USA TODAY International Edition
2016 NCAA star Arcidiacono: ’ Nova still super
It takes no detective work to figure out where Ryan Arcidiacono went to college, even if, say, you’ve been living under a rock and missed out on perhaps the greatest finish of any college basketball national championship game last April. All of Arcidiacono’s teammates on the Austin Spurs of the NBA D- League know it, and likely any passersby he sees in town do, too.
If they don’t notice it, at the very least they’ll hear about it.
“I would assume that 80% of the clothes that I have in my closet down there are Villanova stuff, so they all know it — and they see it every single day,” Arcidiacono tells USA TODAY Sports, laughing. “I talk crap to everyone on my team about how good Villanova is again and how we’re in the top five or No. 1 and everything like that.
“Cory Jefferson went to Baylor, and he’s on our team. So when Baylor got to No. 1 ( in early January), I told him they were going to get smacked by West Virginia. We always have a little talking to see who’s better and everything like that. Everyone on my team knows when Villanova’s playing.”
So, yes, Arcidiacono has turned from the do- everything guard and captain who Villanova coach Jay Wright thinks is among the program’s all- time greats to … a trash- talking, yelling- at- his- television fan.
But because of his storied fouryear career and The Pass — to Kris Jenkins for the game- winning shot in the 2016 NCAA title game against North Carolina — he’s in a unique position to give insight into this year’s Wildcats team, which is one of the best in the country again.
From afar, Arcidiacono has tried to watch as many Villanova games as possible, as long as they haven’t conflicted with his own.
“It’s been really good to see the guys progress even more from last year and the way that we finished to developing their own identify, to deflecting all the national championship love that they knew they were going to get and really kind of creating their own identity,” Arcidiacono says. “It’s been really enjoyable to watch because we’ve definitely seen guys like Donte DiVincenzo, Eric Paschall, guys who sat out last year, really show what they can do on the court and how much they helped us last year in our run, just preparing us for other teams.”
Arcidiacono says the identity of this year’s team is centered on defense. Or at least the way these Wildcats play defense, which is different from the way he and his team did a season ago. Losing 6- 11 forward Daniel Ochefu, who graduated and plays for the Washington Wizards, will do that. Though Villanova is not as efficient defensively as it was a season ago, it is different.
“We switched a lot, but we’re switching even more this year because every guy on that team is — there’s no Daniel who’s 6- 11 and can still guard the point guard,” Arcidiacono says. “Everyone is 6- 2 to 6- 7 with Mikal ( Bridges), so they all have to know all the personnel. They all have to be able to guard every single position. I think that their defense is taking a step up in the sense that they’re doing different things than they were last year.
“On the offensive end — that’s where they’re even tougher in the fact that there’s no Daniel who’s down on the block or ready to catch an alley- oop or catch a little bounce pass for a dunk. There’s five people on the perimeter you’re going to have to guard, which creates more lanes for everyone to drive.”
Defense has always been a point of pride with anyone associated with Villanova basketball. So it comes as no surprise that, when discussing the leadership of seniors Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins, Arcidiacono points to their defensive effort and particular stops they’ve had in critical moments of important games — he specifically mentions the turning point in the Virginia win being defensive energy before Jenkins’ three- pointers — which he knows has excited Wright, their coach. He’s texted Arcidiacono about it, giddy.
“You can see the growth throughout the year of not worrying about themselves and not worrying about the scoring and really just stepping up and making sure the defensive side gets done before they even think twice about the offense and letting that affect them,” Arcidiacono said.
All of this leads Arcidiacono — in his admittedly biased opinion — to think Villanova is capable of cutting down the nets again. He knows Hart, Jenkins and senior Darryl Reynolds ( who returned March 4 after missing five games with a rib injury) have been through the lows of those early NCAA tournament exits and the highs of four consecutive Big East regular- season championships and that national title run. They’re used to winning, and they know what it takes.
It’s hard to imagine a group that’s handled being the defending national champion and the subsequent bull’s- eye on its back better and more under- the- radar than this one, despite the 28- 3 record and likely No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Not only that, the Wildcats boast the third- most efficient offense in the nation, due in large part to Hart’s national player of the year- caliber season and the breakout season of sophomore point guard Jalen Brunson.
Arcidiacono says if he fills out a bracket, he’ll probably put his Wildcats all the way through to the end. But he, like many Villanova fans, has one concern — which could prove to be a limiting factor for this team.
“I mean, we all know that they’re going to be really good,” Arcidiacono says. “But the only thing that I’m curious to see about is if their legs just — not give up, because I know Coach Wright knows how to take care of their bodies, but I just hope that they’re able to stay healthy. … At some point they might be down to five, six guys. I’m just hoping they can stay healthy, but I have a lot of confidence in them.
“We all know and they all know that we’re rooting for them. My class is definitely excited that they’re the winningest class now. I think that that’s going to start a chain, or at least I hope it starts a chain of every single class just beats the previous class until they can’t do it. You know what I mean? I think Phil ( Booth) and Mikal’s class might be able to beat Kris and Josh’s class. I just hope that’s the way that Villanova basketball continues to succeed.”