Pandemic can’t stop Selection Sunday excitement for ‘Nova, Drexel
Usually, Villanova is surrounded by several hundred of its closest friends and family members on Selection Sunday. Not this year, though. Instead getting together in the Finneran Pavilion or the Villanova room in the Connolly Center as in year’s past, the Wildcats watched the NCAA Tournament selection show in a meeting room in a hotel in New York City, where the team has been hunkered down for safety reasons since losing to Georgetown last Thursday in the quarterfinal round of the Big East tournament.
“We’ve stayed in the bubble,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said during a Zoom call Sunday night. “We were kind of told when we came up here by the NCAA that it’s best to stay wherever you go so you don’t go back and possibly contract the virus so we’ve stayed in this hotel.”
“It’s another part of this season that’s really strange.”
The Wildcats aren’t complaining. They’re dancing and that’s all that matters. Villanova (16-6) is the fifth seed in the South Region and takes on 12th-seeded Winthrop (23-1), the Big South Conference champion on Friday. It’s the first meeting between the Wildcats and Eagles.
“We’re so excited to start this final portion of the season,” Wright said. “We always talk about never taking this for granted. It’s such an honor to play in the NCAA Tournament, but I think this year, more than ever, just to make it to this point and know that you have a chance to play in the tournament is an incredible accomplishment.”
For most of the Wildcats, like sophomore Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, this was their first Selection Sunday experience as collegians. They didn’t get to go through the process last year after the Big East and NCAA Tournaments were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I was super fired up watching the Selection Show and I’m just super excited to get after it in these next couple
of practices and play on Friday,” Robinson-Earl said.
The Wildcats are expected to leave for Indiana, where the entire tournament will be held, on Monday, Wright said. The tournament starts with the First Four on Thursday. The tournament kicks into high gear with the first and second rounds on Friday through Sunday.
Winthrop ranks 30th nationally in scoring (79.5 ppg.) and have topped the 80-point mark 13 times including all three games in the Big South Tournament. Winthrop has hit the 90-point mark three times and 100 once. Its only loss was a 57-55 setback at home to UNC Asheville on Jan. 29. The Eagles have won seven straight since then.
The Eagles are led by Chandler Vaudrin, a 6-7 redshirt senior point guard who averages 12.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists. He’s the only player in the country with three triple-doubles this season.
“This is a tough matchup for us,” Wright said. “They’re similar to Creighton, who has given us trouble. They have a lot of three-point shooters, great skill level, great offensive execution and play fast.”
Drexel didn’t get any break in its first-round matchup. The Dragons (127) are the No. 16 seed in the Midwest Region. Its reward for winning the CAA title is a first-round date with No.
1 seed and Big 10 champ Illinois (23-6), the overall No. 3 seed on Friday. This is the first meeting between the Dragons and Illini. Illinois is the third overall seed in the tournament and has won seven in a row.
The Dragons have won four in a row including three in the CAA tournament to win thei league title and clinch their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1996.
“Every challenge is an opportunity,” Drexel coach Zach Spiker said. “It’s about your mindset, and what your outlook on life is, and your perspective. We’ve got a group that I think is really excited. We haven’t been to
the tournament in 25 years, and we’re in the tournament. And we have a very talented opponent. Guess what? If you’re a 15 seed you’ve got a very talented opponent. If you’re a 14, they would be very, very good. It’s the NCAA Tournament.”
Drexel watched the Selection Show in Indianapolis, where they have been since Saturday.
“There is a lot of suspense,” forward James Butler said. “You don’t know where you are going to be placed. When you finally see your name go us it’s like wow, we’re really here. It’s our match up, excited, and ready to start preparing for the game.”