Is George Halcovage Villanova’s next big recruiter?

Happy Monday Nova Nation! Chris is on a pilgrimage to the deserts of Nevada, so Uncle Brendan is back with another late-morning edition of the links!

With Ashley Howard heading across town to LaSalle, there’s an opening in the coaching ranks for the Wildcats. If the rumors are true, Kyle Neptune will step up into the Associate Head Coach position, while Mike Nardi will be promoted to Assistant Coach. This will make it the first time in a while that the three highest ranking members of Jay Wright’s staff have all risen up in house from Video Coordinator to Coach.

That would be something to be immensely proud of, and also a good way to keep continuity with the players and the coaching principles of the program. It would also mean that Wright has confidence in the recruiting abilities of his staff, as Ashley Howard spearheaded that effort for the last five years. The man likely to take over a lot of the lead recruiting responsibilities could be George Halcovage, the current Assistant Coach who has been a member of Wright’s staff for over a decade now. If you’re not familiar with Coach Halcovage, there’s a good piece today that talks about how he got from being a Wildcat fan to a prominent member of the program.

In other “news”, Jay Wright is good at coaching, Calipari is/isn’t Jay Wright?, April signing period is coming soon, and the NCAA mess isn’t over yet. Enjoy!

George Halcovage has gone from Babson to the nation's best | Milford Daily News
Once a player on the Division III level, Babson alum George Halcovage is now part of the staff on the best college basketball team in the land.

Ashley Howard will be next La Salle basketball coach - Philly
Howard heads for 20th and Olney after winning national title as top Villanova assistant.

Jay Wright's Villanova career points to greatness and the Hall of Fame | Bob Ford - Philly
Jay Wright has many admirers, but none as ardent as his peers in the college coaching community.

Big East Basketball Way Too Early Rankings for 2018-19 | Busting Brackets
Big East Basketball representative Villanova was the last team standing in the 2018-19 season. Will the Wildcats the preseason favorites for next year?

Calipari, Krzyzewski might admire Villanova formula, but can they follow it? | Lexington Herald Leader
▪ Jay Wright joined Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (five) and North Carolina’s Roy Williams (three) as the only active coaches with multiple NCAA titles.

Burning Questions for College Basketball's 2018 April Signing Period | Bleacher Report
After five-plus months of nonstop college basketball action and Villanova's second national title in three years, it's time for a breather, right? If only. The offseason isn't lacking intrigue, particularly as the regular signing period is coming up...

DI Committee on Academics considers transfer rule changes | NCAA.org
The Division I Committee on Academics will recommend to the Transfer Working Group that four-year transfer student-athletes who meet specific grade-point average and progress-toward-degree requirements be able to compete immediately at the second school.

The FBI Has Inadvertently Backed The NCAA Into An Antitrust Corner | Above the Law
The powers-that-be in college sports celebrated the FBI crackdown on basketball... but they could have been making their antitrust case a lot worse.