Also charged in the crime were Keith M. McGrath and Derrel L. Williams, 23, both from Bayonne.

The complaint filed against them claims that they punched and kicked one victim “about the head and body,” causing a fractured jaw and requiring surgery. A second victim was also punched and kicked and suffered lacerations above his eyebrows, inside his lower lip and in the back of his head. Both allegedly lost consciousness during the incident.

The case is being prosecuted by Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor, Howard Bell, who told the court that the victims identified Stokes, McGrath and Williams as the attackers. They were ordered held on $20,000 bail and to have no contact with the alleged victims.

In the state of New Jersey, a defendant can be found guilty of aggravated assault if he either caused or attempted to cause bodily injury to another. The degree of the assault charge

Assuming there is an injury, the state must therefore prove two things beyond a reasonable doubt: (1) that the defendant(s) caused the victim’s serious bodily injury; and (2) that the defendants either acted purposely or acted so recklessly under the circumstances to manifest “extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

The first element is simple causation. If Stokes and/or his alleged accomplices actually punched and kicked and landed the blows that caused the victims injuries, the first element is satisfied.

The second element requires the state to prove that the defendants consciously intended to cause a bodily injury. This is a “specific intent” crime, so the defendant must be aware of the likely result of their actions — and it is also one area where a defense attorney may attempt to attack the charge.

Stokes may attempt to argue that he did not commit the actions he has been accused of and will need to offer up enough testimony and evidence to create a reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case. He may also attempt to excuse the actions by arguing that he was acting in self-defense, or for another reason.

For example, when an assault case results from a bar fight, the defense of intoxication is a likely option. This is an affirmative defense to “specific intent” crimes like assault. In order to argue intoxication, the defendant must admit to having committed the act involved, but then may claim that their level of intoxication was such that they were not aware of the consequences of their actions and negating the intent element of the crime.

Update 12:00p: Brandon Stokes, the brother of Corey, tweeted this morning that there are inaccuracies in the NJ.com and Jersey Journal stories. He claims that the media “made [Stokes] the center of something he didn’t do.” Furthermore, at least one commenter on NJ.com, going by “Nana,” claims that the alleged victims in this case were actually the instigators of the fight and that only one of the three defendants participated.

Again, Thank You Seniors!

Things to note.

• Corey Fisher finished his Villanova Career with 1,672 points (13th)
• Corey Stokes ended his 4 years at ‘Nova with 1,315 points (33rd)
• Antonio Pena‘s 1,100 points ranks him 52nd
• Pena finished his career with 770 boards (14th)
• Fisher finished with 487 assists (6th)
• Fisher ended his career with 174 steals (11th)
• Pena had 67 blocked shots in his career (14th)

Joining the Top 20 in Career Blocked Shots

• Mouphtaou Yarou has 54 (18th)
• Maurice Sutton has 53 (19th)

Here’s the full transcript from Thursday’s Villanova Conference with the Press. Jay Wright, Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes, and Antonio Pena were present and available for questions.

THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by Villanova student-athletes Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes and Antonio Pena. Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Can you go through the experience of being in the Final Four a couple of years ago and playing on that level and just kind of having that to draw from, how much does that help or does it help at all at this point when you are kind of going through this again now?

ANTONIO PENA: It helps a lot. In that situation, we had leaders like Dante and Scotty and Dwayne Anderson and those guys. This time we get a chance to lead and show the underclassmen how to get it done.

COREY STOKES: It does help a lot. We had great leaders before us to teach us what it takes to get there and we’re talking to young guys and teaching them the same thing.

COREY FISHER: Yeah, it helps a lot us being there, seeing the guys lead and now us getting a chance, like Antonio said, leading.

For us being there, being under a lot of pressure and playing one of the biggest stages of college basketball and just telling the guys we’ve been there, just what it takes doing all the little things that count on and off the court.

Q. Corey Fisher, the expectations this year don’t seem to be as great at least from the outside world as they were last year in the Final Four. How do you view all that, and how do you plan to go about proving everybody wrong?

COREY FISHER: We can’t control none of that, what nobody is saying on the outside.

But like I said, we played good all year. We struggled down the end with losing a couple of games, but we feel we worked hard. And we had great practices coming out here and before this, and I think we’re ready.

We’re not going to talk. We’re just going to prove ourselves, and that’s starting with me, Antonio and Stokes and the coaching staff. And we know how good we are and that’s really all that matters is knowing how good we are.

Q. For all three of you, Jay over the years, has the way he’s coached been the same as your freshman year or does it change from year to year? How would you go about describing that?

ANTONIO PENA: It stays the same. He’s going to push the seniors, and he’s going to get the best out of them until they’re out of here. Every day is going to be a day where you have to learn. Every day is going to be a day where you have to teach other people.

But he stays the same whether you’re a freshman or sophomore, junior, you are going to get the same thing out of him every day.

COREY STOKES: Antonio Pena said it all. He’s on us every day. Even if we’re doing our best job, he’s just going to stay on us and motivate us because he wants us to be the best player we could be by the time we graduate.

COREY FISHER: They said it all. Just coming from freshman year, it stays the same, but you’re going to make some mistakes coming from high school to playing in the top college basketball league, and when you’re being a senior you’ve got to get it, gotta know everything and gotta help everybody and just being there, just gotta be the coach on the floor, and that’s pretty much what all the coaches teach us, and that’s something you just gain and just gain everybody’s respect.

As you mature through your four years that’s something you’ve got to be when you’re a senior, just helping others, not worrying about yourself, just helping others before you.

