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Jay Wright Addresses Sixers Speculation

With the hometown Sixers searching for a new coach, Jay Wright's name has inevitably come up. On Wednesday, Wright issued a statement addressing the issue and made clear where he stands.

"Out of respect for our Villanova Community and our 76ers organization, I feel the need to address speculation about the 76ers head coach position.

The 76ers have a great leader in Elton Brand, outstanding young talent and an incredible opportunity for any coach to compete for a championship. As a lifetime 76ers fan, I have confidence they will bring in the right coach to build on what Brett Brown has developed.

I am not a candidate for the job. I am very happy and honored to coach at Villanova.”

In my opinion, Wright leaving has always been a long shot as he has a nearly perfect situation at Villanova. Still, with the success he's had his name will pop up in these coaching searches and many have speculated that the one job he would consider leaving Villanova for is the Sixers. As such, until the Sixers made a hire or Wright addressed the issue, the speculation would have continued. Now we know for sure, and Nova Nation can rest easy knowing Wright will remain with the Wildcats.

Latest on College Basketball Season

CBS Sports' Matt Norlander shared the most recent updates on scenarios for the potential start of the college basketball season. Here's what we learned.

It looks as though there are four potential scenarios in play at this point:
1. No change to schedule (Practice Sept. 29, season starts Nov. 10)
2. Practice starts Oct. 9, season starts Nov. 20
3. Practice starts Oct. 14, season starts Nov. 25
4. Practice starts Oct. 24, season starts Dec. 4

These scenarios have not been decided on as the only options, but each has been presented to various decision-makers for feedback. Clearly, each scenario comes with its own set of other factors that would need consideration, most notably the impact on non-conference schedules. It appears that the floated idea of a Jan. 1 start date is losing momentum, while starting before or right after Thanksgiving is gaining momentum. This makes sense as it would be wise to take advantage of the winter break period when the majority of students won't be on campus.

The various committees that will be offering input on the situation are all expected to meet this week, and a tentative date of Aug. 31 is set for a meeting between the Men's and Women's oversight committees to nail down a start date/plan to be presented to the Division 1 Council. From there, the D-1 Council is expected to vote on a season start date on September 16.

Another area of discussion is when the NCAA Tournament would be played. The usual March timeline is still in play, but the idea of pushing it back to May has been floated. The delay would allow for more equitable evaluation of teams in conferences that have already postponed sports until the start of the new year (Pac-12, Ivy).

There appears to be some hope of an on-time start, but that starting around Thanksgiving seems to have the most momentum at this point.

At the very least, it looks like we'll get some more clarity on the situation over the next few weeks with hopefully a more solid plan by mid-September.

Trevor Keels Becoming a Race Between Villanova and Duke?

With the Wildcats solidifying the 2021 class with recent commitments from Jordan Longino and Angelo Brizzi all eyes turned to Trevor Keels. Would Villanova continue to make its push for the five-star shooting guard? Would Keels remain interested despite the big class? The answer to both questions was "yes" and now it looks like the push to sign Keels may be developing into a two-team race.

For a long time the favorites for Keels were assumed to be Villanova and Virginia. Other big players were involved, but Duke and North Carolina in particular were seen to be making a strong push. It now appears that the Blue Devils may have replaced Virginia in the pecking order, joining Villanova as the favorites to land Keels. Rivals' Corey Evans discussed today in his Twitter Tuesday column when he was asked if Michigan remained a contender for Keels.

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals...y-michigan-targets-banchero-to-join-chandler-

We've discussed the reasons why we think Nova would continue to push hard for Keels, and that seems to be playing out. It looks like the Cats will be doing battle with a formidable foe in the race for Keels, but there's no reason to think the Nova doesn't have a very good chance of winning that battle.

Keels has remained quiet and we still don't have much information on how he's leaning or when a decision could come, but his situation will continue to demand our attention into the fall as the Cats are very much still in the mix.

2022 Recruting Rumors

After two quick offers to Jalen Duren and Justice Williams right at the onset of communication with the 2022 class, things have been relatively quiet for Villanova regarding that group. That's understandable, as Jay Wright and staff were focused on nailing down an incredibly important 2021 class. With four key targets now in tow in the 2021 group, some rumblings have popped up regarding the 2022 class.

