Nova’s Gillespie leads from afar
Injured senior point guard not yet with team for NCAA run
Collin Gillespie continued to be a leader after he went down for the season with a torn left MCL against Creighton in the next-tolast game in the regular season.
Villanova’s 6-3 senior co-captain served as a defacto assistant coach and cheerleader from the bench in the days after the injury and in the regular-season finale against Providence.
Gillespie had surgery right before the Big East Tournament and did not accompany the team to New York or to Indianapolis for the NCAA Tournament, where the fifth-seeded Wildcats (18-6) are slated to take on top-seeded Baylor (24-2) in Saturday’s South Region semifinals at Hinkle Fieldhouse (5:15 p.m., CBS).
Yet Gillespie continues to be a leader from afar.
“We talk to him probably every day in our group texts, facetime and social media,” sophomore forward Jeremiah Robinson Earl said in a Zoom call Wednesday. “We’re communicating all the time and he does a great job coaching us up and leading us after games and going into games. He’s been doing all he can.”
Villanova coach Jay Wright even gave Gillespie a task to help in preparation for Bears. Wright asked Gillespie to put together a scouting report on Baylor and gave Gillespie until Wednesday to file his report. Gillespie had no problem meeting that deadline.
“I got it the night before last at 2 o’clock in the morning,” Wright said. “He did an outstanding job. We’re going to try to get him and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, our other senior captain, out here Saturday for the game.”
Cosby-Roundtree has been out all season following surgery in late January to address a tibial stress fracture in his left leg.
“It’s going to be great having them out there this weekend,” Robinson-Earl said.
*** Wright knew he was getting a versatile player when Robinson-Earl signed with the Wildcats in November of 2018. He just didn’t realize how versatile until Gillespie was lost for the season.
Wright has used Robinson-Earl at the point on occasion and the 6-9, 230-pound sophomore has handled it well. Over the last three games Robinson-Earl is averaging 37.3 minutes, 22 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.3 turnovers per game.
In the NCAA Tournament he is averaging 37 minutes, 20 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and just one turnover.. He set a career-high with six assists in Villanova’s 73-63 victory over Winthrop in the first round and matched that in the 84-61 win over North Texas.
“I would be less honest if I told you I was thinking about playing him at the point,” Wright said. “We probably thought three through five when we got him, but the way it happened in the Creighton game was amazing because Collin got hurt. I was tending to Collin and I honestly was more concerned about Collin at that point. We got Collin off the court and we started the game and Justin Moore had two fouls and he was out of the game. They all looked at me and said, ‘Who’s running the point?’ I just said, ‘Jeremiah.’
“We had never practiced it and he did an incredible job. Once we saw it in the first half we went with it in the second half and now we’ve included it as part of our package. It’s a shame because he’ll probably be an NBA player next year. If he came back I’d probably play him at the point. It’s not a sales job, just how good he is. I’m sure he’s got a great opportunity next year.”
***
After Sunday’s win over North Texas, one thing Wright said he wanted to do was get the Wildcats outside. The team has been cooped up in the bubble since it arrived since it arrived in Indianapolis on March 15. The days that the schedule allowed the Wildcats to get outside it rained, Wright said.
The team finally was able to go outside Monday and get some fresh air, and took full advantage of the opportunity. The Wildcats posed for a team picture in front of the J.W. Marriott Hotel, which has a giant bracket on one side.
The team also played a little football and soccer on Victory Field, home of the Cleveland Indians affiliate in the newly formed Triple-A East, the 20-team minor league that begins play this season. Villanova tweeted out pictures of Caleb Daniels and Brandon Slater with footballs in their hands and Bryan Antoine dribbling a soccer ball, with his feet, of course, not his hands.
“I’ll tell you what’s amazing,” Wright said. “The two of the most impressive guys to me on the football field were Cole Swider and Jeremiah RobinsonEarl. Their speed and size and length and hands, they were throwing 40-, 50-yard passes to each other and going up and catching it with one hand. The defensive players had no chance against them.”
The players loved it. “It’s so important right now to get outside and enjoy each other, get some fresh air in the sun, especially this season, being locked up in the dorms,” Robinson-Earl said. “The only time you get out of your room is walking to the gym or for class in your designated area so I think it’s really important right now. And it’s been a lot of fun playing football and soccer, doing whatever you can outside.”