Q. Fisher, Coach talked after the Rutgers game, the South Florida game, he talked about your psyche and confidence. How hard is it for you guys to keep up that confidence? Because you all seem like you still have that under the face of some tough losses.

COREY FISHER: We have it. We are playing basketball. You’re going to win some games, you’re going to lose some games. And being — playing in one of the best leagues in the country in the Big East night out, night in, you’re going to go out and compete.

Like I said, we lost some games down the stretch, but our confidence was — everybody, when you’re losing, it’s tough. It’s like if you’re trying to achieve something, you’re not going to stop, you’re going to keep trying to get better, try to get to something you’re trying to achieve. And that’s something me, Antonio and Stokes is trying to do. I think our confidence is high right now. Like I said, we’re going to come out and let our game speak for itself.

Q. Corey Fisher, I know you had a lot of success in high school and in college as well and this year. How important is it for you to close out your college career on a high note and get over this past month and a half?

COREY FISHER: It’s real important. But I’m comfortable in what I’m doing on the court and off the court. And I’ve got two guys right here, seniors, too, just like me, we’re going to go out strong. And we’re just going to show that tomorrow.

And I think my four years have been great, and I know how good I am and my teammates know, and I’m just going to keep playing, continue to play basketball.

Q. Corey, you said your confidence is high right now. I’m wondering why, considering you guys have not played well the last couple of months. And in games like Rutgers, how far guys you have let big leads, lost big leads, what is it about having the big lead that you guys haven’t been able to hold?

COREY FISHER: About the confidence, we’re healthy now. I didn’t complain all year. My knee started bothering me going towards the end of the year. And Stokes got hurt. And Antonio got hurt. We’ve been playing hurt. Making no excuses. And about winning and losing, we played great teams.

Rutgers is a good team. And you can see in the tournament game they played St. John’s. It’s not about records; it’s how you play as a team. Just going down the stretch, we played good and we lost the lead, and we play in one of the best leagues in the country, and you could play any team night out, night in, it’s just who brings it, and that’s in the Big East you gotta bring it night out, night in.

Q. Corey Stokes and Antonio, we talked about the leadership you guys have carried based on what the Final Four guys, Dante and Dwayne, did. The losses from that are big, but what did you learn from that last year when the season ended on a disappointing note?

ANTONIO PENA: You know, we learned to bounce back from it. We learned that the most important thing is staying together, and whether we win or lose, we have to stay together as a team, and there’s going to be times where we have to go through it together. And that’s one thing that this year we hoped to give the sophomores just staying together and being positive at all times.

COREY STOKES: We just have a positive attitude, and we just did a great job after the loss last year. Me, Antonio and Fish, we got together and said we’ll take care of the young guys and lead them and always keep a positive attitude and work just as hard as we can.

Q. Antonio, how important is it for the guys, the inside guys, you and Mouph and Sutton, whoever is playing, that you guys establish yourself and don’t leave it all up to Corey, Corey and Maalik, and the guards tomorrow?

ANTONIO PENA: We played them last year and we didn’t leave it up to them. Our job is to come out there and play as hard as we can every night, whether we’re playing good inside guys or we’re playing a team that’s guard-oriented.

But our job is to come out and play every day for each other. So we’re going to do our best and just play together as a team, basically.

Q. Corey Fisher and Antonio Pena, after losing that game to South Florida in the Garden, what were the next few hours and days like for you? It must have been very disappointing to lose your last game in the Garden.

COREY FISHER: We were down, lost a game, can’t just keep worrying about that game. We came back. We watched some film, and we got better. We continue to play basketball, and that was the positive out of it.

We knew we were going to have games left, whether it was the NCAA Tournament, NIT, whatever it was. We knew we could come back with each other and continue to get better and play basketball.

So we kind of moved on from that, and, like I said, we had a big lead and we lost. And that’s something we gotta do better on. And as we keep continuing to practice, that’s the same situation we worked on in practice.

ANTONIO PENA: Like Fish said, we have a couple of days off, we watched film and we learned from our mistake. And the only thing to do better was to move on, and we have a new season starting now and we just hope to move forward and keep playing hard for each other.

Q. Corey Fisher, what’s your sense of George Mason? Obviously this is a team from a mid-level league. And how much do you know about them, and is there a sense of mystery with a team like this?

COREY FISHER: Kind of didn’t get to — a lot to watch them this year, but just knowing we played them last year in Puerto Rico, they’re undersized, but that’s kind of like us.

Sometimes, in the Big East, playing against bigger guys and we go small guards, with Stokes being 6’6″, can be a big one. Me and Maalik, and I know they’re like us, they like to pressure, get out. The guards get in the lane, kick out, shoot 3s, and they’ve got good post plays.

And I know it’s going to be a good game. We beat them at a buzzer with Isaiah Armwood hitting the shot at the buzzer to win the game, and I know they’ll come out to play and we’ll also do the same thing.

Q. Back to Jay. If a recruit — you were showing a kid around campus, would you describe Jay as an Xs and Os guy first and rah-rah second, or a rah-rah first and Xs and Os second? And has that equation changed at all in the four years?

ANTONIO PENA: What do you mean rah-rah?

Q. Talking about enthusiasm, uses assistants to do the Xs and Os. He’s the high priest, if you will.

ANTONIO PENA: He’s involved in everything. He’s not just leaving it up to his assistants to do anything. Coach Wright, he’s a mentor for me. He’s taught me so much, not only on the court but off the court, just teaching me how to become a man and teaching me the little things about basketball that everybody should learn.

So he is just involved in everything as far as Xs and Os and the rah-rah, as you said.

