Knee pain behind him, Booth is raring to go
RADNOR » Phil Booth smiled and insisted his twice surgically repaired left knee was just fine. The bags of ice wrapped around both wheels after Villanova held its first practice of the season Friday were part of the maintenance program he undergoes on a daily basis to stay healthy.
The 6-3 redshirt junior does not want to go through another season like last year, where pain in the left knee sidelined him for the year after three games and ultimately led to a second surgical procedure in June.
“I’m 100 percent healthy. I’m getting my athleticism back and my rhythm back for the game,” Booth said. “I feel comfortable again. It feels good to be playing out there with no pain and worrying about the knee.”
It’s the first time in two years that Booth has been pain free. He hid the discomfort from the coaches and training staff during Villanova’s national championship run in 2016, which ultimately led to the first surgical procedure a month after the Wildcats won the national title.
The pain returned last November and that’s when Jay Wright decided to keep him out of practice and games until Booth was pain free, which never happened. Booth was eventually shut down for the year right before the NCAA Tournament.
“We were slow and just taking it really I think it paid off,” Wright said. It did. “It feels good to be back with the team, playing with the guys,” Booth said. “Sitting out for a year you miss the game a lot so it’s fun to be back out there.”
And Wright is glad to have Booth back. Some people forget that Booth was the leading scorer in the national championship game with 20 points. And he did that while playing on a bum knee. Imagine what he’s capable of doing when healthy.
“I’m so excited because he looks bouncier than he ever has,” said Wright, whose team finished 32-4 a year ago. “You can see that he just has confidence in his knee. He just looks real healthy, stronger so I’m excited for him.”
Booth, along with guard Jalen Brunson and forward Mikal Bridges, is one of the players being counted on to fill the leadership void left by the graduations of Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds, the winningest class in Villanova history, which is no easy task.
That group averaged over 32 wins a year, won four straight Big East regular-season titles, two Big East Tournament crowns and a national championship.
This is a different group. It’s the first time since the 2011-12 season that Wright does not have a senior in the rotation. It is, though, a young team with experience. Booth, Bridges and forward Eric Paschall are four-year college players. Brunson is a junior who has played like an upper classman since the day he stepped on campus. Guard Donte DiVincenzo and forward Tim Delaney have been in the program for three years. And then there is forward Omari Spellman, who sat out last season as an academic redshirt. Although he did not play in any games, he was able to work out with the team so this is his second year in the program. Ditto for sophomore forward Dylan Painter.
“It’s strange that we don’t have any true seniors but we have a lot of leadership on this team, a lot of guys who have been around,” Booth said. “Eric’s in his fourth year of college basketball. Donte’s in his third year so we have some guys who have been around. In a way, it’s an older team if you look at it like that.”
The biggest difference is that Villanova is not coming off of a national championship like it did a year ago.
“It just feels like we’re another team,” Wright said. “I’d rather be coming off a national championship, but there’s a side of it that’s enjoyable, too. We have to prove ourselves all over again.”
One factor that drives the Wildcats is the way the season ended. Villanova finished No. 1 in the final Associated Press top 25 and was the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, only to be eliminated on the first weekend for the fourth time in the last five years.
“It makes you more hungry coming back this year,” Booth said. “We have a brand new team and it’s good to see how well we perform as a team this year. We are definitely hungry this year and we have a very motivated team that is eager to start the year so we are all trying to get better now before the season begins.”
The Nov. 10 opener against Columbia will be here before you know it. Booth can’t wait for that day to arrive.
“Sitting out, not being able to play, wearing a suit every game was frustrating at times and it also gave me a different perspective of the game,” Booth said. “But it’s definitely something I would not want to do again.”