Wayns has been on a tear since scoring just three points against Syracuse on January 11th. Since then he has scored 92 points over three games, including 39 points against Cincinnati, 25 points against Seton Hall and a 28 point performance at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. His 53 point performance over the past week demanded attention and lead to his selection.

After the St. John’s game he explained his resurgence following the loss to Syracuse:

“As a leader of this team, as a leader of this program, I felt like I let my team down that game. We came back to practice the next day to get better and my coaches and my teammates have total confidence in me and they told me to put it behind me, just go out there and keep getting better and my teammates, we keep getting better and it’s allowing me to play pretty well.”

For JayVaughn Pinkston, the past week has been a bit of a coming-out party. The redshirt freshman forward had started the season looking shaky and there were some doubts over his ability to have an impact this season. Over the past two games, however, he has become one of the Wildcats’ impact players, compiling a double-double against both opponents in the last week.

Pinkston has raised his averages to 8.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game after scoring 23 and 13 points and 11 and 12 rebounds in the past two games.

Both players will attempt to continue their hot streaks at #21 Louisville (15-5, 3-4 Big East) and at home against #22 Marquette (16-4, 5-2 Big East) this week.

1. University of Delaware – YoUDee
2. Villanova University – Wil D. Cat
3. Tennessee Tech University – Awesome Eagle
4. Arkansas State University – Howl
5. University of South Alabama – SouthPaw

Each Mascot performed a routine for the judges who then rated them and produced the above list.

While all of their victories have come at home, the Bulls’ “home” has consisted of a number of different area venues while their SunDome arena has been undergoing renovations this season. Mostly, however, their Big East games will be held at the St. Pete Times Forum.

It is likely that Villanova fans will remember the beating the ‘Cats gave the Bulls in the first half of their Big East tournament match-up last year. Fans will also remember how the ‘Cats gave it all back again in the second half, allowing USF to come back and win the game by a single point.

This isn’t exactly the same team that came back in that game, however. Power forward Jarrid Famous finished his eligibility, three guards (Mike Burwell, Shedrick Haynes and LaVonte Dorrity) transferred, and one more (Anthony Crater) was dismissed from the program.

Shaun Noriega, who lit it up in that game for 22 points, is back and averaging 5.1 points per game. Augustus Gilchrist, who tagged the ‘Cats for 16 points in their last meeting, is the only Bulls player averaging double-digit points with 11.1 per game. Gilchrist also contributes 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per contest.

Second on the team in points and leading the way on the boards is Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, who has scored 9.1 and grabbed 6.9 caroms per game. Three players follow in points, scoring 8.8 points per game, Ron Anderson Jr., Victor Rudd and Jawanza Poland, who has fast become a USF fan favorite as well, leading the Bulls to a win over Cleveland State.

As a team, USF is connecting on just under 33% of their 3-point attempts, but Fitzpatrick has made 44.4% and Noriega is good on 37.8% so far this season. LaVonte Dority has made 5-of-11 (45.5%) as well, in limited action. After those there players, everyone else shoots the team average or worse from deep.

Villanova has allowed players, especially guards like Noriega, a lot of good looks this season. Unless they have solved that problem in the past 4 days, it is highly likely that more good looks will be allowed. In order to alleviate some of that trouble, Villanova should consider using a triangle-and-2 or box-and-1 defense for limited periods to get a few stops and prevent a shooter from getting into too much of a rhythm.

Villanova needs to play a complete game.

After two partial-efforts from the ‘Cats against West Virginia and Marquette, they will need to start playing hard and smart for the full 40 minutes in order to get some traction this season. That starts with defense, making hustle plays, generating turnovers, and making it difficult to find a good shot. Good defense will beget good offense for the ‘Cats, who can benefit from playing off the fastbreak, and gives the ‘Cats some momentum as well.

Furthermore, Villanova needs to play more like a team. Players need to look to make the extra pass rather than taking difficult jumpers early in the shot clock. They also need their point guard to worry less about trying to take over games offensively and more on making his teammates better.

Wright’s point guards have tended toward trying to take over games at times, with Scottie Reynolds being the height of that phenomenon. Reynolds was a tremendous scorer, however, who seemed to will the team to win almost by magic on some occasions. Maalik Wayns meanwhile, possesses more physical talent, but he has never had the same ability to be a one-man-team that Reynolds did.

And there is nothing wrong with that.

Wayns doesn’t need to be Scottie Reynolds and Dominic Cheek doesn’t need to be Corey Stokes (or Allan Ray). Both players were McDonalds All-American’s when they came to the Main Line, and they are on a roster stocked with top-notch players. There is no need for any one player to force things to make a play.