Q. Corey Fisher, before you had said that you knew you were going to play another game after the USF loss, whether it was the NIT or NCAA. Did the NIT ever enter your mind during that?

COREY FISHER: No, not at all. I was confident. My teammates was confident. The body of work that we did earlier in the season and throughout the season, like I said, we play one of the best leagues in the country. We went nine and nine. For a lot of people that’s not good. But playing in one of the best leagues, you can be satisfied with that, and we try to achieve for better.

But just knowing we have basketball left, and just the body of our work and the style of play we played, we knew we had a chance, a good chance, and we were real positive with making the NCAA Tournament.

Q. Corey and Antonio, you both said you got better after that loss in the ensuing days. How? What got better?

COREY FISHER: Number one, health. Just getting more time, getting in the cold tub and stretching and just everybody getting healthy.

Me and Stokes, Antonio and other guys playing through injuries, that was number one. Number two, just clearing our minds, just getting back to being ourselves. And staying as a family and not listening to nothing on the outside, and just getting a few days off just to practice and work on situations like that. Like having the lead in practice and things going against you and not playing when things are going bad. That’s something we worked on and I think we got better and it’s going to help us in tomorrow’s game.

Q. Fisher, you said a lot over the last few weeks, you made references to kind of blocking out what people say and not really being concerned. Do you think there’s people out there that kind of don’t look at what you guys have done in a fair way, and maybe have been unfair the way they’ve evaluated this team?

COREY FISHER: Yeah, you’re always going to get that. If we would have won them games, everything would have been different. They would have been talking about going into this tournament as we we’re hearing being the underdog. Being the underdog is good, but we don’t consider ourselves being the underdog. We know how good we are. We struggled late. If we would have won them games, then you might hear from somebody else, Villanova can win this, can win that.

But you can’t get into that. You can’t control that. And that’s — everybody has their own decision. Like I said, we’re going to continue to play basketball.

THE MODERATOR: We want to thank our Villanova student-athletes. Up next is head coach Jay Wright. Coach, a brief opening statement.

COACH WRIGHT: We’re very happy to be in the tournament, very happy to be in Cleveland, and just had a good practice over at Cleveland State. And ran into Buzz Williams and it was really nice to see him and not have to be thinking about playing them. I can tell all the Big East guys are a lot more relaxed, we’re not playing against each other.

But it’s funny I saw Buzz and George Mason. That’s kind of like a Marquette team, a really tough team to guard and very, very well coached and really tough, really mentally and physically tough. So we know we have a really tough game tomorrow and we’re looking forward to it.

Q. Jay, your team has been to a Final Four and last year had the disappointment of going out in the second round. What lessons do you think that the seniors will carry over from the Final Four team and from the disappointment of last year?

COACH WRIGHT: I think that they realize how fragile all of this is and how to appreciate every moment. The senior class, in their first year, went to a Sweet 16, and it was kind of a satisfying Sweet 16. Then they went to a Final Four, and I think last year they kind of felt like it just happens. You come to Villanova and it just happens.

And I think last year they learned it doesn’t just happen. It’s very, very fragile. And I do think this team is coming into this tournament and it’s because of our seniors with a great appreciation for being here and a respect for the process of preparing all the things we’re doing here today. It’s very business-like attitude this morning.

I really like that, and I’ve liked that about this team all year.

Q. Corey Fisher was talking about that the team is still really confident. During the time off you had between the Big East tournament and now, is that something you really had to work on with them was getting the confidence high, or were they there already?

COACH WRIGHT: I think those seniors have remained confident. But it is something that as a staff we have addressed, definitely. We had a lot of time. Time does heal wounds. The further you get away from the regular season and the more you’re engaged in this tournament, it seems that everyone’s mindset is about being in the tournament again.

George Mason, what a great game it’s going to be. How fortunate we are to be here. So there’s just a lot more positives now, a lot more confidence going into this game than there was a week and a half ago.

Q. Jay, you had mentioned before that kind of the feeling last year was this just happens at Villanova; you come to Villanova and you go to the Sweet 16. How much of an adjustment has this been for you to not — to not be so, I guess, bulletproof anymore?

COACH WRIGHT: You mean the season? Yeah. You know, I think we all get better at what we do based on our experiences. There was a confidence level, as a staff, that we all had in what we do.

We had had some success for a number of years here. I think I’ve learned and our staff has learned a great perspective about a long-term approach to your program.

You look at any successful programs, they’ve had great runs, and then what is — what defines a bad run.

I was reading there the New York Post yesterday and there was an article about St. John’s and what a great year they had and how they’ve been restored to prominence. I just happened to read that the record was 21-11. And it was the same as ours. In Philly 21-11 and Villanova is a horrible season. But that’s okay. I’m just learning. We’re all learning about. We’re all learning that that’s part of what you have to deal with.

And that’s what I’m most proud about this team. There’s a lot of things on the court, defense, rebounding, shot selection, I’m not happy about in the past. But I’m really proud of how these guys have handled expectations, how they’ve handled this run here, and I think they’ve put us — because they’ve handled it so well, they put us into a position to really enjoy this tournament and really be confident going into it.

Q. Jay, I’m guessing as a basketball lifer, as a coach, that you’re very conversant with the history of the tournament and how teams like George Mason have written their names into the book. Do you think your players are as conscious of how dangerous a team George Mason is and what their history is, or do you think it’s just another opponent to them?

COACH WRIGHT: I think usually players’ memories go back about three or four years. I think that’s about the extent of what they know about teams and the tournament.

