Villanova - Coach and Program

The questions about Villanova before the start of last season centered on youth and consistency. The Wildcats had just two seniors on their roster—one of whom had averaged 8.6 points, a career best, in the previous season and the other slotted to serve in a reserve role—and inconsistency threatened to surface again like mold on old bread. 

But by the time the 2013-14 campaign ended, the Wildcats had grown considerably as a team, confounding the experts who didn’t rate them in the top three of the new Big East. They won 29 games — second-most in team history — and were ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation. They swept eight of their nine conference opponents to win their first outright Big East regular season title since 1982, while posting both their ninth 20-win season and ninth NCAA berth in the last decade. 

No, it didn’t finish well; Villanova went 1-2 in the postseason, losing its opening Big East tournament game to Seton Hall and going only two games as a No. 2 seed in the NCAAs before eventual champion Connecticut sent the ’Cats packing. But coach Jay Wright couldn’t have been more satisfied with the steadiness and teamwork he witnessed the entire season. 

“That was as consistent a performance as any one of our teams has ever had for the length of a season,” said coach Jay Wright, the dean of Big East coaches in terms of longest current tenure with one team. “We were as proud of that entire season as any season we’ve had. We were not playing our best basketball at the end. We weren’t bad, we just weren’t playing our best. But the overall consistency of the season was probably the best since we’ve been here.” 

Picked fourth by conference coaches, Villanova went 11-1 in the non-conference including wins on back-to-back nights in the Battle 4 Atlantis over Kansas and Iowa. While they couldn’t figure out how to beat new league rival Creighton, which knocked down a total of 30 3-pointers in posting wins by 28 and 21 points, the Wildcats won the regular-season title in dominating fashion, something that gave Wright “tremendous pride.” 

For Wright, last season provided “a perfect dynamic”— few if any injuries, hunger to do well and commitment among coaches and players—that all came together. There were few expectations. For the new season, however, that’s all changed. 

“Entering this season, we could have a better team and not have the same results because you’re dealing with expectations,” he said. “The players now have expectations of their own. Last year everybody was trying to prove themselves. Everybody was really hungry. Now they’ve tasted some success, some accolades, so it’s completely different.” 

One huge factor in Villanova’s favor was the astounding lack of injuries. In 34 games, only two of the Wildcats’ first five missed a start; center Daniel Ochefu came off the bench twice because of Wright’s desire to match up with an opponent’s smaller lineup, and point guard Ryan Arcidiacono yielded his spot to a walk-on on senior night. The only significant injury was suffered by backup guard Dylan Ennis, who sat out the first four games with a broken bone in his right hand. 

The chemistry built last season is still intact. Only two members of Villanova’s nine-man rotation have departed. The Wildcats will miss James Bell, a tireless worker who made first-team All-Big East and won Big Five Player of the Year honors. Wright thinks that seniors JayVaughn Pinkston and Darrun Hilliard will be able to fill the void together. 

The Wildcats have a strong seven-man group back that will be augmented by either — or both — of their incoming freshmen. The attack is guard-oriented but still well balanced; six different players led the team in scoring at least once, while four players combined for 19 efforts of 20 points or more. If there’s one thing you’ll see on almost every offensive possession, it’s at least one extra pass. 

The experience helps Villanova in its decision making, an area that gradually improved as last season progressed. The Wildcats dropped from an embarrassing 15.7 turnovers per game in 2012-13 to 11.9 last year, while Arcidiacono cut his in half—from 96 as a freshman to 48 as a sophomore. 

Now the numbers get wiped clean, and the Wildcats must find a way to match the execution, the teamwork, the chemistry and, yes, the good fortune from last season. 

“We had 29 wins and our numbers were really good,” Wright said. “We were 16-2 [in the Big East]. We’re going to have to judge ourselves this year. It’s going to be hard to better our numbers in wins and that stuff. We’ve got to be smart about that and not get frustrated, just make sure we’re playing well.”