2017 Villanova Basketball Preview: Dylan Painter

Hometown: Hershey, Pa.
High School: Hershey (Pa.)
Height: 6'9"
Weight: 245

Player Preview:

By last season’s end, Dylan Painter was collecting his rotational minutes as a particularly clutch forward, coming in and providing much-needed size up front. With Darryl Reynolds passing the torch, Painter and Omari Spellman will both have the potential to act as a one-two punch in the frontcourt that is experienced in Jay Wright’s system. With Painter’s size, he appears as a traditional ‘5’ man solely on his looks.

Painter’s main goal this season is to prove the potential Wright saw in him last year, as he showed an ability to get the job done while Reynolds was out with his rib injury. Painter surely made it a point to make the most out of his opportunity as he was able to pick up 10 points and six rebounds against St. John's in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals, while securing himself a spot in Wright’s 8-man rotation.

His strengths include his ability to rebound while playing with operative judgment and decision-making on the court. The team’s favorite thing about him is that he was able to come into Villanova last year understanding his place, and successfully thrived in that role of filling in the rotation when called to the test.

He tackled hot yoga two to three times per week over the summer, with the heat in the room cranked up to 115 degrees...heightening his own mental toughness.

He is praised for his basketball IQ and mental toughness and some it came from his football background. As a sophomore in high school, Painter played quarterback at Hershey High School (Pa.), but later gave this up so that he could focus on his passion for basketball.

Best case scenario: Painter becomes a reliable backup man who comes off the bench for key minutes to take the workload off Spellman. In that time, he uses his size to be a presence while rebounding hard, as well as shutting down entry passes into the post. All in all, the best scenario is that he is more accustomed to the college game and uses his size to enforce a strong presence on the boards and not be a liability on the court. He becomes a reliable backup that Wright can feel confident having in the game in important late-game minutes.

Worst case scenario: The worst case here is that he still hasn't developed into his body and gets caught up on the boards, or frequently in foul trouble. If he is a liability and can't be trusted in the game, it's going to put much more strain on the rest of the frontcourt.

He probably won't act as a huge offensive presence, probably be in a high pick-and-roll scenario. As some of the other forwards like Eric Paschall, Mikal Bridges, and Spellman have the potential to play in a big man role, as well as play out towards the perimeter, so it’s vital that Painter is able to play some true big man minutes down low. If he can’t deliver or get lost in a swift, ball-sharing offense, it can be problematic for some of the other guys’ rest and minutes.

The Wisdom of Crowds Returns

We are pleased to bring back our Wisdom of Crowds experiment for the 2017-2018 season. In this series, we ask that you consider the points covered in our player preview to supplement your own personal insights and instincts to predict the points per game each scholarship player on the roster we score in the upcoming season.