I asked them a question today that they didn’t know. I can’t think of it. It shocked everybody. Oh. I asked them today in a meeting this morning if they knew what WFAN was in New York. None of them knew, not even the New York guys. So what the kids think of is unique.

But I think our guys played these guys last year and what they know about these guys is a respect. We were down 13 in that game. They know that. And they remember that. And we hit a pretty lucky shot to take a lead and at the end we had an unbelievable defensive position.

So their respect is simple. This team last year kicked us pretty good. We were lucky to win, and I think that’s what their perspective is.

Q. Jay, I take it you don’t feel 21-11 is a horrible season. Do you feel you’ve greatly underachieved this season? And because of that, how do you view the guys on this team?

COACH WRIGHT: I think you and I have talked about this. We never put a goal on where we want to be at the end of the season in terms of Final Fours, Big East championships. We always look at a season as a journey and we want to be the best team — I’m saying this to you for the 80th time, but we want to be the best we can at the end of the year given the circumstances, injuries, tough breaks, tough calls. That’s what a season is, is how you endure that. So going into the season if you would have asked me if we would have been better than 21-11, I would have said yes, I would have thought we would have been.

Having gone through what we have, the best I can do is evaluate how our guys have handled it. I think basketball-wise we could have done some better things. We could have been a better defensive team. I think we could have executed better offensively. But given everything we’ve been through, our schedule in the Big East, everything, I am extremely proud of these three seniors. The fact that everybody has stuck together and we’re in an NCAA Tournament right now and they’re fired up about playing and our team is confident in what we do, that’s what I’m excited about them. And that’s going to be their legacy in my mind.

Q. Jay, earlier you used your staff a couple times in a row, and there’s a page in your media guide, as you know, of your staff, except they’re somewhere else. So as a coach, how does that work? Do you guys have a meeting to decide how you’re going to approach these guys psychologically, and how has it worked for you over the term of these three seniors in terms of how you’ve coached this team? Has it altered at all? If not, how does it work?

COACH WRIGHT: We definitely — it’s very important that we all have the same mindset within the program. So we meet as a staff and I talk to the staff about what we want to — what’s the psyche of the team, because they have really good relationships with the guys. We even talk with the captains with the staff about what’s the psyche of the team.

And then we go into a team meeting and we all come to a consensus of where are we. We constantly evaluate perspective, where are we, what’s the reality. After the South Florida game, here’s the reality. We had a 16-point lead. We blew a 16-point lead. We didn’t have Mouph. We did everything right down the stretch. We missed a couple of free throws but then we made a bad play. That’s the reality. Where do we go from here? And then we address. We always talk about attitude, what’s our attitude going forward. And that’s constant after every game. It was after we got chosen for the NCAA Tournament. The same thing: Where are we?

The season’s over. We got a 9 seed. You know, we talked about it a few years ago, we were the last team in, which if we would have been this year we couldn’t have argued. But we went to a Sweet 16 that year. So this is where we are. What’s our attitude going forward. Everybody is healthy, we’re having good practices, we’re fired up, let’s go. New season.

Q. Are you more or less hands-on, the staff over the years?

COACH WRIGHT: That’s a good question. It changes each year based on the experience of the staff. Couple of years ago we had a lot of first-year guys. Pat Chambers got a job and Brett Gunning got a job, Eddie Pinckney got a job. This staff now, we’ve got a good core right now. They’ve got a good feel.

So a little bit less hands-on than maybe last year. But I’m usually very hands-on.

Q. Is there some level of achievement in terms of Eights, 16s and maybe even Final Fours, multiple Final Fours, that the Big East needs to justify the 11?

COACH WRIGHT: I love that topic. I don’t think how many Final Fours you get to how many final Eights determine how strong the conference is.

I think it’s very easy to evaluate. 11 teams throughout the course of the regular season were worthy of being the top 68 teams. I think that’s clear.

How the teams perform will, in the end, show if the league was top heavy or not. Did you have dominant teams? And I think that’s what’s great about the tournament. I think it really does show that. I don’t think how you perform in the tournament warrants discussion of whether you were worthy or not.

I think it’s really clear. I think the NCAA does a great job. They’re very transparent. They show you what the criteria is. And I think this year, more than any, I think they did a great — with 68 teams, this is my personal opinion, it’s a perfect number this year. I think it was pretty clear — I thought it was very clear.

In ’09, if you remember Connecticut, Villanova went to the Final Four. I think West Virginia, Louisville and Pitt were in the final Eights that year. I think that showed you had really dominant teams. We played Pitt to get in. Pitt was just as good as us.

We had dominant teams. And I think it will show.

Q. Corey Fisher was talking about a tougher time being the Final Four year when you lost six or seven in a row, he couldn’t remember what it was. Have you seen them use that experience as they’ve gone through? And how has in particular Corey maybe learned from it and matured from it and used it this time?

COACH WRIGHT: The Final Four team lost five in a row when they were juniors, and that’s what Corey was referring to. And Corey was a freshman that year. It was in the middle of the season. It was a little bit more disastrous than this year’s, believe it or not, because it was the beginning of the year and it looked like we were never going to come out of that.

And so I know Corey, the two Coreys and Antonio, have referred to that a lot with this team. And I think that’s given them confidence that, hey, we’ve done this before and we’ve come out of this before. And it’s definitely given them confidence.

One of the things I want to say about Corey Fisher, I think if Corey Fisher was at Villanova at the same time that Mike Nardi was at Villanova with Randy Foye or after Randy Foye and there wasn’t that line of Foye, Nardi, Lowery and Reynolds, he’s kind of at the end where everybody expects him to be better than all of them. I think he’s as good as any of them, but he’s at the end of the line and everybody expects him to be John Wall. And I’m just incredibly impressed at how he’s handled all this. There was an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer that was I thought pretty tough on a college kid.