Playing to your strengths and with your teammates is a recipe for success, but if you force yourself to be something else, you’ll likely taste failure.

USF is likely to deploy a lot of zone defense against the ‘Cats, who have looked lost against the 2-3 for most of this season and the last two. There are a few options for attacking the 2-3 zone, but when the shots aren’t falling from outside with any level of consistency, it is imperative to get the ball into the high post.

How? Almost any player on the floor can cut into the high post to receive a pass from the point guard. Alternately, if the defense adjusts to that strategy (or otherwise allows it), a guard can attempt to use dribble-penetration to drive the ball into the high-post.

From there, the defense has to adjust. If they don’t, a shot that is well within the range of Villanova’s players will be available to whomever has the ball in the high-post. If the defense does adjust, it potentially opens up passes back to the perimeter or (ideally) to the low-post for an easy shot.

USF plays at a slower pace than many other teams that Villanova has faced. The ‘Cats don’t want to get forced into a half-court offense on every possession, however, especially with the likelihood of that zone defense popping up. The ‘Cats should look to dictate the pace a little and speed things up . . . but do so without turning the ball over themselves, which has developed into an issue recently.

Wright blames his team’s struggles on a lack of senior leadership, but the ‘Cats just haven’t seemed to buy in the way players did in the past. The ‘Cats have the talent to be better than they have, the question that remains is: Can they pull it together?

Statistics sites like KenPom.com give South Florida less than 20% chance of winning this game, but a good game-plan on their part could make the contest an interesting one.

The game tips off at 8:00 pm tonight at Villanova’s Pavilion with television coverage on ESPN3.com and WPHL17 locally.

There doesn’t appear to be any move imminent, of course, and all schools have indicated to the league and to the public that they have been satisfied with the status of Big East expansion in the wake of the sudden departures of Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia.

“Although they’ve had discussions [separately from the football schools], I’ve had no indication from any of them that they have serious desires to break away,” league commissioner John Marinatto told the Chronicle.

“We certainly could have confronted in this moment an opportunity to break up the conference, and we emphatically made the decision to keep it together,” Georgetown president John DeGioia added. “We had a full consensus that the best thing for our basketball programs would be to remain in complete alignment with the football programs.”

Despite those statements, not everything in conference realignment has been entirely clear and fully honest. West Virginia appeared 100% on-board with the Big East rebuilding efforts while working the phones to find a way out. They later have used the rebuilding process as a grounds for being excused from their obligations under the conference bylaws.

According to the Chronicle, the two unnamed schools discussed what is being termed a “Super Basketball Conference,” that would separate from the Big East and add schools like Butler, Temple and Xavier. Temple’s inclusion would seem to indicate that Villanova is not one of the schools that has participated in this discussion and discussions with sources close to the situation at Villanova have consistently indicated that they currently prefer to associate with a conference that offers big time football.

Temple, for the record, would prefer to be part of an all-sports conference where they can provide a home for their football program as well. They would also be unlikely to make such a move in the short term unless a television deal was worth substantially more than the current Atlantic 10 deal.

The Chronicle’s source indicated that the discussions weren’t serious, but stated that he would be surprised if those schools didn’t leave the Big East at some point. When will it happen? All the source offered was “eventually,” suggesting that the basketball super conference move would require leadership to make it happen.

It likely requires more than that, however. Brand names and big TV markets are what draw television dollars, and any conference without TV revenue and exposure would be a flop and a massive step backwards for the basketball schools. If this seperatist movement weren’t to gain the support of Villanova, Georgetown, St. John’s or Notre Dame, would it have enough clout to be relevant? Even in bad years, these program offer enough name-brand to get on television more than the average. They also offer access to some of the best media markets in the country.

There’s the real problem. Butler makes 10 national television appearances in the regular season this year, Seton Hall makes just 6. Would ESPN’s interest in Butler extend far enough to increase the number of Seton Hall games they televise?

Villanova, meanwhile, will play no fewer than 18 games on national television this season. Broadcasters also load up on Georgetown, St. John’s and Notre Dame games as well as the football schools. Louisville also makes about 18 national television appearances this season. With fewer programs that have proven to be attractive to television, the basketball conference doesn’t seem as super.

Recent additions of Corey Maggette, Derrick Brown and Reggie Williams create a bit of a crowd for Charlotte at Dante’s position. Dante has apparently opted to explore his option elsewhere. Though not mentioned in the text of the article, the headline from DIME suggests that Cunningham has received offers from other teams, which may give him some confidence that he will reach a suitable deal somewhere.

