Quinerly Questionable For Seton Hall Clash

It’s looking likely than Jahvon Quinerly could miss Saturday’s regular season finale against Seton Hall after the freshman guard sat out Friday’s practice with a back injury, according to the Asbury Park Press’ Josh Newman. Although considered questionable, don’t expect Jay Wright to risk aggravating the Hackensack, NJ native’s ailment in a game that does not mean a terrific amount compared to next week’s Big East Tournament.

Even when Quinerly has been healthy he has picked up DNP’s in 6 of the team’s 30 games so far, and he has logged double-digit minutes in only 11 of the 24 games he played. Despite his irregular playing time, however, the former five-star recruit stands as Wright’s only realistic ball-handling option behind starters Collin Gillespie and Phil Booth.

Joe Cremo took a brief turn as chief caretaker of the offense while all three of the aforementioned guards were on the bench against Butler, and let’s just say that’s not a scenario anyone should hope to see play out again during postseason play. While Villanova fans have undoubtedly scapegoated Cremo far too much throughout this uneven season, the threat of point-Cremo is still why it’s the smart move to sit Quinerly against Seton Hall.

If everything goes to plan the Wildcats will need to play three days in a row, that’s 120 minutes of point guard responsibility. Even though Phil Booth is probably ready to run a marathon considering his workload this season, the odds he is capable of holding up under the weight of 110-120 minutes in three days are slim. The same is even true of the younger Gillespie - both will need to sit at the same time at some point next weekend. Even if it’s only for 3-5 minutes at a time (cue VU Hoops exasperated sigh), Wright will need to have the option to turn to Quinerly, not point-Cremo.