But he’s handled it great. And that’s part of being a Villanova guard. It was a well-written article. I don’t have any problem with it. But it was tough on a college kid. He’s handled it great. And I’m just amazed at how he has handled the expectations, the pressure, some disappointment and injury, and I’m really proud of him for that.

Do I think he could have had a better senior year numbers-wise, yes, but he’s still our leading scorer, leading assist guy. Great leader for our team, and he’s battled through tendonitis. And I’m just proud as hell of him. As I said, it’s part of his legacy here at Villanova is that he’s really grown up as a man with a lot of pressure on him.

Q. When Fish was up here earlier, he said in the aftermath of losing to South Florida that they knew there was something else after that, whether it was here, and he also mentioned the other three-letter tournament. Did you ever bring it up to them, hey, this is a possibility, or did you ignore it, just bring it to the forefront? How did you address it?

COREY FISHER: We never talk about the NCAA Tournament during the season ever. And I don’t follow it. We have good people around us, Mike Sheridan, and our people, Bob. I know in the end they’re going to tell me where we are, so I don’t even follow it. So we never talked about it.

After we lost, we had a meeting the next day. And I said to them, Guys, whether we’re in the NIT, NCAA, it’s out of our hands right now. So what we can do is rest up, get healthy and get better in this next week, wherever we’re playing and be excited about playing.

After the meeting the assistant said to me, Coach, these guys know they’re not in the NIT, so don’t talk to them about it. I said, How do they know? Because I don’t follow it. They read this stuff, they watch, everybody’s saying we’re not close. I don’t do it. So they’re so much more informed. They’re watching ESPN every day. They’re on websites.

So they know, as I said, the NCAA is transparent. They know what the criteria is. Those guys follow it. They knew. So they never really did worry about it at all. I worried about it for a day after USF, and then when I started looking at the criteria, and we started analyzing it, we said, We’re going to be all right. Our resumé is good enough.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.

Fisher, the point guard, was Named to the Big East Conference’s 2nd Team. Stokes was named to the Conference’s 3rd team.

Fisher ended the regular season averaging 15.5 points per game and 4.8 assists. Stokes concluded the regular season with 14.9 ppg while hitting 43.% of his three-point field goals.

The honors were voted on by the conference’s 16 coaches.

Here are the All Big East Teams
First Team

• K. Walker (UConn)
• A. Freeman (GU)
• B. Hansbrough (ND)
• A. Gibbs (Pitt)
• M. Brooks (Prov)
• D. Hardy (STJ)

Second Team

• P. Knowles (Lou)
• D. Johnson-Odom (Marq)
• B. Wanamaker (Pitt)
• R. Jackson (Syr)
• C. Fisher (Villanova)

Third Team

• C. Wright (Georgetown)
• T. Abromaitis (ND)
• J. Hazell (Seton Hall)
• K. Joseph (Syracuse)
• C. Stokes (Villanova)

All-Rookie Team

• S. Kilpatrick (CIN)
• J. Lamb (UConn)
• S. Napier (UConn)
• C. Melvin (DePaul)
• B. Young (DePaul)
• G. Biruta (Rut)

Though it is abnormal practice to hold Senior Night at the Wells Fargo Center rather than on-campus, the normal practice of starting all of the seniors will be held.

Jay Wright told reporters, “We’re going to definitely put Stokesy out there. We’re going to start him and see what he can do. It’s senior night, so I’m happy for him.”

Though he may start, it is yet to be determined how large a role he will play. If his toe acts up, if he is stepped on or kicked, he may have to return to the bench.

VUhoops reached out to Dr. Nicholas Marini, B.S., D.C., to have him explain it all. Together with his father, Dr. Stephen C. Marini, M.S., D.C., Ph.D. (both Villanova Alums), he has provided chiropractic care to a number of athletes as well as Joe Schmoes like you and me. As he explains it:

“Turf toe” is a condition where the big toe is “bent back,” in what is called a hyperextension or dorsiflexion injury. This causes strain in the bottom (plantar) portion of the joint capsule of the first metatarsalphalangeal joint (see diagram). It can be caused suddenly by falling or stubbing the toe, or it could be caused by repeated hyperextension from shoes that are too flexible.

Generally, when this is an acute injury, the conservative treatment is to rest, ice, compress, and elevate (RICE for short). Further treatment depends upon the severity of the injury. Turf toe injuries are classified into either Grade 1, 2, or 3; Grade 3 being the more severe. Generally, Grade 1 and 2 injuries can be managed easily with taping the toe to prevent any aggravating movements. Evaluation for more stable shoes and orthotics is called for as well. It is in these grades where chiropractic adjustments to the foot yield the most benefits. Examinations of the entire spine and lower extremity, including the pelvis/hip, knee, and foot/ankle, are prudent to evaluate the nervous system, biomechanics, balance, functional short legs, gait, etc. This is especially helpful in athletes, as integrity of the spine, nervous system, and lower extremities are essential for optimum athletic performance and prevention of further injury. Grade 3 injuries are more severe and may require long term immobilization and possible surgery.

Regarding recovery time, that depends upon the severity of the injury and the patients adherence to recovery measures. For Grades 1 and 2, normal recovery time ranges from 2-3 days to 1-2 weeks. Grade 3 injuries may need anywhere between 2-6 weeks for recovery if there is no surgical intervention.

If not properly treated or left untreated, the damage caused by Turf toe could lead to other conditions, such as joint degeneration, tearing of surround ligaments/tendons, and joint deformities.

