The Big East and Big 12 want to be more than “just friends”

Happy Tuesday Nova Nation! Well we’ve had a bit of a links explosion here at VUHoops headquarters. The day started with the breaking news about sports betting, and by the time I put my daughter to sleep I’m looking at double digit links for a Tuesday. Luckily for us, no one actually reads these things.

The biggest news for the Villanova basketball team is the possibility of a scheduling alliance with the Big 12 to ensure additional quality opponents on the schedule. With the bigger conferences moving to a 20 game regular season, this makes sense for the two smallest of the elite conferences in order to ensure they keep a home and home schedule while adding quality opponents. Even if the Big East did add an 11th team in the future, the additional quality games with a great conference would bring a lot of value and eyes to the league.

In other “news”, updates on Donte and Omari from Jay, more NBA Combine details, recruiting notes from Atlanta, sports betting is coming to a state near you, and more. Enjoy!

Big 12, Big East discussing basketball scheduling alliance | 247 Sports
Could the Big 12 and Big East move to a yearly basketball series?

For Jay Wright, Villanova's success comes with some uncertainty | Philly.com
Coming off two national championships in three years, the Wildcats coach waits to see if he will lose four players to the NBA draft.

The 14 players with the most on the line at the NBA Draft Combine | NBC Sports
There is a lot to get through here.

Watch 2018 NBA Draft Combine: Live stream, notable attendees, dates, declined invites | CBSSports.com
What to know about the upcoming NBA Draft Combine.

EYBL Atlanta: Top Performers | 247 Sports
Session three of the EYBL was again full of top performers. Players such as Jaden McDaniels, Cole Anthony, Keion Brooks, and Rocket Watts all stepped up this weekend.

Sports Betting Ruling Could Have Consequences, Especially For College Athletes | NPR
"Congress can regulate sports gambling directly," the court wrote in a decision released Monday, "but if it elects not to do so, each state is free to act on its own."

Scouting the Draft with Jesse Buss: 30th Pick Josh Hart | Los Angeles Lakers
After Kyle Kuzma lit up the 2017 summer league, we sat down with Lakers assistant GM and Director of Scouting Jesse Buss to figure out what L.A. saw in Kuzma that so many other teams hadn’t before drafting him at No. 27 overall. At the time, 30th pick Josh Hart had played very sparingly in Vegas due to an ankle injury, and a similar conversation with Buss didn’t seem timely.

PSU mens basketball adds Villanova quarterback as walk-on | 247 Sports
Kyle McCloskey will be immediately eligible as a guard reserve.

Whites oppose — and blacks support — paying NCAA athletes, especially when they’re thinking about race | The Washington Post
Debates over paying college athletes are implicitly debates about race. Special thanks to reader Claude Savagely for bringing this one to our attention.

NCAA launches transformative statistics initiative | NCAA.org
The NCAA today announced a landmark initiative to transform the digital collection and distribution of intercollegiate sports data.