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Jay Wright Named AP Coach of the Decade

J
Wright garnered some much-deserved recognition Friday when he was named the AP Coach of the Decade.

Wright received 16 of 24 votes from a panel of AP poll voters, with Duke's Coach K the next closest with five votes. Mark Few, John Calipari, and Tony Bennett received one vote each.

It's hard to argue with the voting, as Wright brought Villanova two national titles in the decade. He also compiled five Big East regular-season titles and four Big East Tournament titles.

"Jay Wright's resume speaks for itself with two national titles in the 2010s," Dick Vitale told the AP. "He has developed a consistent winner and has enjoyed success on and off the court. He has a special winners mentality."

While, as Vitale notes, Wright's accomplishments speak for themselves, the award was about more than just the winning, as his impact on the game itself has to be considered as well.

"In my generation, coach Jay Wright's changed basketball. He's the one that kind of invented small ball, where your four man can shoot 3s," said Texas Tech coach Chris Beard at last year's Final Four. "They always have four guys on the floor that shoot. He's transformed basketball. They way they play, we're all kind of doing the same thing."

It is truly remarkable what Wright has accomplished at Villanova, and it's been a true joy for fans of the program. Congrats to Coach Wright on a much-deserved honor.
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Corey Evans Opines on Bryan Antoine's Future

J
We have a little bit of Nova-related content on this Christmas Day as Rivals' Corey Evans fielded a question about Bryan Antoine's future at Villanova in his weekly mailbag.

Evans was asked if he thought Antoine would head to the NBA Draft this summer despite his slow integration into the rotation following shoulder surgery.

Evans doesn't think it will happen and believes it is in Antoine's best interest to return to Villanova for his sophomore season, where he could put together some real tape at the college level and show scouts what he can do when fully healthy and up to speed.

I tend to agree with Evans. Most mock drafts and big boards that are currently out show a wide range on Antoine's current status, with the peak being an early second-round pick and some boards leaving him off altogether. With Antoine's talent, logic would tell you that playing a full college season would almost certainly make him a first-round pick, and with that comes the security of a guaranteed contract instead of the uncertainty and uphill battle that comes with being selected in the second round. And as Evans notes, a team that may take a flier on Antoine in the second round this year may not be fully invested in his future as it didn't make a substantial investment in him. Conversely, a second season at Villanova would allow Antoine's long-term interests to be more in-line with the current interest of the program, and Jay Wright has demonstrated an ability to get his players ready for the NBA.

We'll have to see how the situation develops, but Evans makes a lot of sense here and it's hard to disagree with his assessment. Having Antoine for a second season would be a big boost to Villanova's prospects in 2020-21, so we'll certainly be keeping a close eye on things.

You can read the full article here:

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/wednesday-s-leftovers-kansas-villanova-uconn-more
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Nova Hosting 2022 G Chance Westry for Unofficial Saturday

J
Saturday's big game with No. 1 Kansas could have some off-court implications as well, as Villanova is reportedly hosting 2022 point guard Chance Westry for an unofficial visit. The visit was first reported by Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers.

Westry is a 6-5 guard out of Trinity in Harrisburg. He is currently ranked No. 27 in his class by Rivals.

Michigan, Florida, Georgetown, Penn State, Providence, and Virginia Tech are among the other schools involved.

A win over the top-ranked team in the country in an electric atmosphere couldn't hurt the Cats chances of landing Westry.
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Nova Target Trevor Keels Breaks Out at NHS Hoops Festival, Discusses Recruitment

J
One of the few names that has really stood out on the Villanova 2021 recruiting board, Trevor Keels had a breakout moment at the National High School Hoops Festival last weekend, averaging 30 points across two games.

Keels took some time to speak with Rivals' Corey Evans, discussing his recruitment and shedding some light on his timeline. Keels has already taken visits to Ohio State and Virginia. Villanova appears in line to get a visit, but the recent involvement from Duke could complicate things for the others hoping to land the wing.

Here's what he had to say about Villanova:

"I know Slate (Brandon Slater) and Justin Moore, battling them in practice and playing them in games. Whenever I went up there, I actually played five-on-five. It went pretty well. I had a lot of confidence shooting the ball next to those guys."

It's interesting that he notes his familiarity with Slater and Moore, as that relationship and the fact that Keels plays for Paul Vi and Team Takeover, programs Nova has had success with, might be the 'Cats biggest advantage in his recruitment.

As far as the competition, Keels seems to like what he saw on his official visits to Ohio State and Virginia, and the hometown factor sounds like it's viewed as a positive for Maryland. The recent Duke offer has had the usual effect on Keels, and Miami seems to be the other strong contender. It looks like Duke, Maryland, Miami, and Villanova will be competing for his final three official visits.

Getting one of those visits will be key, as Keels said he wants to take all five and you would assume the odd man out will fall out of contention. This is something to keep an eye on in the spring, when Keels plans on rounding out his visits.

In addition to the purely basketball aspect, Keels said he will be looking at academics, a place where he can fit in, and that his parents will have an influence as well as he looks for a place that they like.

As Evans notes, the current timeline would seem to indicate a late fall decision.

Keels is currently ranked No. 32 in the 2021 Rivals 150.

You can read Evans' full write-up, including comments on the other contenders, at the link below.

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals...it-of-trevor-keels-after-breakout-performance
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First Look At Nova Players on 2020 NBA Big Board

J
The Athletic dropped its first Big Board for the 2020 draft and it contained three Nova players. We take a look at where they land and what it could mean for Nova going forward. We'll also track the movements of the big boards throughout the season and into the spring, or until we have final decisions from the players involved.

https://villanova.rivals.com/news/tracking-nova-s-nba-big-board-interests-vol-1
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Looking at Villanova's KenPom/Synergy Numbers Vol. 2

J
Our second look at Villanova's numbers on KenPom and Synergy. The hope is that in addition to providing context to our game previews, these posts will become more useful/enlightening as we get more data. Also, as this is a new series, I should be able to get better at them and find ways to maximize their usefulness, so I'm pretty excited about what these posts will be able to accomplish over the course of the season.

https://villanova.rivals.com/news/looking-at-villanova-s-kenpom-synergy-numbers-vol-2
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5 Takeaways From Win Over St. Joe's

J
Hey everybody, so kind of a weird day. I couldn't catch the game live because of a family commitment, and recording the game got screwed up because the football game on ESPN2 ran long, so I really didn't get to see any of the first half. That, combined with the fact that I couldn't sit down to write until about 1 AM, made a regular recap post seem kind of irrelevant.

I've been wanting to get back to doing "takeaway" articles anyway, so instead of the recap I skipped right to the takeaways, doing the best I could with what I saw of the game and what I could conclude from the stats. Going forward, I plan to use the "takeaways" article in addition to our usual recaps, but as I said today was just a little bit of a weird day.

Anyway, apologies for not having a recap and for it taking nearly eight hours after the game to get any coverage up today, it was just one of those days when circumstances prevented me from doing the job the way I want/expect to and I hate when that happens because you all deserve the best. I'll stop rambling now, and here's what we got from today's game.

https://villanova.rivals.com/news/5-takeaways-from-win-over-st-joe-s
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