ADVERTISEMENT

Quotes from Samuels, Knox and H. Wright

I realize some of this has been covered in separate threads but thought it was really great to see/hear. Excellent coverage from the guys at cityofbasketballlove.com

http://www.cityofbasketballlove.com/news_article/show/637744?referrer_id=1712896

Jermaine Samuels:

For now, he said there’s one school that’s been outpacing the others in their recruiting efforts. “Definitely Villanova, that’s been the main school that’s keeping in touch the most,” he said. “Besides the national championship, I’ve always liked the way they played, I think it’s a great school, but later on down the line, we’ll see, I’m going to keep my options open.”
Though the Wildcats seem to be the current front-runner, Samuels was rather vague about the other schools that are currently involved in his recruitment. “(After that), I can’t really say,” he said. “I haven’t been paying attention to schools that much, I’ve mostly been focused on me and what I’ve got to work on.”

Kevin Knox:

There appears to be a new contender in the mix, though. Hint? They’re the defending national champs. “Ever since the [NCAA] Tournament started, Coach Jay Wright’s been calling me telling me to watch their games,” Knox said after his first EYBL game with Each 1 Teach 1. “They’re a little late, but still, they’re a really good school and I’m really looking into them. I really like Coach Jay Wright, his style and the way he plays.” Wright and Co. have clearly made an impression on the 6-foot-8 Tampa Catholic (Fla.) product, as both parties are working to set up an in-home visit for this coming week, specifically targeting Thursday. "We’ll see what he has to say,” Knox said of the upcoming visit. “I’ve been watching Villanova ever since the start of the season, so I knew they were a really good school...I started watching them a little bit more over the course of March Madness, and they proved to me that they’re a really good school.” It’s certainly too early to call the Wildcats favorites to ultimately land Knox, as he’s also expecting to host UNC, Kentucky, and Florida State this week after receiving a visit from Mike Krzyzewski earlier this month.

Hameir Wright:

Nearly all of his 15 points came in the second half, with names like Jim Boeheim, Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, Sean Miller, and Jay Wright all watching from the sidelines. Villanova, while yet to offer the emerging 6-foot-6 wing, has been involved with Wright for a while now, with some recent developments putting the Wildcats in what seems like a great spot. “Huge impact,” he said when asked how the ‘Nova’s national championship victory could affect his recruitment. “It shows that they have a championship program. It can’t be overlooked. I met all the guys over there and they’re really cool, I really like them. I look forward to being more involved with ‘Nova.”

Marketing Report: What does the Championship mean for the university?

paulmarmora started a topic below about what the title run means for the school. I founded a company that actually does this, or at least can help give approximations for it. I ran an interactive report for you all, which you can check out here:

http://app.trendkite.com/report?id=0b54f118-d6da-4402-b739-098e9a678362

Btw, the company is TrendKite (as you can see in the URL). I started it 3 years ago and today we have about 500 customers (huge brands like Nike, Hershey, Adidas, Jetblue, Thomson Reuters, Turner Broadcasting, BP, Boeing and many many others) and are just over 100 people. It's been a fun ride so far :). Bummed that I was in a wedding and had to be in NJ since the Final Four was in my backyard. Definitely wish I could have gone. Anyway, if anyone has questions, feel free to hit me up: aj@trendkite.com

Most Important Non Tournament Moments

Would like to get everyone's take on this but as I think back here are mine:

1. Loss to UVA - Against a top 5 team in the country, there was a sequence where Hart and Ochefu missed back to back bunnies that would have kept us in the game. Thought we lost our confidence after that vs UVA. When we had to play Kansas, UNC in the tournament Hart and Ochefu made those shots or even when we missed them we got back and played tough in your face D.

2. Win at Seton Hall. That is the type of game we lose. Didn't shoot well, Ochefu was in foul trouble. Seton Hall makes a late run. Our D late in that game was very good, after that I thought to myself we can survive a bad shooting night in the dance.

