Tonight, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv published a feature on Scottie Reynolds, discussing the importance of his leadership role this season after the loss of Dante, Dwayne and Shane. Not much new here, but here’s a sampling of some of the more interesting quotes and anecdotes (at least it's not a list, NervousNelly and Ray 68!):
"One day last spring, Scottie Reynolds was sitting in his Christianity and the Modern World class when a student walked in with a seat ripped straight out of TD Banknorth Garden -- the site of Villanova's Elite Eight victory over Pittsburgh last March. The student walked over to Reynolds, set the stolen chair down on his desk and asked for an autograph."
"We have all the talent, we have all the pieces to be a great and successful team," Reynolds said. "But we can't really worry about the rankings and what people are saying on the outside. We have to run our own race."
"I think the NBA tryout experience helped me tremendously. I know that as a leader my job is not to worry about myself. I have to worry about everybody else and make sure they're on the same page."
"Losing Cunningham was a big deal, and so was Anderson," said ESPN analyst, Jay Bilas. Those were the two physically toughest players, and I think you could make a pretty good argument they were the mentally toughest that [head coach] Jay Wright had last year so that's not going to be easy to overcome. But they should be very, very good."
"Yarou, a native of Benin, a country in Western Africa, should add a legitimate shot-blocking presence that Villanova has sorely lacked in recent years. "Definitely," Reynolds said. "Just with [Mouph’s] length and his shot-blocking ability, he can change people's shots coming into the paint."