Villanova Basketball Recruiting: Assessing the Wildcats’ point guard options

With the news that Jahvon Quinerly is off the board to Arizona, Villanova will need to shift their focus if they’re going to land a point guard in their 2018 recruiting class.

The good news is that there are still very good - and realistic - options on the board. Here’s how I would rank them in order of prioritization moving forward.

Matt Scott | 247 Sports

4-star PG Jalen Carey - #56 Nationally, #11 PG

Villanova is a little late to the game on Carey having offered him in late July, but the staff had been scouting him for longer than that. The relationship paid off with Carey including Villanova in his final 6 schools on Sunday after the ‘Cats weren’t in his initial list of 10 schools.

Carey has great size and his an electric offenisve player that gets to the rim relentlessly and is an outstanding shooter. His length and athleticism should allow him to develop into a plus defender as well. He needs some polish, but his upside is the NBA given the measurables and skill package.

The competition is steep, however. Syracuse and Connecticut have been all over him for much longer, and Kansas and Miami (Fla.) will give any ‘Nova fan some pause. Rutgers (LOL) wouldn’t appear to be much of a threat having already secured multiple guard commitments in the class.

Carey has said he wants to use all 5 official visits before making a decision and Carey will take his first on August 25th to Miami. I would expect Villanova gets one as well and stays in this until the end.

Kelly Kline | Under Armour

4-star CG David Duke - #49 Nationally, #4 CG

David Duke appears content to take his time and fully evaluate all of his options, and that’s why we have him ranked second on this list. He’s been very quiet about trimming his list of taking any visits, though if his recruitment accelerates Villanova will be in a good position as they’ve put in the time with him.

There’s a lot to like about Duke - he’s an athletic freak and is already a very good defender. The offensive side of his game is still developing and can be a bit inconsistent, but his upside is through the roof.

It’s pretty much a consensus that Providence is the favorite in the race for Duke with his teammate A.J. Reeves already committed there, but Villanova has continued to recruit him and stay in the hunt. And we know how it feels to think you’re going to get a guy until he finds something better.

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

5-star SF Cam Reddish - #5 Nationally, #3 SF

There are lot of people who would tell you that Reddish is the best point guard left on Villanova’s board, and they wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. Reddish fancies himself as having the ability to run a team and may be looking for that type of role in college.

He’s a can’t-miss prospect who’s an automatic one-and-done and likely lottery pick, and that’s enough for me to say I’ve seen this story before. Most think he’s going to end up at Duke. If not there, probably Kentucky.

Villanova should continue to recruit him, because he’s that good, but he ends up lower on this list because of his profile as a one-and-done.

There are two other offers out to Elijah Weaver and Andrew Nembhard, but as of today I don’t think they are realistic options for Villanova. The ‘Cats appear to have cooled on Weaver given his struggles shooting the ball this summer. With Nembhard, Villanova was pursuing him for 2019 and they don’t seem to have stepped up their recruitment of him since he reclassified.

Things change quickly in recruiting and additional targets could emerge, but it’s easy to see the staff saving the scholarship for 2019 should they miss on their point guard targets. Phil Booth, Donte DiVincenzo and Collin Gillespie are all expected to be back on campus and Villanova is in deep with several targets in 2019 already.