3. Win at Butler. For me this is the moment I knew we had something special. Butler was desperate for a win. That arena was crazy. I remember sitting there watching how Arc and Ochefu led that team. I also got to see the walk through before the game and the way they execute Jay's game plan was straight on. During the walk through each player was completely focused.

4. Win at Providene without Ochefu. Gave Reynolds just the amount of confidence he needed. His teammates got him the ball in perfect position. That is the day I knew we were 8 deep and no matter what happened next guy would step up.

5. Jenkins 31 point game against DePaul.Jenkins established himself as that fire we needed. Hitting shot after shot and getting his teammates jacked up for a DePaul game in February. You need a guy like Jenkins in March to get the team all kinds of fired up.

Bridges / Jenkins / Paschall showing off their dance moves

Hopefully not BB2N. Saw this on Deadspin earlier, looks like they were responding to a dance challenge of sorts by a couple of Maryland players on Instagram. Pretty amusing. No wonder Bridges is a great defender, look how fast those feet move:

http://deadspin.com/this-tight-new-dance-is-taking-college-basketball-by-st-1771249058

TREVON L DUVALL

REALLY AN INTERESTING ARTICLE ON TREVOR DUVALL........SOMEONE CAN LINK FROM ZAGS...........SEEMS LIKE STRONG MUTUAL INTEREST.........REALLY COOL THAT ONE OF OUR ASSISTANT COACHES IMMEDIATELY TEXTED DUVAL WITHIN MINUTES AFTER OUR CHAMPIONSHIP...............LET ME SAY....IVE SEEN THIS KID....HE IS BY FAR THE BEST POINT GUARD IN THE COUNTRY.......HE IS A SUPREME TALENT........IS HE A NOVA FIT......I HAVE NO CLUE....ILL TRUST THE NAISMITH COACH OF THE YEAR TO FIGURE THAT ONE OUT.....SINCE HE HAS IT DOWN TO A SCIENCE.........ANYONE ELSE HAS AN AGENDA.......ILL TRUST ONE PERSON ONLY.....JAY WRIGHT TO FIGURE THAT OUT..........A FEW OTHER THOUGHTS......OUR ASSISTANTS....BAKER...ASHLEY...KYLE....ARE WORLD CLASS RECUITERS......THEY ARE OUT IN MASS ....SELLING OUR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP..............I BELIEVE ....WE LEAD FOR ALL OUR PROSPECTS TODAY.....THAT DOESNT MEAN WE WILL.....TWO MONTHS FROM NOW......BUT I DO BELIEVE.....THERE IS NO RUSH TO BEG FOR COMMITMENTS........IF IT WERE UP TO SOME ON THIS BOARD......WE SHOULD LOCK UP THREE KIDS.....TOMMOROW AND BE DONE WITH IT.......THERE ARE SOME ON A DAILY BASIS WHO SAY SIGN ME UP.......WHAT THE HECK ISTHE RUSH.......IF A KID REALLY LIKES NOVA....HE WILL LIKE THEM.....A MONTH OR TWO OR THREE FROM NOW..........I LUV DA DA ROUNDTREE...BUT HE HAS SEVEN OTHER SCHOOLS ON HIS LIST....SO TO ME NOVA SHOULD HAVE SEVEN MORE INTERIOR PLAYERS ON THEIRS...............WE HOLD THE CARDS........SAME WITH....LONNIE WALKER.......HE HAS SIX SCHOOLS......SEEMS TO ME WE ARE ENTITLED TO......IDENTIFY SIX MORE GUARDS......ETC...........PATIENCE............WHAT A NATIONAL CHAMPOIONSHIP WILL BRING IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE.........CHECK OUT THE ZAGS ARTICLE..........I EXPECT MANY MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS FROM KIDS ALL OVER THE NATION IN COMING WEEKS.......I CAN ASSURE YOU ALL THAT .....THERE ARE MORE THAN FOUR OR FIVE KIDS IN THIS VAST NATION.....THAT FIT OUR CULTURE OR ARE VILLANOVA KIDS.............

