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‘Nova to Face Fairleigh Dickinson
Fairleigh Dickinson University released their Basketball Schedule today and the Knights will travel to The Pavilion on November 13.
Wisdom of Crowds Experiment: Reggie Redding Revote
Redding & McAlarney Received Similar Disciplinary Action
Fittingly, final installment of our month-long series, Wisdom of Crowds Experiment, is a re-vote on Reggie Redding, as requested by VUHoops reader kmac. Our initial vote took place the day after news broke of Reggie’s arrest on marijuana possession charges.
Until that time, many VUHoops readers had been commenting that Reggie might get more minutes next season than any other player given his stellar defense, size, continued growth and ability to play the 1 – 4 positions. After his arrest, VUHoops readers scaled back their thinking, voting that he would see an average of 17 MPG, with almost one-third of the readers believing he would not see the floor at all next season. Read more
Glad I’m A Nova Fan
Villanova basketball fans justifiably are excited about their team’s prospects for next season as the Cats reload from a Final Four appearance with one of the top recruiting classes in the nation. But there are more fundamental reasons we are fortunate to be Villanova basketball fans. While “Villanova is not perfect,” to steal a quote from Fr. Peter Donohue from his address last week to incoming freshman and parents, its basketball program is certainly one that students and alumni can be proud of. Reggie’s problems this summer certainly stung, but the handling of that problem by the Fr. Donohue and Coach Wright was exemplary — tough but measured and consistent with the University’s core values. However, if your pride in Villanova has been shaken in any way by the Reggie incident, consider the current public relations nightmares involving other prominent schools and their basketball programs. Read more
Philly Is #2 College Basketball Town
SB Nation.com reported recently their Five Top College Basketball Metropolitan Areas, towns where “fans ignore their crappy professional teams and fuel the talk radio waves with (basketball) recruiting buzz, conference titles, and deep runs in March.” Their top five are: (1) Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, (2) Philadelphia, (3) Cincinnati, (4) Louisville, and (5) Washington DC / Baltimore. New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles were nowhere to be found. About Philadelphia, they said, “In addition to boasting four major professional sports teams, The City of Brotherly Love is also home to the most unique tradition in college basketball …. Read more
Mouph’s Impact
There is a lot of talk going around about people’s expectations for Villanova basketball this year. Most of them simultaneously praise the depth of our backcourt, and exercise cautious optimism regarding our (mostly new) frontcourt rotation.
The pundits unanimously have proclaimed that the sky is the limit for this year’s version of the Wildcats, IF Mouphtaou Yarou is as good as we all hope. The theory is that Villanova will succeed only if a suitable replacement for Dante Cunningham is found. While most of us believe that Mouph will be effective, the question remains: could Villanova win without him? Read more
Wisdom of Crowds Experiment: Russell Wooten & Jason Colenda
Continuing our Wisdom of Crowds series, we move on to Nova’s two walk-on reserves — Russell Wooten and Jason Colenda, unsung heroes and a special breed of player who truly personifies the “team first” attitude. Use the voting buttons in the right margin of the VUHoops home page to predict the number of minutes you think Jason and Russel will play, and the comment section if you want to explain your thinking. We’ve provided below and their 2008-09 stats and player assessments.
Jason Colenda 2008-2009 Stats:
|
21 |
1.3 |
0.1 |
0.2 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0% |
100% |
0% |
Villanova.com: Jason Colenda continues the tradition of the Villanova walk-on … Read more
2011 Recruiting Rankings
Gilchrist is consensus #1
Following the summer AAU circuit, most recruiting services have now updated their rankings for the High School Class of 2011.
We’ve consolidated the rankings for some of the players that Villanova is targetting…
| Player | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | NHR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Gilchrist | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Tony Wroten Jr. | 9 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Rakeem Christmas | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 |
| Bradley Beal | 7 | 9 | 15 | 9 |
| Quinn Cook | 20 | 32 | 19 | n/a |
| Trevor Cooney | 121 | 30 | 27 | n/a |
| Ashcraf Yacoubou | 37 | 51 | 30 | n/a |
| Desmond Hubert | 54 | 47 | 60 | n/a |
| Malcolm Gilbert | 130 | 42 | n/a | n/a |
| updated 8/25 |
Notes … Read more
FOXSports.com 2009 Impact Transfers
Jeff Goodman of FOXSports.com posted an article yesterday that examines the impact of the top college basketball player transfers eligible to play this season. He lists Villanova’s Taylor King at #13 on his Top 20 list, saying “The former ‘Dookie’ will give the Wildcats a perimeter shooter.” I think Jeff may have forgotten about Corey Stokes and Scottie Reynolds. Others of note on his list include former Nova player, Malcolm Grant, and several transfers to Big East rivals. Here’s an abbreviated list:
1. Wesley Johnson, 6-7 ½, 210, F, Jr., Syracuse: Don’t be surprised if the former Iowa State forward winds up being the team’s top player. Johnson averaged 12.4 points while playing with an injured ankle his sophomore season at Iowa State but is ideal for Jim Boeheim’s system. Read more
Wisdom of Crowds Experiment: Maurice Sutton
The Most Action Mo Saw
Continuing our Wisdom of Crowds series, we continue with our center/forwards.” First up is 6-11, 215 lb. redshirt freshman, Maurice Sutton.
Use the voting buttons in the right margin of the VUHoops home page to predict the number of minutes you think Mo will play, and the comment section if you want to explain your thought process.
We’ve provided below Mo’s player assessment from Villanova.com and his ESPN assessment during his senior year in high school.
Also make sure to check out the VUhoops.com “Meet the New Wildcats” on Mo…
Villanova.com: “Brings an intriguing skill set … Possesses athleticism and the ability to run the floor at 6-11 … Read more
Nova Recruiting Roundup
Dan Wiederer of the Fayetteville Observer writes, “remember the name Bradley Beal,” a 6-3 177 lb. prospect from Chaminade Prep in St. Louis. ESPN ranks Beal #22 in the class of 2011 and the 6th best shooting guard. Says Wiederer, “This summer, the talented shooting guard has been one of the most impressive prospects on the recruiting trail. Beal already has scholarship offers from eight majors, including Kansas. Villanova and Kentucky are paying close attention.”
Adam Zagoria provided several updates on Villanova recruits Kyle Irving, Tony Wroten, Achraf Yacoubou, and Corey Joseph. He says, ”Kyrie Irving, the 6-foot-1 point guard out of Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick ranked No. 9 in the Class of 2010 by Rivals, announced that he had cut his list of potential colleges to six.” Villanova did not make the cut, but Seton Hall and UConn are still in the hunt.