So there you have it. 6 weeks of rest and recovery would essentially end Stokes’ season, but a lower-grade injury could perhaps see him back in action much sooner.

Dr. Marini practices in King of Prussia, PA. If you’d like more information on his practice, please visit http://www.marinichiroanded.com.

Jay Wright attended the Big East Media Day with his three senior captains, Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes and Antonio Pena this year. The foursome had a small crowd of reporters swarming about their table for most of the morning, which was about par for the course for most teams — though Providence was notably lacking in reporter interest.

Of the Villanova contingent, I tried to find answers to the questions you posted in our Preview comments (a task that kept me at the Villanova table for most of the first session). You asked:

What is the status of James Bell’s recovery, and will he play this season?

“James Bell had two surgeries on his tibia, for stress fractures. We’ll probably get him back into practice at the end of November, so if everything is going well with him, we were thinking that maybe in the middle of December we could get him to be 100%, and then we have to make a decision.”

Which player(s) have impressed the most? Improved the most?

“I think these three… the seniors [Fisher, Stokes and Pena], have been impressive as leaders and as veteran Big East players.”

What sort of defense will Villanova be playing this season? Will the Triangle-and-2 return?

“We’ll use it. We’ll use it when we have to. It’s more situational personnel, you know some teams just have the kind of personnel that you can do that. Other teams might have two great players, but the other players are the type of players who will take advantage of you’re focusing on those two.”

“We keep it in our back pocket, but we rarely go into a game and use it without having talked about it in our preparation.”

“We might play some zone this year. I seriously might listen to [the critics]. One of the reasons we haven’t put out a zone is because we were always so small. I always though if you’re that small and you’re in a zone, it’s already easier for people to shoot over you and rebound over you. If you look at the really good zone teams, like Syracuse, what makes them good is their size and length. So, we have a bigger team this year, so we might play some zone.”

Which player will surprise Villanova fans the most this season?

“Maybe JayVaughn Pinkston, just because guys don’t know him. I don’t know about the rest of our guys, if they would surprise people, because they know them.”

What position will JayVaughn Pinkston be playing this season?

“We’ve been pleasantly, pleasantly, surprised with JayVaughn,” who reportedly has great hands. “One of the questions, which still has to be answered, you have to see once you start playing full court five-on-five, can he play — at 6’6″, 260 — on the perimeter. Right now it looks like he can, which will get him more playing time.”

“Yesterday  was our 8th practice in five days. The last practice, he was dead, but he was good up until then, so it goes to show.”

Which players will be in the starting lineup for Villanova?

The senior captains will all start, Fisher, Stokes and Pena. Yarou will likely start as well, Coach Wright said, “I want to [play bigger]. A lot of it depends on Mouph. We don’t have to have Antonio in the post, we did last year because Maurice was too young and Mouph was sick. I think our best team is [Pena] facing the basket, Mouph inside, that’s what we want to do and now we have to see if we’re good enough in the Big East to be effective that way.”

As for the fifth starter he said, “we don’t yet: we know Isaiah Armwood will play a lot and we know Maurice will play a lot, but the starter will be Wayns, Pinkston or Cheek,” at shooting guard.

“We have a chance to play small (Maalik), and we had a chance to play big.”

Is Jay Wright concerned about Lavin’s presence tightening the recruiting market in the Northeast?

“I just think there are enough players in this area for everybody. I really do. Even if the local schools get some of the guys, there are still so many great players in this area. You know, as long as we’re getting the one’s we want, I’m fine. Recruiting the New York area is always the most difficult, because you’ve got great local schools, but everyone else recruits there as well.”

What are Jay Wright’s thoughts on Villanova Football as it regards basketball success?

“Yeah. It is. It is. I think football is important to Villanova University, you know no matter what level they play, in that it separates you from just another small school that plays basketball. You know, we have football weekends, and it’s important and our football games are on TV, and on Saturday when you’re checking the scores, you know, the Villanova score is up. I think it’s important to our entire University.”

Villanova Notes & Quotes:

Quotes:

Corey Fisher

• Asked why he didn’t put his name in the NBA draft, Corey Fisher replied, “I knew I wasn’t ready.” He went on to say that “you only get four years in college, you never get that back and playing with teammates like Stokes and Pena, there’s no reason to leave. The opportunity was there,” but there was, “no need to rush.”
• On whether he can score 105 points on a Big East team: “The 105 game is past me, I’m just getting ready to have a great senior year with Stokes and Pena . . . You’re not going to score that many points in a college game. I know I’m going to hear it a lot, but I’m just getting ready to have a great senior year. I’m not worried about scoring. Whatever Coach needs from me, I’m going to be ready to do.”
• On what he needs to do for the team to succeed: “I think the only think I’ve got to do is be vocal, that’s it. I got guys on my team that are willing to learn and we’ve got young guys that are coming in that are looking up to us, and we have to set the example. We’ve been battling in practice, the season just started and it’s going to be a good year.”
• On who put the most in: “Tone and Stokes, I think, were working real hard. I know Tone worked real hard on getting his shot better, his post moves, and Stokes has been working on his ball handling. That’s kind of what we all do, we take pride in getting better in the offseason. We’re trying to get better as basketball players and graduate.”
• Team’s ceiling: “We don’t know right now. We know we can be good, and we also know that things can change. Nothing’s promised, and we can’t really control it, all we control is going out there and playing hard, so that’s what we’re focused on right now.”