Word is that the Wildcats have been upping their effort with a pair of elite prospects in the class in Skyy Clark and Jarace Walker. Clark is a five-star PG currently ranked 16th in his class by Rivals, while Walker is a five-star forward ranked 10th.

Although it's early in the process, Clark is considered a Kentucky lean while Walker's recruitment appears wide open.

It remains to be seen how much substance there is to the chatter or how strong of a push Nova will make. However, with the success in the 2021 class Wright and Co. have some flexibility in 2022 and there's no reason not to go for a few home runs. Of course, when you've won two of the last three national titles, you're expected to get involved with these types of recruits, so all things considered the apparent Nova interest isn't much of a surprise.

Much of the recruiting attention remains on 2021 and Trevor Keels as we wait to see if Nova can bring in arguably the best class in the country. We'll continue to monitor that, as well as any further developments with Clark, Walker, and the rest of the 2022 class. I will also update our running tab on 2022 interests to reflect these latest developments.

Update on Current NCAA Position on Basketball Season

The incredible Dana O'Neil published a Q&A with NCAA Vice President of men's basketball Dan Gavitt today on The Athletic. Here we'll highlight the key takeaways as we search for clues as to whether or not we'll get a 2020-21 basketball season.

In terms of timeline, we should be paying attention to mid-September. That's the period Gavitt highlighted as when any possible alterations to the season schedule would need to be made by with official practices set to start Sept. 29.

In addition, the NCAA is fully committed to playing an NCAA Tournament in March. Gavitt cited the success of the NBA and WNBA bubbles as a source of optimism for being able to hold a traditional tournament, and the current plan is to do so with normal sites and dates. Gavitt also said the NCAA will have "a Plan B, C, and D" and that "it is far along in developing all of them." In Gavitt's mind, it is imperative that the tournament is played: "We absolutely have to play the tournament," he said.

The NCAA is already dealing with complications due to postponements in the Pac-12 and Ivy League such as how programs in those leagues will be allotted practice time and how the selection committee would evaluate teams from those conferences come tournament time, but the tone of the article seemed to indicate those are backburner issues right now. It wasn't said outright, but the feeling I got from the article is that the NCAA is focused on ensuring as many programs as possible can have as normal a season as possible.

There were some other basketball season scenario articles published on The Athletic today, and I'm going to dig through them and see if there is any worthwhile additional info. If so, I will post it in this thread, but I wanted to get this update posted first. For now, it appears the NCAA is committed to both a basketball season and an NCAA Tournament.

Also, here is a link to O'Neil's article if any of you subscribe to The Athletic and are interested.

https://theathletic.com/1993724/202...sions-have-to-be-made-for-college-basketball/
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Cats Back at Work, Looking Fit

As uncertainty continues to dominate the sports landscape, especially at the collegiate level, the Wildcats are back on campus and preparing for the 2020-21 season together for the first time since being sent home from campus at the onset of the coronavirus outbreak.

Jay Wright shared some pictures of the players working in the weight room, a welcome sight for sports fans and in particular Villanova fans who are hopeful another national title can be added to the resume. While we can't glean a whole lot from still photos, one thing that jumps out is the physiques of the players. Take a look:

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At the very least, it appears that the players continued to work hard and take care of themselves while being away from the program, and the importance of that can't be overstated. Hopefully, we'll be able to see that work manifest itself on the court this winter.

Update on Recruiting Protocols

I'm hearing some rumblings that the NCAA will extend the ban on in-person recruiting today, potentially for a considerable amount of time. Obviously this isn't confirmed yet and we could get a surprise, but it is the thinking around the recruiting world right now.

A significant extension would likely have key impacts on both the 2021 and 2022 classes.

As for 2021, if the rumblings prove to be true we could get a slew of commitments as any prospects who have been delaying their decision in the hopes of getting in-person, on-campus visits will abandon that hope and make a choice on the information they have. As for Villanova, the question would be if that scenario is what is slowing things with Trevor Keels. We don't have much info on what his timeline is or what is impacting this timeline, but it's possible that he was hoping to get in visits.

