A tough one for the Cats on Saturday night.


Also, now that we're passed the holiday and the schedule should be a little more spaced out, we hope to start getting back into more in depth looks at the games with extra articles in addition to the recaps.

The Cats were scheduled to arrive home and begin preparing for Monday's Holy War game against St. Joe's but instead will remain in Connecticut to add a third game against Virginia Tech on Saturday. Villanova didn't want to play Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Monday so it reached out to St. Joe's about rescheduling their contest before agreeing to anything at the Mohegan Sun. St. Joe's granted the request, giving 'Nova the chance to get another game in. As a result, it looks like Villanova-St. Joe's will be moved from Monday to Wednesday next week. The game is still scheduled for broadcast on FS1.

On Thursday night, Villanova closed the first half on a 10-3 run to take a nine-point lead into the break against Arizona State. In addition to the importance of the run on the scoreboard, it was notable because of the lineup Jay Wright had on the floor. More specifically, the combination of Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Eric Dixon on the floor together. As Dixon becomes more integrated, it will be interesting to see more of this lineup. It certainly had some success in a short run Thursday night.

Wright was asked about the lineup: “I like that lineup. As I said, I love Eric Dixon. And Jeremiah was just great. Players make such a huge difference. He got hot there at the end of the first half, and it was a close game, it was a two-point game and then Jeremiah just went on consecutive midrange jumpers and really created separation, and then we had a couple good stops. We never had a lead like that until the end of the half, it wasn’t like we were holding onto that lead. We just built it at the end of the half.” On Thursday, I think the biggest plus from this lineup was the defensive impact, but it will be interesting to see if we get more of the lineup as the season progresses and what kind of impact it can have.

For reference on Wright's Dixon comment, here's a full quote he gave on Dixon earlier in the press conference: “I love Eric Dixon. I love this kid. He has a lot of talent. He knows he has a lot of work to do. He understands it. He’s intelligent about it. I know he’s gonna get there. And I want to get him every chance we can because of those factors. If you’ve got a guy that has talent but knows he needs to work, is patient, and intelligent, you have something special. I love that he gave us really good defense, good rebounding. He did a great job.” Wright also noted the couple of tip-outs Dixon had to keep possessions alive for the Cats. Wright always has his players' backs, but he isn't one to push public praise of a player when it's not warranted. The statement echoes what Wright has been saying about Dixon all summer and fall, and clearly he has high hopes for the young forward. Once things click for Dixon, it will be interesting to see how he is deployed and if we get more of this "big" look from the Cats.

Coach Wright met with reporters Friday afternoon and updated the injury statuses of Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree and Bryan Antoine. The news wasn't particularly encouraging. "Not soon," Wright said in response to when the players could return. "Both of them are coming along slowly." Wright noted that DCR's situation is more serious and that he's dealing with a "stress fracture situation." Wright thinks it will be at least a month for Dada. As for Antoine, they are simply being excessively cautious because it is the same shoulder that he injured before. Wright didn't give a timetable on Antoine, but said that he hasn't practiced or even shot a basketball yet so "we're gonna have a while."

Villanova has decided to extend its stay in Connecticut. Shortly after the team's win over Arizona State, CBS Sports' Matt Norlander reported that the Wildcats were considering staying at the Mohegan Sun and adding another opponent. At 1:45 AM, Norlander confirmed a decision had been made and that the 'Cats would, in fact, add another game in Connecticut. Villanova will now play Virginia Tech at 8 PM on Saturday.

The move makes a ton of sense. Once teams have checked into the bubble environment at Mohegan Sun, there have been no COVID issues. In addition, as we reported earlier Thursday, Villanova's game against Temple is currently off and whether it gets played at all is in doubt. By adding Virginia Tech, Nova will be under less pressure to try to reschedule the Temple game and cover themselves in the event it couldn't get rescheduled. Interestingly, the slot was open for Virginia Tech because the Hokies were scheduled to play Temple. Now both teams can reconcile their respective Temple issues and do so without having to add additional travel or other logistics.

It's going to be an interesting season to say the least, and adding a game to the schedule at 1:45 in the morning less than 48 hours in advance is another example of that. So mark your calendars, as Virginia Tech-Villanova is a go for Saturday night at 8. Currently, the game is scheduled for broadcast on ESPNNews, but we'll monitor for confirmation on that.

An impressive showing from the Cats to move to 2-0 on the season and claim another early season tournament title.

