November 5, 2034
It's time to meet the 2034/35
Villanova Wildcats...
Code:
#5 VILLANOVA General
Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
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Trey Partridge 2 PG Jr 5-8 173 Yes 40 OK Warwick, NY
Eldon Castanon 4 PG So* 6-3 216 Yes 42 OK Silver Spring, MD
Mason Reynolds 5 SF So 6-4 211 Yes 98 OK Alexandria, VA
Max Bennett 10 SG Fr 6-2 190 Yes 96 OK Media, PA
Kyle Gribble 11 PF So 6-8 223 Yes 92 OK Lakewood, CA
Chris Woolstenhulme 12 PF Jr 6-9 232 Yes 78 OK Bryn Mawr, PA
Charlie Lambert 14 PF Fr 6-9 225 Yes 64 OK Hyattsville, MD
Carroll Wainwright 15 C Fr 6-9 229 No 52 OK Syracuse, NY
William Collins 20 PF Sr* 6-5 234 Yes 75 OK Moreauville, LA
Connor Baxter 22 PG So 6-2 202 Yes 98 OK Slippery Rock, PA
Charles Peterman 25 SF So 6-7 229 Yes 62 Unhappy Thompson, Canada
Matt Valentine 31 SG Fr 6-5 197 Yes 36 OK Middletown, DE
Erick Sullivan 35 C Fr 6-10 270 No 87 OK Wilmington, DE
Savion Wells 41 C Jr 7-0 251 Yes 87 OK Windsor, CT
Here's how training camp went:
Code:
#5 VILLANOVA Training Results
Player Ins Jps Fts 3ps Hnd Pas Orb Drb Psd Prd Stl Blk Qkn Str Jmp Sta
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Trey Partridge 1 3 2 1 6 5 1 1 1 3 2 2 1 1 2 12
Eldon Castanon 1 3 2 3 1 4 1 3 0 4 3 1 1 1 0 7
Mason Reynolds 6 7 9 0 7 7 6 6 5 11 7 3 2 4 0 13
Max Bennett 4 8 8 6 6 6 2 2 2 6 4 2 2 4 4 12
Kyle Gribble 8 4 6 3 3 2 6 2 4 1 2 0 2 4 1 15
Chris Woolstenhulme 2 4 1 1 2 2 2 0 2 2 2 2 3 6 0 8
Charlie Lambert 8 4 6 6 2 2 6 8 8 2 2 8 1 10 1 28
Carroll Wainwright 6 4 2 0 4 2 6 6 2 2 2 8 3 10 3 38
William Collins 0 1 0 0 1 1 3 5 1 1 2 3 1 2 1 8
Connor Baxter 3 8 8 1 8 8 2 2 2 8 5 1 1 2 0 5
Charles Peterman 1 2 1 1 3 1 2 1 3 3 3 1 0 2 1 4
Matt Valentine 8 8 4 6 4 4 2 2 4 2 2 2 2 6 1 30
Erick Sullivan 6 2 4 4 2 2 6 10 10 2 2 6 2 10 2 18
Savion Wells 3 5 1 2 2 2 2 0 5 2 2 1 1 8 1 8
Could this really be
Graham Sims' ninth season at Villanova? Since he arrived on the Main Line, the Wildcats have a record of 270-33, and a 125-19 mark in Big East play. Sims' teams have won the Big East regular season title and the Big East tournament four times each. Under Sims, they've been to the national championship game five times, and they've won it twice.
This year's team is looking to add to this winning legacy without a senior who has played significant minutes. Its leaders are a pair of junior post players,
Savion Wells and
Chris Woolstenhulme.
Wells inherits the center position from
Zach Cohen, a lottery pick in last April's draft, after starting at the four for two seasons. Savion is one of the team's two leading returning scorers and its second-leading rebounders. We think he can still take a step forward in what is likely his final year at Villanova.
Woolstenhulme moves into the starting lineup this season, after spending most of the last two years as the sixth man. He is a strong, athletic 6'9" forward who is most effective near the basket. Chris's skills complement Savion's well; both can hold their own against strong opponents inside, while Savion can draw his man from the basket with his deceptively good outside shot.
Mason Reynolds was the Big East Freshman of the Year and a second team All-Conference choice. He's undersized for a small forward at 6'4", but his versatile skill set enables him to move inside and out with ease. There is little Reynolds can't do on a basketball court, and he might emerge as one of the best players in the Big East this season.
Point guard
Connor Baxter started 17 games as a freshman, and then moved into a reserve role once
Ernest Adcock returned from the injured list. Baxter emerges from camp with a more consistent shot, a better sense of what we're trying to do defensively, and a more confident hand on the controls of the offense.
The other guard will be
Eldon Castanon, eligible this season after transferring from Lafayette. The powerfully built redshirt sophomore was a high school All-American. Can he live up to that promise with us? He is a good shooter with some range, a slick passer, and a reliable defender.
Freshman
Charlie Lambert impressed us with his hard work during camp. Our Villanova teams have generally featured at least one serious threat from three-point distance. There's not a player like that in the starting five, so Lambert's ability to stretch the floor could come in very handy. Kyle Gribble is also available for reserve duty in the frontcourt, and there's a walk-on center,
Erick Sullivan, who actually has the potential to be good.
Charles Peterman didn't show much improvement after camp, which hurts his chances of making more than cameo appearances.
Trey Partridge, now a junior, has developed into a useful backup guard. He might cede some playing time to freshmen
Max Bennett and
Matt Valentine as the year goes on. It bodes well for the future if Max and Matt are ready for meaningful minutes.
As I mentioned, this year's Wildcats don't have a player whose reputation as a scorer precedes him. Wells, Woolstenhulme, and Reynolds will be the focal points of the offense, which might be less dependent on long-range shooting than recent Villanova teams have been. It's a young team; Wells, with 75 career starts, has more than twice as many as the next most frequent starter. Only three current Wildcats have played as many as 1000 minutes of college basketball.
The Big East, however, is a fairly young league this year. Among the perennial contenders, West Virginia is the only team that can rely on seasoned players. If our youngsters can play like grown men, we could win 30 games, challenge for another Big East title, and make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. If they can't, it could be a long season.