Like Kyle Lowry, who agreed to a deal with the Cavaliers as a restricted free agent not long ago, the Bobcats will have an opportunity to match whatever offer Cunningham ultimately selects.

h/t to TheNovaBlog

Junior guard Dominic Cheek was named to the Big East Honor Roll by the conference office on Monday afternoon. He averaged 22 points and 6 rebounds over the first three games of the season for the Wildcats; all victories. He had a career-high 27 points in the opener and added another 21 on Friday night.

The Big East Honor Roll is a weekly award given to recognize athletes for their notable performances during the prior week.

Wayns Honored by Big 5

The Philadelphia Big 5 also puts out a weekly Honor Roll, which included Villanova point guard, Maalik Wayns this week. The honor was primarily the result of Wayns’ role in driving a comeback, overtime victory for the Wildcats over Big 5 rivals La Salle last Tuesday. He also scored 21 points and had 5 assists in a win over the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens on Friday.

Reid Repeats as NCAA Champion

Villanova’s women’s cross country star, Sheila Reid, won her second consecutive NCAA National Championship on Monday afternoon in Terre Haute, Indiana. She sprinted to the finish line of the race to take first place, ahead of Oregon’s Jordan Hasay, who has often found herself looking at Reid’s back at the end of races.

Reid, a Canadian, earned All America honors for the effort along with Serbian teammate Bogdana Mimic, who finished 6th. The team finished in third place, however, after winning the team championship in 2009 and 2010.

“It is very satisfying to win my last collegiate cross country race,” Reid said. “I still have an outdoor season but coming in here as the defending champion I really wanted to finish cross country on a strong note and win the individual title again. It may sound trite but I love to win and after college the opportunities to race in cross country are limited.”

Georgetown took home the national title while Washington came in second. The race was close, with the top three teams separated by just 19 points.

Football: CAA Honors Four

The Colonial Athletic Association announced it’s 2011 All-Conference teams on Monday evening. The list included four Villanova Wildcats, two on the first team and two with third-team honors.

Senior corner James Pitts and junior center Dan Shirey were among the league’s first team selections. Pitts had previously made the third team in both of the previous two seasons. He finished this season with 60 tackles, five interceptions (second in the CAA), five pass break-ups and a fumble recovery. Shirey was also a third team selection last season and anchored an offensive line that was lacking in Division 1 experience.

Junior punter Mark Hamilton and freshman linebacker Dillon Lucas were third team selections for the Wildcats. Lucas lead the Wildcats with 92 tackles (51 solo) and had 3 tackles for loss and 2 sacks while starting all 11 games as a true freshman.Hamilton was in his first season punting for the Wildcats, taking over for Dominic Scarnecchia, who graduated. He averaged 42.8 yards per punt, and placed 17 insider the opposing 20 yard line.

Lucas is CAA Top Rookie

It was a busy day for Lucas collecting awards. The outside linebacker was also named the CAA’s Defensive Rookie of the Year, becoming the first player in Villanova program history to earn conference Rookie of the Year honors.

He is also a finalist for the inaugural Jerry Rice Award, to be given to the most outstanding freshman in FCS Football. That award’s winner will be selected by a ”national panel of communications and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries” at some point after the regular season and will be presented at an awards banquet on January 6th, in Frisco, Texas.

“Dillon is very deserving of this award,” said Wildcat head coach Andy Talley. “We placed a great deal of responsibility on Dillon this year and he responded each and every week. I expect Dillon to continue to improve and become one of the premier defensive players in FCS football.”

“The seating is so close to the field, for players and coaches, it’s an amazing environment,” said Nick Sakiewicz, Philadelphia Union CEO. “We always designed it and had in mind that this wouldn’t just be a home for great international football but it would be a great home for American football.”

Villanova’s head coach agrees.

“This is a great venue,” head coach Andy Talley said. “It looks like it was built for football. It’s perfect.”

Instead of cold benches, PPL Park offers comfortable seatbacks. While the concession stands will still sell hot dogs and soda, at PPL park, you can also purchase beer inside the stadium.

Villanova is hosting this game at PPL Park to gauge your interest in having a better venue for Villanova football. A better, bigger and newer facility where tailgating is allowed and beer is sold can only benefit the Villanova fans, but will the experiment continue if fans don’t show up?

“We’d be able to have a game-day atmosphere, like at Delaware,” Talley told reporters, campaigning for the stadium to become the permanent home of Wildcat football.

“It’s the perfect venue. It’s easy to get to. The entrance and exit, with the new ramp, drops you right at the stadium. There’s plenty of parking and it’s safe. It’s right by the river. Everything about PPL Park is positive.