On Thursday, Temple announced it was pausing basketball activities and starting a 14-day quarantine due to a positive test in the program. That obviously means that the Dec. 3 game between Temple and Villanova will not be played as scheduled and is currently listed as "postponed." At this time it is unclear if the game will be rescheduled. Villanova could also look for another opponent to fill the vacancy. Considering the proximity of the schools, you would think it would be relatively easy to find a way to reschedule the game, but we'll have to wait and see what the schools decide.

Nova grinded its way to a season-opening win against Boston College.

It's finally time. The Cats will get back on the court tonight to kick off the 2020-21 season. Here's a look at their opening opponent, the Boston College Eagles.

Also, huge apologies from me for getting this up less than three hours before game time. Rivals was experiencing technical difficulties for much of the day, and even after the home page and forums became available, my access to site administration stuff was limited for another hour or two on top of that, so again please accept my apologies, I had hoped to have this up first thing in the morning.

Villanova has offered 2022 guard Mark Armstrong, per his Twitter page. Armstrong plays at St. Peter's Prep in New Jersey.

Armstrong is currently an unranked, 3-star prospect according to Rivals, but I have to wonder if some of that might have to do with the disruptions of the pandemic and the lack of evaluation opportunities. Other schools in the mix for Armstrong include Louisville, Kansas, Seton Hall, Creighton, St. John's, Rutgers, Illinois, VCU, DePaul, Auburn, and UConn, among others, so there's certainly some strong buzz and interest around him.

We heard last week that there may have been renewed interest in Floyd from Villanova, and that has been confirmed as Floyd has announced he has received a Nova offer via his Twitter page.

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Floyd is currently ranked 96th in his class by Rivals but has been ranked as high as 81st. The four-star guard plays for Roselle Catholic in New Jersey. Floyd recently released a top 7 of Rutgers, Providence, Miami, Wake Forest, Florida, UConn and Auburn. Villanova now joins that group. Floyd joins guard Justice Williams and big man Jalen Duren as 2022 Nova offerees.

After a crazy day, it appears the Empire Classic once again has a full field of four teams. There are several reports, including from Jon Rothstein, that Rhode Island will be the team to replace Baylor.

Nova is still slated to open with Boston College on Wednesday. The winner will play the winner of Arizona State-Rhode Island on Thursday, while the losers of each matchup will also face off Thursday. There is a report that Villanova-Boston College will move to the later time slot on Wednesday, tipping off after ASU-URI or approximately 9:30 instead of 7.

With the season just days away and the first official home game a week away, Villanova has announced changes to its 2020-21 attendance policy, the school announced via release.

The plan had been to allow for 15% capacity at the Pavilion distributed among students, faculty, and staff. That policy has been amended, and currently only family of student-athletes will be permitted to attend. “The health and safety of our entire community continues to drive each and every decision at Villanova," Director of Athletics Mark Jackson said. "Based on current conditions, we felt it was in everyone’s best interest to limit access to games for the time being. We will continue to monitor the situation and adjust the policy as needed as we move through the season. We are incredibly grateful for the patience and understanding of NovaNation as we navigate these unprecedented times.”

Villanova is slated to kick off the season Wednesday at the Empire Classic with Boston College, Baylor, and Arizona State. Now, just three days before opening tip, there is a threat to that event.

On Sunday, Baylor head coach Scott Drew announced he had tested positive for COVID-19. Drew said his positive result came from Friday's round of testing and he immediately began isolating and the team conducted contact tracing. He also noted that he is asymptomatic. The program did not register any other positives in Friday's round of testing or after another round of testing on Sunday. As such, Drew stated that the team intended to travel to Connecticut to participate in the event, and will increase their testing to daily in the remaining days leading up to the event. However, hours later, Baylor's opening opponent, Arizona State, announced that it will withdraw from the event in light of Drew's announcement (Jeff Goodman had the report first). That leaves Baylor with no opening opponent while Villanova (hopefully) plays Boston College on Wednesday.

With the news coming slightly before midnight, there has been no word from the Empire Classic people, the Mohegan Sun people, or any of the other three teams involved in the event. For now I would assume one of two things will happen...either Baylor simply awaits the winner of Nova-Boston College and plays them on Thursday, or the event scrambles to try to find a team (someone relatively local?) who has the date open and would be willing to join. Now, those are the optimistic scenarios. It's possible Baylor reacts by deciding not to travel, or that one or more of the other teams pulls out, and the entire event falls apart. I would think that due to the work that went into putting this event together, and schedules together at all, that the remaining schools will want to get games in assuming Baylor continues to return negative tests. Regardless, this is the last thing we wanted to hear just days before the start of the season. Obviously this is a developing situation, and we will update with more info when we have it.

