Just Say No to 'Dougs' … The week began with Jay Wright shaking up his staff after last year’s disappointing 13-19 season, announcing that former Villanova great Doug West was leaving the staff to make room for high school and AAU coach Doug Martin. However, Martin's stay was short-lived after he resigned on Friday after discovery of a false claim in his resume that he played basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. ESPN’s Dana O’Neill broke the story after double-checking Martin's past history with former
Not for the Faint of Hart … Rob Dauster of NBC Sports reports that as Villanova finalized its agreement to hire Doug Martin, the Cat’s chances of landing 2013 Sidwell Friends guard, Josh Hart, seemed to be looking up. Interviewed at the Live in AC event, Hart told SNY.TV, "The [Villanova coaching staff] seem kind of genuine and that kind of thing. Also my 16s coach [Doug Martin] is going to be at Villanova so that’s never a bad thing. I know I will be taken care of with him there."
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly …CBS Sports’ Jeff Goodman reported the results of two polls of college coaches capturing their collective view on basketball’s most underrated and overrated head coaches. The list of most underrated was led by
Xs and Os Are Overrated … NBC Sports’ Rob Dauster commented on the CBS poll naming the most overrated coaches. He writes, "The most interesting part of the entire column is the observation by Gary Parrish said that the most important part of being a head coach isn’t actual coaching acumen. It’s the ability to recruit. It’s the ability to put together a quality coaching staff. It’s the ability to motivate players. I agree completely. Talent aggregation may be the most important skill for a college basketball coach to have, but an elite understanding of the x’s-and-o’s is almost as important. You can win games based on talent alone and you can win games based on coaching alone, but there is a reason that Rick Barnes and Bo Ryan have the same number of national titles."
Walk For A Good Cause … The Ocean City Patch reports that former Villanova great, Chris Ford, Phil Martelli (St. Joe’s) and Fran Dunphy (Temple) and former Villanova coach and CBS commentator Steve Lappas, gathered outside the Ocean City Fire Department on Aug. 9 to promote the fourth annual Walk for the Wounded on Ocean City Boardwalk, which benefits wounded soldiers and their families. The three-mile Walk for the Wounded is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 29, on the Ocean City Boardwalk. To register, visit walkforthewounded.org or ochome.com.
‘Nova Makes Another Cut … Joe Soriano of FanSided150 reports that "2013 three-star Newark power forward Isaiah Watkins has narrowed down his list to Oregon State, Miami, Washington, Temple, Arkansas, Villanova, Princeton, Duquesne, Charlotte, St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island, Niagara, and Columbia, per Alex Kline. Watkins is a higher-line three-star recruit and the seventh best prospect in the state of
EZ Ed Talks US Men's Olympic Basketball … Former Villanova great and current assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls, Ed Pinckney, gave a Skype interview to the Washington Post assessing the 2012
Jay’s Tweets This Week… Here's a recap of Jay's tweets in an interesting news week: "Good luck to Ty Johnson and Asch Yacoubou as they begin their foreign tour with
Not All Is Golden At Marquette … NBC Sports’ Raphielle Johnson reports, "This has been a busier off-season for the Marquette Golden Eagles than either they or their fans hoped for when it comes to off-court issues. Sophomore guard Todd Mayo was suspended indefinitely from the team and junior college transfer T.J. Taylor withdrew from school after just two weeks on campus. And now the program is looking into a possible violation of NCAA rules relating to recruiting, but is not thought to be major."
We Don’t Use Words Like That At Villanova … Associate Press reports, "The NCAA has publicly reprimanded