Monumental Senior Day send-off includes another title
As is tradition, Villanova took a little time before Saturday’s home finale again No. 23 Creighton at the Pavilion to honor Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds.
And in keeping with that time-honored custom, Villanova held a modest pre-game ceremony before the Wildcats went out and whipped the Bluejays, 7963, to wrap up yet another Big East regular-season title and the top seed in the upcoming Big East Tournament.
There were flowers, framed jerseys, standing ovations and, of course, tears. No Senior Day celebration would be complete without plenty of water works, especially from the mom’s. However, that finely orchestrated ritual was for the player, their families and the fans.
This, though, was not your average Senior Day celebration, but a chance to honor the most successful class in program history and close out the Pavilion at the same time.
The 31-year-old facility is scheduled to undergo a $60 million overhaul beginning in June and will not reopen until the start of the 2018-19 basketball season.
That Hart, Jenkins and Reynolds, who missed his fifth straight game with sore ribs, got to close out the Pavilion with yet another gritty win was only fitting because the numbers they have compiled in their collective career is staggering.
Here are just a few of the highlights:
124 wins, and counting, the most in program history.
An 88.6 winning percentage over four years, again the best ever.
Four straight outright Big East regular-season championships, the first class in conference history to accomplish that feat.
A 62-9 record in conference play with one game to go. Again, that’s the best mark over a fouryear span in conference history.
Four consecutive outright Big 5 titles, the most in City Series history. Hart, Jenkins and Reynolds went undefeated (160) in Big 5 play.
A school-record 48game winning streak at the Pavilion and a 49-1 record in games played on campus, and a 60-3 record at home overall.
They are the only class to win 30 games in back-to-back seasons in program history, and have a chance to make it three in a row this season.
Hart, Jenkins and Reynolds have never lost back-to-back games, a string of 140 straight games dating back to the end of the 2012-13 season.
And then there was that little memento they brought home last April from Houston that is on permanent display in the trophy case across the street in the vestibule of the Davis Center, the team’s practice facility.
But, as Hart and Jenkins said afterward, they aren’t finished yet. They have a minimum of three games left in their collegiate careers and a maximum of 10 games, depending on what the Wildcats do in the Big East and NCAA Tournaments, to add to those gaudy numbers. So Saturday’s Senior Day festivities were not the official sendoff, but the first of many. There will be one when the Wildcats close out the regular season Saturday against Georgetown, another following the Big East Tournament and another one in the big dance.