Brunson leads Villanova into new season
RADNOR » The euphoria of winning the 2016 national championship has finally worn off for the Villanova Wildcats.
“It seems like business as usual around here, within the team and everywhere else,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “I always say, that’s the beauty of Philly. We’re back to being one of six teams in the city.”
Not quite. The expectations are still high. No other team in the city is 129-15 over the last four seasons, has won at least 30 games three years in a row and has claimed four straight conference regular-season titles, two league tournament crowns, a national title and gone 146 games without back-to-back losses.
That’s as good a resume as any program in the country and one of the reasons why the Wildcats are ranked No. 6 in both polls heading into Friday’s season opener against Columbia at the Wells Fargo Center (8:30 p.m.). Wright, though, isn’t complaining. “It was good when we were national champions,” Wright said, “but this is more relaxing.”
Not having the label of defending national champions isn’t the only difference as the Wildcats head into the season. Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds are gone. They were the heart and soul of the team last year and key cogs on the national championship squad. Hart was the Big East Player of the Year, a first-team All-America and firstround draft pick. Jenkins hit the winning shot in the national championship game, and Reynolds was the kind of grinder that every team needs to be successful.
They’re not easy players to replace, but Wright does have a solid cast of returnees, led by point guard Jalen Brunson, to ease the pain.
Wright has something else that sets this team apart from last year’s squad: The Wildcats are bigger and deeper.
The Wildcats played without prized recruit Omari Spellman (academic redshirt) and guard Phil Booth (knee) for much of the season.
Spellman is eligible, and Booth is healthy, to go with returnees like Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Eric Paschall, Donte DiVincenzo, Tim Delaney and Dylan Painter. Add in freshmen Jermaine Samuels, Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree (Neumann-Goretti) and Collin Gillespie (Archbishop Wood), and Wright has 11 scholarship players at his disposal.
“We only had seven guys last year,” Wright said. “We couldn’t play our usual fast-tempo, aggressive play due to our limited depth. But our depth this year will give us the chance to press more the way we want to, play faster like we want to, and lets us be more aggressive on defense. We hope to be more aggressive overall this year, too.”
Brunson is the man this year. The 6-3 lefty was selected as the preseason Player of the Year in the Big East and a first-team preseason All-America by the Associated Press. As a junior, Brunson averaged 14.7 points and 4.1 assists per game, and shot 54 percent from the field, an astonishing figure for a point guard. He was an All-Big East pick and one of five finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, which goes to the top point guard in the country.
“My number one goal is to be the best captain I can be,” Brunson said. “I’ve been preparing myself for this role the past couple years, and it’s something I’m ready for. I’m excited for this opportunity to be the leader of this team and the leader of this program first.”
Having Booth back is huge. He was the leading scorer in the national championship game with 20 points and is terrific in oneon-one offensive situations. Booth is also an outstanding defender. His value to the team, though, goes far beyond his skills as a player.
The 6-7 Bridges earned co-Defensive Player of the Year honors in the Big East last year, with Hart and Khyri Thomas of Creighton. Wright would like to see him become a little more aggressive on the offensive end. The NBA scouts already like what they see. The junior swingman is projected as a firstround pick in several mock drafts.
“I don’t pay any attention to it,” Bridges said. “We’re in the season now, so all we focus on is the other guys on this team and our mission.”
That mission is to win the Big East title again and make the NCAA tournament. The pieces are there. Brunson, Booth and Bridges played in the national championship game. Spellman gives the Wildcats more size. Paschall and DiVincenzo are proven players at the college level.
It all adds up to another year of high expectations.
“We still have to go out and prove it,” Wright said.