Corey Stokes

• Corey Stokes on the motivation gained from their early departure from the NCAA Tournament: “It’s been motivating us all summer long and all preseason. We’ve been working hard every day. We’re getting better every day as a team and individually. We just can’t wait for the season to start.”
• On Robert Morris: “We never take any team for granted.”
• On the informal mentoring program: “We lead this team all summer long, we each had players under our wing. I think this is the best productive summer I’ve had at Villanova with the team. We go at each other each day in practice, and sometimes coach has to stop us and tell us not to hurt each other. I think we’re very competitive this year, more than we’ve been in the past. . . . I was in charge of Cheek, Fisher was in charge of Maalik and Antonio was in charge of Mouph. I think we did a great job with them, just telling them when they mess up to keep a positive attitude… and work hard no matter what you do.”
• On whether he’s the best shooter on the team this year: “I guess so, yeah.”
• Goals for the offseason, “My goals were to get in the gym every day and work on my ball handling, work on getting to the basket more, and on leading the team with Antonio and Fisher.”

Antonio Pena

• Antonio Pena: “We don’t go by what other people think. We go by us developing as a team and just being there for each other.”
• On Mouph Yarou’s development: “He’s improved a lot. Sky’s the limit for him. He’s got good hands, he can run, he’s strong, rebounds, he can do everything. He’s going to be a hell of a player.”
• “We’ve got to spread the offense.”
• On his personal goals: “Just being that rock, just doing every little thing that you don’t see on ESPN, the stuff like that. Just doing that stuff to help my team win.”
• On the state of the frontcourt: “We’re gonna be solid, rebound, block shots, just being solid in the paint.”
• On whether the frontcourt can shake off Villanova’s GuardU reputation: “We’re trying to, we left that up to Dante, he kind of shook it off a little bit, we’re trying to finish it up. “

Coach Wright

• Asked what he thought the team needed to do differently this year, Jay Wright answered, ”I think, defend and rebound consistently. We had games where defended and rebounded consistently and we won, we had games where we didn’t defend and rebound and we lost. It came from the other games where we weren’t consistent . . . we weren’t creating the habits where we do it every night. . . . It was just six first year players that didn’t get it.”
• Wright on Yarou: “As a freshman, to miss November, December, January… the important thing is that he could never be — because they didn’t want his sweat to touch anybody — he could never be on the court with us, that really stifled him. It’s really like this is his freshman year all over again.”
• “He actually is a more skilled player than people know. Where he’s got better is his fluidity. He was skilled but mechanical. He’s a bright kid, he plays too intelligently, where we wanted him to play off of instinct, and that’s where he improved.”
• On his senior class: “[The Coreys] were a huge part of our final four run.” They have 77 wins so far, and they have a chance to be the winningest class. Two of the winningest classes have come in the last four or five years.
• On the Big East conference: “It’s going to be the most unpredictable it has been in a long time. Everybody lost great players… You’ve got to vote [in the coaches poll], but I don’t think they are confident votes.”
• On Fisher’s capacity for leadership: “Coming in as a freshman, I think he was probably the least prepared to be a leader, and right now he’s probably the most prepared, because of playing under Scottie and because of looking up to Nardi. He knows history, he knows the game…” (that one was Dana O’Neil’s question).
• On Maalik Wayns: “That’s [Fisher's] understudy, and he take’s responsibility for Maalik, like Scottie took responsibility for him. [Fisher] and Maalik will play together a lot this year, but in practice we have to play them against each other, because there is nobody else who can guard them… sorry Stokesey… he does… Stokes’ the next best at guarding them, but they can guard each other real well. We stopped practice the other day to discuss how them going after each other in practice was making each of them better and us better as a team.”

Notes:

• Coach Wright interrupted the questioning for a moment in order to ask reporters who was pitching for the Phillies tonight. ESPN’s Dana O’Neil then accused him of being a Yankees fan, which he denied.
• The Twitter/Facebook ban was instituted because Fisher, Stokes and Pena were too “popular” online. The program did not like seeing player status messages reported in the media.
• Jay Wright claims that he does not have a Facebook or Twitter account.

Around the Conference:

Pittsburgh

• Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon tried to play-off the fact that his team was named the preseason favorite, saying that it was, “no big deal.”

Connecticut

• Coach Jim Calhoun stated that he thought there was “no overwhelming team” in the Big East this year.
• He also claimed that Kemba Walker will be a top Point Guard, stating: “Kemba is going to be one of the best PGs in the country, I truly believe that.” He reiterated his strong belief in Walker a number of times.

West Virginia

• Bob Huggins met the press in a Jay Wright-esque three-piece suit, complete with a double-breasted vest. His wardrobe choice drew a number of questions and comments, and provoked Jay Wright to stop by on his way to the Television room to point our Huggins’ attire. Huggins later said, “I’m a basketball coach not a model,” when asked about his famous windbreakers.

Syracuse

• Every player and coach in attendance was wearing a suit except for Corey Stokes, who wore a nice blazer and slacks combo and the Syracuse players, who wore their warm-up gear.
• On Scoop Jardine, Jim Boeheim said, “Scoop has gone through the process” and become a very good player since getting to Syracuse.

Georgetown

• John Thompson III is “not yet” planning to restrict his players from using Twitter or Facebook.

Louisville

• Rick Pitino was asked about his team practicing with a 24-second shot clock, which he confirmed, stating that, “we want to play fast, we want to to play faster than we’ve ever played.”
• Coach Pitino on conference expansion/realignment: “I didn’t believe Syracuse would defect, even if they were offered.”
• Pitino also said, “I’m hoping that Villanova will become a football member of the conference,” noting that it would be the best-case scenario for the conference, which would not need to add all-sports members to expand.

