Villanova Basketball Updates From Los Angeles

Happy Friday Nova Nation! It’s our first game day of the season, and the Wildcats have already been making themselves comfortable in LA. Between a walk through at USC and a tour of FOX Sports, the Wildcats have been getting quite the experience on the West Coast.

It’s hard to take a guess at what the gameplan might be tonight from the short clip above, but common sense would have you believe that everybody’s going to get some run tonight. It’s an exhibition, there are only 9 scholarship players available (No Gillespie, Antoine, or Daniels), and Wright is going to want to see what everyone is bringing to the table. Should be fun to see what the freshmen are bringing to the table this early!

This may not be the last time we see some of these Villanova players in the Fox Sports studios, or Jay Wright for that matter! Broadcasting has become a viable avenue as a second career for players after the ball stops bouncing, so it’s really cool that these guys get to see that aspect of sports. We already know that Darryl Reynolds has the bug for media coverage, we’ll see if anyone else on the team follows him and others like Randy Foye.

Speaking of Foye, there he is! I’ve never been to the Palm in LA, but it may need to be on the list as long as Foye’spicture is up on the wall. Clearly he’s been there as it’s signed and everything!

Trips like this are important not just because of what happens on the court, but off the court as well. Last week, Jay Wright said that a team’s chemistry is built through shared experiences. Often times that’s a close win or loss, but it can also be something like this where the team bonds over shared experiences off the court. Hopefully we’ll see more of that chemistry blossom on the court with a hard fought win.

In other “news”, two former Nova recruits make their college decisions, Jalen Brunson is named to the Illinois High School All-Decade First Team, and it’s another big weekend for Villanova Athletics. Enjoy!

Villanova Basketball

USC welcomes Villanova for preseason basketball test | Orange County Register
Wildcats come to town for a 40-minute exhibition Friday that will raise money for the California Fire Foundation

Wildcats Set to Meet USC Friday in Charity Exhibition | Villanova University Athletics
Villanvoa meets USC Friday night in an exhibition game to benefit victims of the California wildfires.

Villanova Basketball Recruiting

Five-star guard Devin Askew commits to Kentucky | 247 Sports
Five-star guard Devin Askew just verbally committed to Kentucky.

Michigan lands commitment from five-star forward Todd | NBC Sports
This is the first five-star Juwan Howard has landed.

Big East

Seton Hall Basketball: Why Myles Powell will win 2020 Player of the Year | Busting Brackets
Myles Powell emerged as a superstar for Seton Hall basketball last year, but he's poised for a bigger and better year in 2019-20.

Seton Hall basketball: Twin towers Ike Obiagu and Romaro Gill | APP
This is unprecedented size for the Pirates. Obiagu's practice exploits are becoming the stuff of legend.

NBA Wildcats

Best Illinois high school basketball players of the decade | Chicago Sun-Times
Ranking the top ten players in Illinois from the 2009-2010 season through the 2018-2019 season — and a few others that just missed.

Atlanta Hawks: Rethinking the Omari Spellman/Damian Jones Trade | Soaring Down South
A quick look at a perplexing offseason move involving former Atlanta Hawks first-round pick Omari Spellman and Damian Jones, formerly of the Warriors.

De’Aaron Fox, Josh Hart Show Off Their Gaming Rigs In New Bleacher Report Show | Forbes
Sports news and culture website Bleacher Report is leaning into its expanding esports and gaming coverage with a new show called Battlestations, which will follow athletes as they show off their video gaming rigs and rooms.

New Orleans Pelicans: Josh Hart has been the odd man out | Big Easy Believer
The preseason has been great for the New Orleans Pelicans thus far but it has not been great for every player on the Pelicans.

Dallas Mavericks: Jalen Brunson will play versatile role this year | The Smoking Cuban
Despite the fears of how the Dallas Mavericks will balance their point guard minutes, I expect Jalen Brunson to be a key player for the team this year.

Villanova Footbll

Villanova loses running back Justin Covington for the season with torn ACL | Philadelphia Inquirer
Covington was the Colonial Athletic Association’s leading rusher, with 722 yards.

Midseason FCS conference rankings | Yahoo! Sports
(STATS) - Don't be fooled by the wild results across FCS college football last weekend. They were more the exception than the rule this season.

Villanova Athletics

#12 Marquette Volleyball Preview: at Villanova & at Georgetown | Anonymous Eagle
The Golden Eagles look to bounce back from their first loss in nearly a month.

Villanova Athletics Ties Highest NCAA Graduation Success Rate in Program History | Villanova University Athletics
VILLANOVA, Pa.—In the latest set of Graduation Success Rate (GSR) data released by the NCAA on Wednesday afternoon, Villanova tied its highest mark ever with a 96

Wildcats Face Big Test at Home Versus No. 3 UConn on Friday | Villanova University Athletics
Villanova (6-6, 1-3) will face its toughest game of the season on Friday when it hosts BIG EAST leader No. 3 UConn (12-2, 4-0).

BIG EAST Stretch Run Begins Saturday Against Marquette | Villanova University Athletics
Villanova and Marquette meet Saturday in a key BIG EAST Conference clash.

College Basketball

College basketball rankings: SN's updated preseason top 25 for 2019-20 | Sporting News
Sporting News unveils our updated preseason top 25 for the 2019-20 college basketball season.

2019-20 CBS Sports college basketball preseason awards: Our player, coach and freshman of the year | CBSSports.com
It's not often that the player of the year and the coach of the year come from the same program