Jay Wright met with the media Thursday afternoon as the start of the season is just six days away. Here are the key takeaways from the press conference.

-Wright is encouraged to have a more experienced team considering all the disruptions. Says he's interested to see how they look on Wednesday as the team hasn't been able to scrimmage anyone like they would in a normal preseason.

-Team will leave for Mohegan Sun Monday so they can get tested there Monday night, normally they would leave on Tuesday for a Wednesday game. Said players and coaches are excited to get the season underway.

-Says he will breathe a sigh of relief when team gets to 13 games played (minimum to qualify for NCAA Tourney) and is hopeful to be close to that number by the start of the new year. The program is talking to other schools that have openings on their schedule as potential backup opponents if any of their scheduled opponents can't play.

-Is looking for more creativity from Collin Gillespie offensively, looking for more crafty ways to score. Used Jalen Brunson as an example in terms of pivots and isolation moves, and generally wants Gillespie to be aggressive.

-Thinks having the NCAA Tournament at a single site is the correct move and is pleased the NCAA has moved to do that.

-Says there will be changes to offensive and defensive philosophy in light of limited practice time and in consideration of possibly being without guys later in the season. Says they will be looking for simplicity and adjustability.

-He feels "joy" for his players that go on to the NBA and takes pride in the way they conduct themselves and the way they stay connected to each other after their time at Nova.

-Cosby-Roundtree has been providing great leadership despite his injury, and Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels have been doing a great job leading as well. Wright has been "impressed" with their leadership.

-Still going back and forth on fifth starter. It could change even during the season. Mentioned Cole Swider, Brandon Slater, and Caleb Daniels. Says they could potentially use the most potent of those three offensively as a sixth man.

Jay Wright offered some insight into the battle for the final spot in the starting lineup and how he is approaching the decision.

Jon Rothstein has reported that the NCAA has again extended the recruiting dead period, this time all the way out to April 15, 2021.

That means there will be no in-person observation of prospects for any that actually have a high school season this winter, and it also starts to bump up against the start of the spring AAU circuit. Hopefully, this will be the final time the dead period gets extended and we can get back to normal, or something close to it, in the spring and into the summer. For now, this is going to cause at least some disruption for the 2022 and 2023 classes as coaches will be limited to video and word of mouth from people connected with high school programs.

Corey Floyd Jr. was one of the first prospects that popped up on the radar over the summer when coaches were allowed to make first contact with 2022 recruits. However, nothing seemed to materialize and we didn't hear anything about Floyd and the Cats really since those first few days of contact with his class. The idea that interest between the parties had diminished seemed to be validated on Sunday when Floyd drppped a top 7 that didn't include the Wildcats (it was UConn, Rutgers, Florida, Miami, Auburn, Wake Forest and Providence). Again, there was no suprise with that list as there has been virtually no chatter about Floyd and Villanova.

On Monday, that appeard to change. Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers reported that Floyd told him that Villanova has entered the mix. Now, there's a lot of questions here, not the least of which is the timing. If the report is true, how serious is the interest and does Villanova have a legitmate chance despite Floyd already having announced a top 7? We'll just have to wait and see if anything materializes here, but it's something to keep an eye on.

Floyd, a 6-3 guard out of Roselle Catholic in New Jersey, is a four-star prospect who is currently ranked 96th in his class by Rivals. He has been ranked as high as 81st.

Dixon became a topic of conversation at Wright's Thursday press conference, and the coach had plenty of positive things to say about the forward.

While there was plenty for Jay Wright to talk about with the start of the season just weeks away, the impetus for Thursday's presser was the official addition of Angelo Brizzi, Trey Patterson, Nnanna Njoku, and Jordan Longino to the program after each signed a letter of intent on Wednesday. We'll save some of what Wright said on one of those recruits for a full article, but here is the rest of what Wright said on the newest Wildcats.

“We’re really proud of the group we have. I’m really proud of our assistant coaches who had to do a lot of work. We got a really good class we’re proud of.”

“Angelo Brizzi, big-time student, really tough, smart player, son of a coach. Trey Patterson great young player, great student. Jordan Longino, I have a special place in my heart because he’s a football quarterback, just a really tough player, kind of reminds me of a Reggie Redding type, we’re really psyched about him.”

A student reporter from the Villanovan noted that Patterson has said he sees himself bringing a little bit of Mikal Bridges, Saddiq Bey, and Josh Hart to the program, and asked Wright his thoughts.