With the 2022 class, an extension of the ban would not only affect visits but also further delay opportunities for in-person evaluation which would greatly affect the amount of information programs have in evaluating the players and forming their boards. In my opinion, this is why Keels remains so important for Nova. If they land him and bring in a five-man class in 2021, the need to hit on the 2022 class is drastically reduced. That could be huge as teams that desperately need to bring in a strong class in 2022 will be working in difficult circumstances and it will not only be harder to identify the proper talent and fits but it will also increase the risk of making a mistake and bringing in a player to doesn't fit or doesn't bring the attributes it was thought he would.

Again, just wanted to give you all a heads up based on what I'm hearing and we'll wait for official word from the NCAA.
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CAA Suspends Fall Sports

On Friday, the CAA announced that the Board of Directors has voted to suspend fall sports in 2020 as the coronavirus outbreak continues to rage across the country. Obviously, this is pretty big news for the Villanova football program.

The conference said it will be looking into the possibility of playing a spring football season. It's also worth noting that under the terms of the vote, member schools will be able to host practices and, more importantly, will be allowed to pursue playing an independent schedule in the fall.

Villanova said it is exploring multiple options for a football season in the 2020-21 academic year.

The announcement comes a day after the Big East announced a conference-only schedule for fall sports. That decision affects the following programs at Villanova: field hockey, volleyball, men's and women's soccer, and men's and women's cross country. In addition, plans are still under review for non-championship sports including golf, rowing, and men's and women's tennis.

The university continues to explore options for student-athletes to train and receive athletic instruction upon their return to campus regardless of the competitive schedule.

Thoughts on 2021 Recruiting Going Forward?

As expected, things picked up on the recruiting front over the past week and that will continue into next week with the decisions from Rahsool Diggins and Angelo Brizzi. Brizzi is widely expected to pick Nova and become the fourth member of the 2021 class while Diggins appears to be headed elsewhere.

The Cats currently have the second-ranked class in the country with the commitments of Nnanna Njoku, Trey Patterson, and Jordan Longino. The addition of Brizzi would further solidify a very important class for the Cats. While we have to wait for the official word from Diggins and Brizzi, I'm curious as to what happens after those two come off the board and I'd love to hear from you on what you expect to happen and/or what you'd like to see happen.

I'm of the mind that even if things shake out the way we expect over the next few days and Brizzi joins the class that Nova will still make an effort to get a fifth commitment in the class but just listening to some talk around the recruiting world I get the sense I'm in the minority with that thought. The two big candidates for that fifth scholarship would be Stevie Mitchell and Trevor Keels. The question with Mitchell would be would he be interested in committing even with the addition of Brizzi as they are both lead guards. As for Keels, it would seem he would have a better shot at earning early playing time regardless of roster makeup thanks to Villanova's system.

I think the addition of either player would be beneficial. With Mitchell, it never hurts to have another capable ballhandler. Meanwhile, Keels is an impressive talent who could provide more punch on the wing and give Wright some versatility in lineup construction. Villanova is thought to be in a great position with Keels.

Again, I'd like to see the Cats add a fifth player to the class and my gut tells me they will make a push to do so. But again, I seem to be in the minority there. The uncertainty with the coronavirus is playing a part in my thinking as well. The 2022 class has already lost an entire spring/summer of evaluation and there are serious questions as to what the 2020-21 high school season will look like. Will it even get played? If it does, will coaches be able to evaluate players in person? We just don't know. Furthermore, we can't know what next spring and summer will look like. The hope is that there will be a vaccine at that point, but if we've learned anything from the past three months it's that it is silly to make any assumptions about the virus and its effects on life. With that in mind, I think it would be wise to take the extra commitment in 2021 with a known commodity, reducing pressure to have a perfect 2022 class amid the uncertainty.

What do you all think will happen? What do you want to happen? Should the Cats stand pat with Njoku, Patterson, Longino, and presumably Brizzi or should they try to add Keels or Mitchell? I have the feeling we'll dig deeper into this once we see for certain what happens with Diggins and Brizzi, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on the situation.

