating another title.
“I was in the Connolly Center with all my friends watching the game,” Markley said. “It was great. It was awesome. We were so hyped. The doors opened at 7. We were there at like 6 waiting to get in. And then of course the game didn’t start until like 9:20. It was fun just hanging out before the game and having fun.”
It might be a while before Markley and her buds are on a firstname basis with the basketball players. But it’s just plain cool to be in the same lunch line or waiting on the corner with them for the traffic light to turn green.
“Personally, I like Donte DiVincenzo,” Markley said. “He’s my favorite, and he played a great game last night.”
DiVincenzo was the Final Four’s most outstanding player. Brunson, who didn’t have his best game of the tournament, previously had pulled down almost every meaningful player of the year award.
Brunson is on track to graduate in this, his third year. There’s not much more he can do. He also noticed the crowd’s demand that he stick around.
“That’s honestly the last thing on my mind because I just want to enjoy this with my teammates right now and really focus on that later,” Brunson said. “I’m just so thankful I have these guys. I just want to cherish this moment. Nova Nation is great. They’ve always been great. They’ve always had our backs and they travel well. It’s just a great, great fan base and a great community to be a part of.”
Wright called Brunson the “blood and guts” of the Wildcats. He also knows that if either he or Bridges has the chance to be a high draft pick and see their NBA dreams realized, then they have to do what’s best for them as players and individuals.
The coach described Phil Booth, who battled back from injuries, the team’s “heart and soul.” Booth will return next year. He was introspective when asked what it was like to be a part of two championship homecomings in three years.
“Blessed, man,” Booth said. “All this stuff, this team, that’s just how special this group was. It gives you jitters inside to feel the excitement with the fans. I felt it when I walked out here. It’s just reliving the feeling.”
Like Nova Nation, Booth heard the “one more year” shouts. And he smiled.
“Because that’s just how good those two players are,” Booth said. “We’re talking about them leaving. That’s how good they are. The crowd is just playing to what they see. I don’t know what those two guys are going to do. They’re going to get with their families and make the best decision for them. Right now, they’re all about this championship and Villanova basketball.”
For now, Bridges and Brunson are part of the Wildcat vine. The championship end of it will live forever. At the same time, there’s another challenge ahead, and to reach for it the guys have got to separate from each other and their championship comfort zone.
Until then, they have the parade.
And Nova Nation has, roughly, 347 more days until the next Selection Sunday.