I’m going try, I really am, to do a lot more Villanova stuff this year. I only got a post or two in last year. I’ve been a huge Nova fan for a very long time. They are down the street from my high school, I went to Rollie Massimino and then Steve Lappas camp every year, and in high school my friends and I would constantly sneak in to the pavilion and play on the main court (one time being chased out by Lappas himself).
This is a very exciting time for Villanova basketball. They are coming off their first final four trip since 1985, they are bringing in the #1 recruiting class in the country (with several elite players already committed for 2011 and 2012 as well) and they have a man at the helm, Jay Wright, who is very capable of turning Nova into a perennial championship contender the likes of UConn, Kansas, Duke and North Carolina.
Nova’s season began last night with an exhibition match-up against Kutztown. Usually in these match-ups you aren’t looking at the final score, but rather how the new players are doing, and which players are getting what kind of minutes.
Here are some quick takeaways from the game…
- Mouphtaou Yarou is going to play early and often. Nova’s most heralded freshman since Jason Fraser (hopefully he has better knees) started beside Antonio Pena last night and played 26 minutes, the same as Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher. Yarou scored 8 points, grabbed 6 boards and had 1 block. Jay Wright’s teams have always been guard-heavy, but the 6′10”, 205 lb Yarou will add an elite size and toughness element they haven’t had in the past.
- Taylor King did not forget how to shoot. King, the high school All-American transfer from Duke, sat out last year due to NCAA rules and played his first game in a Nova uniform. The result? 17 points on five shots. 5-5 from the field, 4-4 from 3-pt range and 3-4 from the line. With Fisher and Reynolds penetrating, he and Corey Stokes are going to have some serious fun behind the arc this year.
- The other frosh will play as well. PG Maalik Wayns (17 minutes) and SG Dominic Cheek (14 minutes) also got significant time in the exhibition. Neither put up huge numbers (Wayns had 8 pts and 3 assists while Cheek had 2 points, 4 boards and 2 steals) but it’s clear Wright thinks they are ready to play right away.
- This team has TALENT. I’m going to a more in-depth post about this later, but last night, 9 players played more than 9 minutes for the Wildcats. Of those 9 players, 3 were 5-star prospects coming out of high school and 6 were 4-star prospects. By comparison, this year’s pre-season #1, Kansas, played 9 players in their opening exhibition and the break-down was 3 5-stars, 5 4-stars and a 3-star. Bottom line? Nova is stacked, and is going to be stacked for several years.
That’s all for now – like I said, I plan on doing a breakdown of the talent on Nova’s current squad going forward compared to the teams of the past and other big-name programs in the country.
If you have interest in reading more Nova stuff – please speak up! (even if you don’t usually comment) I’ll have a lot more motivation to write stuff if we have a good conversation going with it.
So what are your expectations for this season? Do you think this team is capable of winning it all despite losing Cunningham and Anderson?
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I am a Nova fan in addition to being an even bigger Big East fan. I think you have every right to be excited about this team. Yes, they did lose Cunningham and Anderson, but their backcourt largely remains intact. We all know Yarou comes well lauded. King is a nice addition. I am also intrigued to see Dominic Cheek throughout the season. I saw him last year play against Xavier Henry’s high school team, and mind you I was looking forward to seeing Henry knowing he was the top-rated player in the country (I think he was committed to Memphis at that point till Calapri left – now Kansas). Cheek shut him down. He had something like 4 points in the first half, and finally when Cheek stopped guarding him, he ended up with 18 points or something like that. He is not a prolific scorer necessarily (though he can shoot and penetrate), so he won’t get national recognition, but he does a lot of things very well.
Love the blog for its Phillies coverage and would definitely be interested in some Nova discussion
Would love to see some Nova stuff. My interest in college ball has really developed the last couple seasons and I found myself rooting for Nova last year the way I pull for the big league teams. That was nice because it wasn’t a conscious decision. I caught a few early games almost by accident and just really enjoyed watching the team play. I really liked Dante Cunningham and wished I had been able to watch him for more than one season at Nova.
If you’ve got more Nova material you’ve got at least one interested party right here.
pg -
LOVE the Big East. Obviously love Nova and Notre Dame – but watch most conference games as well.
College Basketball is the one sport where I like a lot of teams and dislike only a few. Big Kansas fan, and St. Joes as well.
Chris McC-
Jay Wright’s teams are really great to root for. If you don’t hustle your ass off and play great defense, you don’t play. Tough, tough squads.
unlike Mike Brey’s squads – who just jack 3’s and get dunked on the majority of time .
Antonio Pena – Huge year for him. I’ve always been a big fan of his, particularly the fact that he either has an intuitive feel for the fundamentals of footwork in the post, or has put an awful lot of time in practicing it. He has strong old school basic moves in the pivot…a nice drop step, good one power dribble into paint and baby hook, has a good up and under move that he can kiss off the glass, and never wastes a dribble. He also is a good finisher around the rim, got those Mikan drills in.
Lord knows how J Wright will divvy up the minutes with all the incoming freshman (this team is LOADED!), but I think if Antonio Pena steps up from last year’s disappointing season and really attacks and demands the ball more to become a low post PF/C presence, it will go a long way towards NOVA possibly staying in the top 5 national rankings this year. The guy’s got all the tool’s to be a nice big man in the BE…I’d love to see him put everything together this year.
and glorious it was
I always wondered why taller players/forwards were not interested in starting as freshman (or in the rotation by default) for a such a guard heavy team. I know they have a raw 6 11 guy that came last yr, but the team seems like it would love to have any forward, let alone a jason fraser type. Im glad they have some new size with the two 6 8ish freshman. I think they have a guard or 2 coming in thats on the taller side too (maybe 6 ft 5 ish)