Fordham transfer lights up Jayhawks
SAN ANTONIO — When Villanova was pursuing Eric Paschall, he didn’t ask about any individual expectations. The Fordham transfer, and Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year in 2014-15, didn’t care about personal statistics.
“When we recruited him, he said, ‘I want to be a part of a team. I want to be part of the family,’ ” Wildcats coach Jay Wright recalled. “He never said, I want to be the leading scorer, I want to get a certain number of shots.”
After spending his first two years on the floor with the Wildcats as a role player, the Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., native had his star turn Saturday night — in the biggest game of his young life.
The chiseled 6-foot-8 Paschall poured in 24 points on 10-of-11 shooting, leading the way in top-seeded Villanova’s 95-79 evisceration of fellow No. 1 Kansas in the national semifinals. He hit four of five 3-pointers, as the Wildcats set a Final Four record with 18 made 3s, and advanced to Monday night’s title game against third-seeded Michigan at the Alamodome.
“I’m just blessed,” Paschall said. “I have great people supporting me and I have great teammates. They allowed me to do what I did tonight.”
As a freshman at Fordham, Paschall averaged 15.9 points per game and took 13.3 shots a night. He was the guy for a losing team. At Villanova, he’s been a complimentary piece, often the third or fourth option, on what could be the national champions. His old coach, Tom Pecora, isn’t surprised by the metamorphosis.
“His personality is such, he’s just a giving kid,” Pecora, now an assistant coach with Quinnipiac who has remained close with Paschall and his family, said in a phone interview. “He had 31 [points] our first game. The next game he [took just 10 shots] He was never a pig with the ball. He wasn’t a guy that needed to score to have a huge impact on games.”
Paschall’s teammates saw right away he didn’t have any misconceptions about what would be his role at Villanova. In summer pickup games, he made an effort to defend and rebound. He didn’t look for his shot. Paschall wanted to know what it felt like to win. He didn’t care about his numbers.
“When he came in, he wasn’t trying to show every- body he could really score,” teammate Mikal Bridges said. “He came in open to Villanova basketball itself, be ready to defend and rebound.”
Next year, Paschall can expect to have more games like Saturday night. Star juniors Bridges and Associated Press National Player of the Year Jalen Brunson will likely be gone. It will be his turn.
“He’s going to be really good when he’s the go-to guy, too,” Wright said. “And there are times when we know people are taking away the other guy, and he’s a go-to guy for us.”
He certainly was against Kansas.