Villanova’s Cosby-Roundtree to sit out season
One day after practice officially started, Villanova received a determination on the status of forward-center Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree.
The 6-9, 250-pound graduate student will not play or be on the active roster this season. He will remain on scholarship and be part of the team in an off-court role that has yet to be determined, the team announced on Wednesday.
Cosby-Roundtree has battled leg issues going back to his days at Ss. Neumann-Goretti High School. He said he has undergone four surgeries since 2017, three on his right leg and the latest, last January, to deal with stress fractures in his left tibia. Cosby-Roundtree underwent surgery on his right leg in April, 2020 to remove hardware from previous surgical procedures on that same leg.
Cosby-Roundtree has not been cleared to play but said the decision not to play was his based on information he received from Villanova’s medical staff.
“The doctors didn’t think it would be smart for me to limp through the year,” Cosby-Roundtree said by phone.
He said it was a very difficult decision.
“No one wants to stop doing what they love,” Cosby-Roundtree said. “It was a very hard decision. It’s very hard to live with the decision and coming to the understanding why I had to make the decision. I felt like I had to make the decision. I had to figure out what moving forward meant.”
Cosby-Roundtree and fellow fifthyear graduate students Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samyels are the only players remaining from Villanova’s 2018 national championship team.
Cosby-Roundtree has played in 105 career games with 17 starts over three seasons. He has averaged 3.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He has not played in a game since March 7, 2020 when he had four points and four rebounds in 12 minutes in a 7069 victory over Georgetown at Capital One Arena. The Big East and NCAA Tournaments were canceled five days later by the coronavirus pandemic.
He missed all of last season because of the injury but helped the team from the sideline and in the locker room as a captain along with Gillespie and Samuels. Although his role has yet to be defined, Cosby-Roundtree sees himself in a similar capacity this season.
“I still see myself as a captain,” Cosby-Roundtree said. “I’m helping off the floor, how I did last year, being someone who has played, has experience as a Villanova basketball player. I can offer advice and insight into what I see off the court, giving the younger players advice on what being a Villanova basketball player is.”
“We’re excited that Da Da is going to remain a valued contributor to our program this season while pursuing his master’s degree,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said in a statement.
Cosby-Roundtree graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts with a minor in education. He is working toward a master’s degree in education and counseling. It has not been determined if he will able to get this season back. Although he did not play last season it was not technically declared as a redshirt year. The NCAA granted athletes an extra year of eligibility in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“There’s a little lack of clarity,” Wright said of Cosby-Roundtree’s situation on Tuesday. “Last year he didn’t play. Does he get this year back as a COVID year and can that be a redshirt year? We’re pretty sure it can be but we want to get it confirmed by the NCAA before we make any decision so it’s a little bit of a process getting everything confirmed.”