“I think we’re going to have a great game-day atmosphere, which we lack at Villanova right now. I think our fan base would love coming here every Saturday, rain or shine, because it would be an outdoor party.”

There is currently no deal to play football at PPL Park after Saturday’s game, but the Philadelphia Union executives would like it to happen. Villanova athletic director Vince Nicastro has not taken that possibility off the table.

“It’s an ongoing process,” Nicastro said. “It’s certainly something we’re looking at, but let’s get through this one and gauge the feedback, which I think is going to be very positive, but it’s a little more complicated with homecoming and parents weekend. Like we do in basketball, you want to have some events on campus that are good for the students and the convenient for people. We’re not going to rule it out, but we want to get through this one first and see where it goes from there.”

Villanova is transforming the soccer stadium into the  home of Villanova football. Though Delaware coach K.C. Keeler and others have described the stadium as a “neutral” site, it is the Wildcats’ hope that it will be anything but that. Fans will also be treated to the “Wildcat Village” which, as you might imagine from attending other recent Villanova-run events will almost definitely have a bouncy-house and other inflatable outdoor entertainment as well as food and drinks for fans who choose not to set up their own tailgate.

As the last home game, Villanova will be hosting a number of football recruits at PPL Park in hopes that the new facility and atmosphere will impress them. As Andy Talley has noted, the program’s status with the Big East conference has made recruiting difficult lately.

“Right now it changes from day to day and it is very difficult to predict what is going on,” Talley said.

Villanova and Delaware have played some classics in recent years and the ‘Cats are ready for another one after turning the corner and beating UMass 35-17.

Tickets are currently still available, but Villanova is preparing for a capacity crowd on Saturday.

Villanova fans are largely characterized as anti-Big 5 by Philadelphians, and that may be partially because so many Villanovans are not from Philadelphia. While some Villanova students hail from the Philadelphia metropolitan area, many come to the Main Line from New York or Boston, or from further afield, and the tradition of a city round-robin just isn’t ingrained in the culture of many (any?) other locales.

Even the players may question the Big 5′s relevance when they come from further away.

Not Maalik Wayns, though.

The Philadelphia Daily News’ Mike Kern spoke to Wayns and his friend, Ramone Moore of Temple, in a preseason question-and-answer session. Wayns had a bit to say about the Big 5 tradition.

“When you’re from Philly and you’re playing in the city, playing in the Big 5, you know it means way more to you than it does to a guy who comes from New York to play (here), or something like that,” Wayns told the Daily News. “So every game in the Big 5, you know it’s just, whether you’re playing against a Xavier or like I play against Syracuse, it’s just as much significance.

“I care about Big 5 a whole lot, watching it growing up. It’s just as important to me, even more important, because you’ve got to see those guys throughout the summer, the year, (even) the rest of your life. We hang out together, so it’s like bragging rights really.”

While some Villanova fans decry the Big 5 as weak scheduling, the Wildcats’ non-conference strength of schedule is about middle-of-the-pack for a Big East team this season. Games against Temple are tough and hard fought and teams like St. Joes and La Salle have given Villanova a challenge as well in recent years despite finishing at  or near the bottom of the Atlantic 10.

As much as many of us dream of a day when Villanova could schedule UNC, Duke, Michigan State and UCLA in the same December, it would seem more likely that the end of the Big 5 would see more Monmouth’s added to the schedule. A10 schools replaced with MAAC and NEC programs would hardly be an improvement, but would certainly be more likely for a major conference program seeking to run up its win total before taking some losses in conference play.

The Big 5 is a tradition for Philadelphia. While Villanovans are not necessarily born into that tradition, shouldn’t those November and December games against cross-town rivals baptize the Main Line fan into it?

Perhaps what it would take, is a return to the Palestra double-headers. Splitting the crowd at mid-court and watching as dueling student sections unfurl their roll-out signs insulting each other, questioning players personal habits and on occasion, saying something nice about their own school, used to be the hallmark of the Big 5 contest.

That tradition was lost when Villanova and Temple (yes, Temple was making the same move), broke off from the round robin series in 1991 in order to play a more “national” schedule and seek out bigger television exposure. The double-headers were no more and games were scheduled on campus sites. Even when the round robin contests began anew in 1999, the unique character of playing Big 5 games in Palestra double-headers were gone.

Somewhere along the line, the Villanova students may have forgotten how to make a roll-out sign as well. The only roll-out sign spotted in the Villanova student section last season was a St. Joes prank, reading, “the Hawk Will Never Die.”

If the Big 5 is going to mean anything to Villanovans, the school and it’s fans must re-embrace the tradition and the rivalry.