Villanova Offers 2021 PG Angelo Brizzi

Brizzi announced the offer on his Twitter account Wednesday night.

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Brizzi is a 6-4 guard out of Virginia who attends Highland School and is currently listed as a three-star recruit by Rivals.

It looks like Villanova is the first high-major to get involved here. Some other programs involved so far include La Salle, St. Joe's, Drexel, Lehigh, Yale, George Washington, Navy and Bucknell among some other low-majors.

The biggest takeaway here, in my opinion, is that we should expect an incredibly busy time in the 2021 recruiting cycle. Villanova could have as many as seven or eight open scholarships in that class, and even if it's not that high it could face some possible early departures the following season, and I think this is evidence that Jay Wright will try to fill every open scholarship he has. It also looks like Wright is trying to get ahead of this a little bit by being active in the transfer market, but he will still need to hit the 2021 class hard.

By all accounts, Villanova is in excellent position with some of their 2021 priorities like Trevor Keels, Langston Love, Max Christie, Trey Patterson and Nnanna Njoku. The Cats are also expected to be a player with other recruits such as Jordan Longino, among others. Even if Nova lands two or three of the group mentioned above, which would be viewed as a home run, there will likely still be room to sign another player or two with more long-term, developmental potential. Brizzi certainly appears to fit the mold of a somewhat unheralded recruit who could come in and benefit from the developmental process at Villanova and turn into a productive player, similar to Collin Gillespie.

I've reached out to some high school basketball people in Virginia to try to get some info on Brizzi, but for now here is some of the limited video on him.

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Angelo Brizzi Set to Announce Decision on Monday

The flurry of activity on the recruiting front continues as 2021 Villanova target Angelo Brizzi has announced that he will make his commitment on Monday evening, per Rivals' Corey Evans.

We've discussed Brizzi a fair amount here since he received a Nova offer back in early April. At the time, Brizzi was an unranked, three-star recruit. Villanova was the first high-major program to offer, and several others followed suit. As of the latest Rivals 150 for the 2021 class, Brizzi had risen to No. 114 in his class and has been awarded a fourth star.

There has been a lot of chatter about Brizzi to Nova this week, and that combined with this decision date announcement would seem to indicate a Nova lean here. Brizzi will select from a final eight of Villanova, Arizona, Northwestern, Colorado, Michigan, Cal, Dartmouth, and Davidson.
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Rahsool Diggins to Announce Decision Sunday

Things continue to be busy on the recruiting front as 2021 PG Rahsool Diggins has announced that he will be committing on Sunday.

It's been a strange spring and summer for Diggins. Despite the lack of evaluation periods, he saw his stock rise with Kansas and Villanova getting involved in late April/early May. He was set to cut his list to eight in mid-June, but instead decided to postpone doing so, saying he would instead cut to a final six at a later date. That cut never happened, and now it appears it won't as Diggins is set to make a commitment. Adding a big of intrigue from Nova's perspective is that the news of this announcement comes hours after reports that another Nova PG target, Angelo Brizzi, would announce his decision on Monday.

Diggins will be selecting from a wide list of suitors that includes Rutgers, UConn, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Florida and others in addition to Kansas and Villanova. There's not a whole lot of insight where he's leaning at the moment, but UConn seems to be getting most of the limited buzz that is out there.

For what it's worth, there has been plenty of chatter about Brizzi to Nova and you'd have to think Diggins would look elsewhere if that is the case. Regardless, we'll have a busy few days coming up that look like they will bring even more clarity to Nova's 2021 board.

Jordan Longino Teases Thursday "Announcement"

Right on cue (if you read the last thread), Nova target Jordan Longino has teased a "big announcement" coming Thursday.

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Now, the message is a bit cryptic in that Longino didn't explicitly say he will be making his decision. He could be implying a cut to his list (he hasn't made any cuts or identified his top schools) or any number of other things. However, many in the recruiting world expect it to mean that a decision is coming, and that is a fair assumption.

