Amidst all the craziness that occurred on Friday in 'Nova Nation, one bit of information that may have gotten lost in the shuffle is the return of Russell Wooten to the Villanova basketball team. Wooten is now enrolled in the Graduate program in Villanova, but retains one final year of eligibility as he only saw action in the past 2 seasons.
The move to bring Wooten back comes on the heels of the news that James Bell has undergone surgery on stress fractures in both his legs, leaving his freshman campaign in doubt. The decision to invite Wooten back into the fold is a smart one considering Bell's uncertainty leaves Jay Wright a little short on bench options, with anymore serious injuries putting the at a serious numbers crunch.
While Wooten probably won't light up the score sheet this season, his presence back on the team should help out in a multitude of ways.
More on Russell Wooten after The Jump.
Russell Wooten saw game action in 8 games last year, all considerable blowouts by Villanova. Wooten logged his first career points in the romp over the Penn Quakers and followed that up with another 2 points vs. the Drexel Dragons a few weeks later.
What does this all mean? Clearly, Wooten thrives in city-series games. He scored 4 points in 5 minutes of action, making him one of the more efficient offensive players on the team. He didn't appear in the loss to the Temple Owls, showing that maybe he should be a part of the game-plan.
All kidding aside, Wooten's best asset is going to be his work-ethic. As a walk-on he's going to be the guy getting the team ready each and every day. His energy and passion is going to be vital to prepare the Cats for the grind of the season where they look to reclaim some pride after last year's collaspe.
And who knows, if the unthinkable happens and Villanova finds itself with a short bench, he could find himself logging some more minutes than he is accustomed to. Having the experience that he has makes that situation a little less scary a thought.