Villanova Basketball’s Phil Booth wins Big 5 Player of the Year

Happy Friday Nova Nation! There were a ton of Villanova players that received awards from the Big 5 for the 2019 basketball season. On the women’s side, Kelly Jekot and Mary Gedaka were both First-Team selections. Adrianna Hahn and Jannah Tucker were also selected to the Second-Team. For the men, freshman Saddiq Bey was named Rookie of the Year. Senior duo Phil Booth and Eric Paschall were named to the First-Team, while sophomore Collin Gillespie was named to the Second-Team.

But the big prize of the night went to Villanova’s leader on and off the court, Phil Booth. He was named the Big 5 Player of the Year, making him the third consecutive winner of the award from Villanova. It’s the 23rd time a Villanova player has won the award, by far the most of any Big 5 school. He joins a list of former Wildcats to win the award that includes Hubie White, Wali Jones (2), Jim Washington, Bill Melchionni, Johnny Jones, Howard Porter, Chris Ford, Tom Ingelsby, John Pinone (3), Ed Pinckney, Harold Pressley, Kerry Kittles (2), Randy Foye, Scottie Reynolds, James Bell, Darrun Hilliard, Josh Hart, and Jalen Brunson.

Booth finishes one of the most successful careers in Villanova history with a record of 128-20, an insane Win% of 86.4%. To win more than 86% of your games while at the same time playing in more games than anyone else in school history is simply remarkable. This native of Baltimore will always be a son of Philadelphia, and forever a Wildcat. Thank you for everything Phil, and best of luck wherever your career may take you.

In other “news”, Presley Hudson is the greatest shooter on the planet and my new personal hero, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl gives us the inside scoop on Jay Wright’s suit game, and Chris Beard is named the AP Coach of the Year. Enjoy!

Villanova Basketball

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Class of 2019

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March Madness and College Basketball

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