Seton Hall

• Talking about new Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard, Louisville coach Rick Pitino stated that he was “cut from the same cloth” as his former assistant, Billy Donovan.
• Kevin Willard mentioned that he was interested in re-opening a European recruiting pipeline at Seton Hall. Nobody followed up with an Enes Kanter question, however.
• Willard also said that he would be focusing on defense this season, he trusts in Jeremy Hazell‘s leadership and believes his team is talented enough to be allowed freedom offensively.
• Hazell said that he pulled his name out of the NBA draft this offseason because he has confidence in Coach Willard.
• A rumor began to circulate that Seton Hall player Herb Pope had signed a contract with a Turkish professional team, Willard denied the rumor stating that Pope had been in practice all week.

Notre Dame

• Mike Brey noted that the challenge for this season is to extend their success from last season’s run while star, Luke Harangody, was injured.

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This post was made possible by the Naughty Volvo S60 campaign. You can see more about the campaign at MyBigEastVolvo.com.

In the report, it notes that Stokes was urinating between two cars while surrounded by teammates when noticed by the Police. a police car pulled up. “The Bayonne Bomber” was not arrested but was issued a citation and a fine for disorderly conduct.

Villanova head coach Jay Wright noted, “This was a simple mistake by a college student. Corey regrets it and has apologized for it. We will now deal with it within our basketball family.”

Stokes is not expected to miss any time away from the squad.

Seating was first-come-first-served and I managed to grab some really nice seats behind the scorers table just three rows behind a kid in a Toronto Blue Jays cap who I am 100% sure was 2010 recruit, Cory Joseph. There were a couple other recruits sitting down front that I wasn’t able to positively identify. Michael Gilchrist was sitting across the aisle from the other recruits and appears to have brought a friend/chaperone (or two), who made him easy to identify by wearing his St. Pats gear.

Markus Kennedy was also in the arena. He wasn’t sitting with the other recruits, however. He was walking around at times. During the autograph session, Taylor King was teasing him by calling him “Cas” and telling fans that Kennedy was former-Wildcat Casiem Drummond.

The Players were divided into two teams, Maalik Wayns played point (and seemed to have a pretty good handle on the system for a freshman) for the Blue team, while Corey Fisher started at the point for White. Scottie Reynolds, somewhat surprisingly (for me, anyway) played off the ball for the entire scrimmage, which seemed to signal that he will be primarily playing the 2 this season.

The white team bigs were Mouph Yarou and Isaiah Armwood, who both changed jerseys during the game. The young guys played well, though Mouph seemed to struggle from the free-throw line, hitting only one shot (though he got to the line a few times). Armwood showcased a nice midrange shot and some good athleticism during the game.

A number of team members showed off their three-point range, including Taylor King, Malik Wayns, Dominic Cheek and Corey Stokes. Stokes brought on a barrage of threes to keep the crowd entertained.

Mo Sutton and Antonio Pena both committed a number of fouls (mostly fouling Yarou, who was like a bulldozer on offense). It was a solid game from Pena in total, however, and his “shining star” moment was a thundering dunk he laid down in the second half.

The teams seemed evenly matched, a fact that was further evidenced by the fact that regulation ended with a tie (which the crowd loved because it meant they would play a 2 minute overtime). Ultimately the Blue team won; chalk that up to experienced leadership from Scottie Reynolds, or maybe to Pena’s defensive presence or Stokes’ three-point shooting. Either way, it was a fun time.

The intensity of the scrimmage wasn’t watered down, there were a number of moments where the fouls were so hard that I was concerned about practice-injuries.

Reggie Redding was never in any danger, however, as he was not allowed to participate, though I did spot him in the arena, chatting with Brandon Stokes (aka “BiZz”) and Frank Tchuisi. Redding was also not allowed to officially participate in the autograph session after the game, though a number of fans recognized him and got him to sign their posters anyway.

If anyone else was there, or has any questions, go ahead and hit the comments.

I apologize for this not being posted sooner, but I was driving back to Atlanta all day yesterday with my buddy Nick Marini ’06. I will post some of the pictures that Nick took later, when I get a hold of them (including an excellent action-shot of the Pena dunk).

Cheek looking to pass

Armwood defended by Pena as Sutton covers Yarou

Coach talks to Pena during a time-out about his foul on Yarou

Cory Joseph watching (in the hat)

Stats- Blue
Scottie Reynolds: 26 pts
Corey Stokes: 7/11 3FG, 23 pts
Taylor King: 18 pts
Maalik Wayns: 10 pts
Antonio Pena: 8pts, 10 rebs
Maurice Sutton: 6pts, 6rebs

Stats- White
Dom Cheek: 19pts
Mouph Yarou: 9pts, 9rebs
Corey Fisher: 7pts
Isaiah Armwood: 7pts

Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports, who endeared himself to VUHoops readers last week with his Big East Preview, today releases his much awaited Top 50 shooters in the country, with emphasis on the long-range bombers. Corey Stokes is #18 on his list with the commentary “He struggled shooting the ball as a freshman but shot 41.8 percent from deep last season and is one of the nation’s best.” Adding a quote from Jay Wright, “Corey has a shooter’s mentality — the next one’s going in. He also gets the ball to his shooting pocket fast and has a perfect release.”

We know that some of you guys have loudly protested our relentless coverage of the mind-numbing array of preseason top X basketball lists. For those guys, I have provided alternative links to Mens’ Journal’s list of the 25 Best American Beers (I did not recognize a single beer on the list) and Maxim’s list of the world’s 100 most beautiful women (Olivia Wilde of House MD came in #1).