Villanova Basketball 2021-22 player preview: Chris Arcidiacono

Chris Arcidiacono

Height: 6-5
Weight: 200
Hometown: Langhorne, Pa.
High School: Neshaminy/Perkiomen School

Chris Arcidiacono player preview:

If there’s one thing to takeaway from the junior guard’s game, it’s that you can never count out an Arcidiacono.

When Collin Gillespie went down with a season-ending MCL injury towards the end of the 2020-21 season, we were going to learn a lot about the team’s resiliency and who was going to step up.

The first game after the Gillespie injury was a road trip to Providence. It started as a complete mess, and it was compounded with an injury to Justin Moore.

As a result, Arcidiacono was inserted into the game. In the past, he was limited to just garbage time minutes when the Wildcats were already well on their way to victory. That time was much different and in the adverse situations, Arcidiacono proved that he could play, and he didn’t get flustered or caught up in the moment. He remained composed, provided good energy, took care of the ball, and despite being scoreless, he ended up being much better than people expected. He even helped with a comeback effort that almost had Villanova rally from a double-digit deficit with a shot to (almost) win at the end.

It was enough to earn a starting nod and make consistent appearances for the rest of the way. It wasn’t until the NCAA Tournament game with Winthrop that he would finally make his first couple of made shots for the season.

It was only a small glimpse, but he showed that there’s an abundance of wealth at the guard positions for the Wildcats. Although his minutes are going to go back down with Gillespie back in the mix, it’s good to know that there’s another reliable facilitator and dependable option in a pinch.

Although he certainly rose to the occasion and handled it as best as he could, there were some limitations. In his appearances last season, he didn’t really add a scoring punch, and although he would be in the right places and establish proper positioning defensively, he would still get burned at times.

All in all, it’ll be interesting to see what strides he takes in his third season and how he’s grown over the offseason.

Best Case Scenario: With Bryan Antoine dealing with a knee injury, it’s likely we see Arcidiacono a solid amount during the early parts of the season. The junior guard makes the most of his time on the court, making solid contributions on the floor and demonstrates growth on the scoring and defensive ends of the court. Once Antoine is back to 100%, it’s tough to project what his minutes will look like — especially since the freshmen are unknowns at this point, and they might even warrant some early playing time — but expect him to own whatever role he’s in.

Worst Case Scenario: The admirable play that Arcidiacono demonstrated towards the end of last season was just a flash in the pan and he struggles. However, a more likely worst case scenario is that he’s deep in the depth chart and maybe doesn’t get as many minutes to make a profound impact. With the amount of talent back and the stacked backcourt, there might be too many mouths to feed, so he takes more of a backseat role and develops behind the scenes.