Ben Hogan was an overrated ball striker

seriously bro, I'm watching some old school Hogan footage and I'm not at all impressed. Barely hit 250 yards with his driver. I can hit it like 290 yards. You can talk up technology, but it's not that big a deal. He was a little bunter with the irons, lucky they played the lady's tees back in the day. 4 iron from 173 yds? Half of the Korean women's tour can hit their 4 iron two bills these days. I'm sure he was a pretty accurate player, but was he really any better than say a Cory Pavin who would also be toast in today's game against better athletes with more fine tuned swings?

Exactly

Might as well compare Danny Ainge's playing ability to Steph Curry.


Login to view embedded media

2016 Gavitt Tip Off Speculation

The Nova-Nebraska matchup was leaked April 13 last year, and the full matchups were formally announced on April 22. Let the speculation begin!

I ran through the early top 25 lists and the consensus seems that these will be the top Big 10 teams, roughly in order:

Michigan State
Wisconsin
Indiana
Purdue
Maryland

Assuming last year's home teams will be on the road this year, Michigan, Indiana, Penn State and Maryland wouldn't be paired with Nova, as they were all home last time. Also it was announced last year Maryland will get a return game at Georgetown this fall. Shame we probably won't see Nova @ Indiana, would have loved that.

Given this, Nova's best options are Michigan State, Wisconsin, or Purdue. Remaining available teams are Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State and Rutgers. Suppose I could live with Ohio State, but after Nebraska last year any of the rest would be another disappointment.

Also read on another board that Creighton and Marquette will be the two Big East teams sitting out this year.
  • Like
Reactions: kjbert

Tim brando

i dont have Twitter but my wife does and I never ever really looked at it until this tourney run. I was checking out tweets about nova and noticed Tim Brando was unbelievably complementary of us and openly rooting for us. I know some peeps don't care for him but at the very least I always aPpreciated his admiration for HOw Jay does things. If you have Twitter it's worth checking out. This was a good one:

@TimBrando: 6 weeks ago all I heard was where are Villanova's Pro's? I'd say they have 2 now,maybe 3. As for the question?How about 10 Great Collegians.

Villanova Recognized for Academic Progress Rate by NCAA

I do not believe it made this board but Villanova had a record 13 varsity teams recognized as being in the top ten percent for the annual Academic Progress Rate. Congratulations to our student athletes. The teams included mens basketball, football and mens soccer:
http://www.villanova.com/genrel/041416aaa.html

Below is the list of basketball awards for the most recent period considered (2014-2015). I am surprised to see Seton Hall, Kentucky and Louisville. I am equally surprised not to see more Ivy League teams (only 3 of 8), Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, BC and Georgetown. So, for example, JTIII did not get it done in the classroom as well as on the court!

Sport School State Academic Year
Men's Basketball Belmont University TN 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Bucknell University PA 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Clemson University SC 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Colgate University NY 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball College of William and Mary VA 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball College of the Holy Cross MA 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Cornell University NY 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Dartmouth College NH 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Davidson College NC 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Duke University NC 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Elon University NC 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Gonzaga University WA 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne IN 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball La Salle University PA 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Lafayette College PA 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Marist College NY 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Michigan State University MI 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Monmouth University NJ 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Seattle University WA 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Seton Hall University NJ 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Stanford University CA 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Stony Brook University NY 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball University of Florida FL 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball University of Kentucky KY 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball University of Louisville KY 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball University of Michigan MI 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball University of Northern Iowa IA 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball University of Pittsburgh PA 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball University of Texas at Austin TX 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball University of Utah UT 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Villanova University PA 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Virginia Commonwealth University VA 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball West Virginia University WV 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Western Carolina University NC 2014 - 2015
Men's Basketball Yale University CT 2014 - 2015
  • Like
Reactions: greyCat and nycat04
ADVERTISEMENT

Filter

ADVERTISEMENT