“I think he’s right on. He’s got like the length of Mikal, he’s got kind of the skill of Saddiq, it’s pretty interesting the combination. He’s got the committed competitiveness of Josh Hart. He does have a lot of those qualities. And like all of those guys, incredible family. Both his parents were division 1 players.”

Wright seemed really pleased with the class and excited about their potential. He also noted that "we want one more guy in that class. That I can’t talk about obviously. But we still want to build on that.” We all know who he's talking about, and that will be something we'll have an eye on even as the season approaches and gets underway.

We still have more to share from Wright's presser, but think the remaining topics warrant articles of their own. Those topics will be who might be the fifth starter, the progress/potential of Eric Dixon, and Angelo Brizzi's journey to Villanova, so stay tuned for those articles today and tomorrow.

Inevitably, one of the main topics of Jay Wright's Thursday press conference was the COVID situation. Cases are spiking nationally as college basketball is just weeks away from starting its season, and everyone is wondering how things will go and what it's like for a college program trying to navigate these circumstances. Here's a roundup of Thursday's COVID discussion.

Wright said it's constantly on his mind. The program received its results from yesterday's testing today (no positives) and Wright said it was the first thing he thought about when he woke up. “I lay in bed at night and think about it," Wright said. "We got in here today, everybody’s good and you just take a sigh of relief and then you know you got two days and then you test the next day. It’s a crazy way to go through the season. But I think all of us are willing to do whatever we have to to play basketball.” The program is testing every three days at this point.

In addition to following guidance from the university, the Big East, and state and local officials, the program is doing everything it can to be proactive and keep everyone safe and healthy. "We have created our own version of a bubble on campus where our guys are really isolated and we’ve gotta leave it up to the honor system and I’m really proud of these guys, so far so good." Wright said.

Wright noted that doctors have made it clear that the only way to ensure an uninterrupted season is to have a bubble. The Big East has explored the idea, but there are simply too many obstacles to making it happen. Unlike the NBA, colleges would have to also set up a bubble for women's teams and ultimately the cost is prohibitive. As a result, Wright expects there to be interruptions and disruptions during the season. "One of our challenges is that we’re indoors. We’re gonna have an interrupted season. That’s why the Big East is holding on to their January/February schedule because we’re trying to get in as much as we can in December and then figure out how we leave space for games to be able to make them up in January/February.”

Still, he is confident they will be able to get through it and have a representative season that culminates with the NCAA tournament. “We are following everything the pro sports do, we’re following college football just to learn anything we can," Wright said. "I think we can be better (than college football) because we’re watching, we’re learning everything. Hopefully we all learn lessons and put protocols in place."

Wright also noted that they are still working under the assumtption that they will be able to have 15% capacity at the Pavilion, and that season ticket holders have volunteered to give up their seats so students can be the ones to attend games. That's a great gesture, and I'm almost certain we have some season ticket holders among our members, so kudos to you all.

Jay Wright met virtually with reporters Thursday morning and touched on a wide range of topics. We'll have full updates on the presser throughout the day, but wanted to give a quick update here on the injury situation. Wright couldn't get into full details, but we found out who specifically was dealing with injuries and got a general idea of what those injuries were.

Collin Gillespie missed nearly two months with a hamstring injury and has recently returned to practice.

Justin Moore missed a month with a bone bruise and recently returned to practice. Wright said there was concern the injury was more serious so they were relieved that it was just a bone bruise and Justin is working his way back into things.

Bryan Antoine has injured his shoulder again. It is the same shoulder that was surgically repaired last year, but it is not the same injury that Antoine had when he arrived at Villanova last spring. Wright said it's not as severe an injury, but naturally they are being extra careful with it due to the circumstances. Wright didn't give a timeline for getting back to action, but it didn't sound like Antoine will be ready for the start of the season. Something we'll have to keep an eye on as the season approaches.

Obviously, this isn't the best news with the season just two weeks away and the team already trying to catch up from a disrupted offseason program, but hopefully Gillespie and Moore's experience will help as they try to get caught up.

We're just two weeks away from Villanova tipping off the 2020-21 season against Boston College and we're continuing to get more details regarding the schedule. On Wednesday, the Big East released tip times and TV broadcasts for its December games. Here are the details for Villanova's first four conference games...

December 11 at Georgetown 5 PM on FS1
December 14 DePaul 7 PM on FS1
December 16 Butler 7 PM on FS1
December 23 at Marquette 7 PM on FS1

We're still waiting on confirmation on the rest of the Big East schedule, but we now have a pretty good idea of what the schedule will look like through the end of the calendar year.