Regardless, we'll be paying close attention Thursday night for an announcement that is likely to have significant implications on Villanova's 2021 class. If Longino's announcement is, in fact, a commitment, Villanova is joined by Indiana, Virginia, Ohio State, Maryland, Marquette and UConn as some of the other key players involved.
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Busy Week in Recruiting Coming?

Could this week be a busy one on the recruiting front? There are rumblings that it could be.

Several players, most notably five-star Matthew Cleveland, have already announced their intentions to make decisions this week. Now, you might be saying to yourself "Cleveland isn't a Nova target, what does this have to do with Villanova?" Fair question. But there is strong sentiment that the several announcements expected this week could open the floodgates a bit across the 2021 class.

The thought process is that the ongoing disruptions of the coronavirus have had a twofold effect on recruits. One is that being limited to phone calls and virtual meetings has given the sense to recruits that they have gotten all the information they are going to get. The other is that the uncertainty has caused players to want to get locked into their future schools so they can shift their focus and preparation with that specific in mind. We've seen in the past that a flurry of commitments can have a bit of a snowball effect on a recruiting class, and that effect could be amplified by the current circumstances.

We're still waiting on any Nova-specific developments, but it definitely feels as though you should be paying attention to things this week. Even if no Nova-specific developments occur this week, it seems at the very least we'll gain some clarity on the landscape of the 2021 class this week.

Seton Hall Coach Kevin Willard Gives Insight on Big East Position on 2020-21 Basketball

As the coronavirus continues to rage across the country, conferences are making decisions on football season and it won't be long until the same will be required for basketball season. Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard talked to the New York Post's Zach Braziller about his thoughts on the situation. Considering that Willard is a member of the conference's COVID-19 Task Force, it's worth highlighting what he said.

The biggest takeaway was that Willard is resolutely opposed to one idea that has been floated around the basketball world and has been repeatedly suggested by Rick Pitino: delaying the start of the season until January 1. Willard believes that would be a mistake. With many schools adopting an altered fall schedule, that will see an earlier start, no fall break, and an end to the on-campus semester coming ahead of Thanksgiving, Willard sees that long period of virtually no students being on campus as an ideal time to play, with the empty campuses serving as a sort of bubble. Not taking advantage of that and waiting to play until shortly before students return for the spring semester would be "idiotic" in Willard's opinion.

Willard's point makes a lot of sense. It would seem prudent to take advantage of the 5-7 week period when campuses will be virtually empty.

It would be fair to take Willard's position on when to start the season and assume that would translate into playing a full schedule, but that is not the case. Willard is currently suggesting an expanded conference-only schedule. His thought process is that it would give the conference some flexibility if it became necessary to postpone games and also that it will be easier for the Big East to implement conference-wide protocols that would ensure every program is taking the same precautions and are on the same page. The conference is in the process of establishing testing, safety and travel protocols. Willard isn't opposed to non-conference games but would want other conferences to have similar protocols in place, and with the NCAA basically leaving it to the conferences and the differing circumstances across the country that feels like a tall order.

We've mentioned the benefit of time that basketball has here, and the Big East is taking advantage of that. Willard has shared his thoughts with other Big East coaches and administrators and the league is considering several plans while using the time they have to assess the continually changing situation.

It does sound, at least for now, that the Big East has every intention of playing and is trying to figure out the best way to make that happen.

From a fan perspective, it would be nice to see a full schedule played as Villanova has several intriguing non-conference matchups scheduled, including a matchup with Virginia that would be one of the highlights of the entire college basketball calendar. On the other hand, at this point sports fans will take what they can get.

For now, we have a little insight into what the conference is thinking and will wait for more tidbits like this to come out while we continue to monitor the situation.

2021 LB Shane Hartzell Commits to Villanova

Even as uncertainty looms over the 2020 college football season the Cats continue to build for the future. On Saturday, they added the commitment of LB Shane Hartzell.

Hartzell is a local product, playing at Pennridge in Bucks County. He missed all but two games of his junior season with an injury, but in those two games plus the portion of the third game in which he was injured he piled up 30 tackles, three sacks, and two forced fumbles. As a sophomore, he was Second-Team All-State.

Hartzell picked Nova from a final four of Princeton, Lehigh, and Monmouth.
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