November 7, 2027
Here's the roster for the 2027 national finalist
Villanova Wildcats:
Code:
#3 VILLANOVA General
Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
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Devin Guzman 1 PG Sr* 6-0 184 Yes 64 OK Daly City, CA
Corey Hicks 3 SF So 6-3 202 Yes 92 OK Riverside, NJ
Kelley Van Houten 5 SG Fr 6-4 210 Yes 77 OK Potomac Falls, VA
Richard Pray 13 SF Jr 6-3 183 Yes 70 OK Glen Burnie, MD
Duncan Sims 14 SG Jr* 6-3 203 Yes 98 OK Easton, PA
Mark Jones 20 PF So 6-8 208 No 36 OK Valdosta, GA
Jacob Allen 21 SG Jr 5-10 173 Yes 33 OK Franklinville, NY
Bruno Le Fleurquin 22 PF Sr 6-8 212 Yes 53 OK Kapuskasing, Canada
Caleb Blaney 25 PF Jr 6-9 228 Yes 21 OK Ramsey, NJ
Charles Vancleave 30 PG Sr 6-2 189 Yes 84 OK Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Canada
Jose Blanco 31 PF Sr 6-9 228 Yes 54 OK Newark, NJ
David Betts 32 SF Fr 6-4 211 No 68 Unhappy Plymouth, PA
Bernie Pfister 41 C Fr 6-11 254 No 69 OK Westfield, PA
Joshua Parkin 42 PF So 6-9 207 Yes 53 OK North East, MD
Avery Sullivan 53 C Fr 6-10 238 Yes 77 OK Englewood, NJ
How did training camp go?
Code:
Player Ins Jps Fts 3ps Hnd Pas Orb Drb Psd Prd Stl Blk Qkn Str Jmp Sta
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Devin Guzman 3 10 4 7 11 11 3 3 1 17 0 2 1 1 1 4
Corey Hicks 2 5 7 2 3 3 1 3 3 4 4 0 2 2 1 5
Kelley Van Houten 4 8 4 6 2 8 2 4 4 4 2 2 2 6 2 16
Richard Pray 5 7 4 2 1 3 5 2 3 5 7 3 1 2 2 14
Duncan Sims 2 3 1 4 4 4 1 1 1 4 2 1 2 2 1 8
Mark Jones 1 1 1 0 1 1 3 2 3 1 1 2 1 3 1 5
Jacob Allen 2 15 3 0 4 2 1 2 1 9 6 4 0 1 0 8
Bruno Le Fleurquin 13 2 1 1 2 2 13 13 4 17 9 2 0 3 2 9
Caleb Blaney 2 2 4 4 2 1 1 1 3 2 4 2 0 2 0 4
Charles Vancleave 2 3 0 1 0 3 1 2 1 2 0 1 0 2 0 0
Jose Blanco 3 0 5 0 0 2 10 7 3 1 1 5 1 3 1 8
David Betts 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 1 6 3 22
Bernie Pfister 2 2 2 0 2 2 8 6 6 2 2 4 4 0 1 32
Joshua Parkin 2 5 2 0 3 1 2 6 2 2 1 4 2 5 0 9
Avery Sullivan 10 4 2 2 2 2 6 10 10 4 2 8 2 10 4 16
Coach
Graham Sims' first season at Villanova didn't end until the final buzzer of the national championship game. The Wildcats watched Big East rival Georgetown lift another trophy, and it's made them eager to write a different ending to this season's story.
This year's team features four players who started at least 25 games last season. Forward
Bruno De Fleurquin delighted 'Nova fans when he announced he'd be returning to school for his fifth year. Not content with last year's successes, the popular French-Canadian star set a powerful example for his teammates with his relentless work in camp. BLF has made significant gains in the most important aspects of his game, and should be one of the Big East's most dynamic stars.
Fellow senior
Jose Blanco started 26 games last season, filling in whenever one of Coach Sims' frontcourt players couldn't answer the bell. He was the team's second leading scorer and rebounder (behind BLF in both categories). He might not be relied upon as heavily to put points on the board this year, but opponents will have to guard him honestly.
Another fifth-year senior,
Devin Guzman, returns to the point guard spot. This transfer from Stanford, who led last year's team in total minutes played, emerges from camp as an even more creative passer and reliable ballhandler. He's also worked on his shot, which betrayed him for much of last season.
The fourth returning starter is junior guard
Jacob Allen. After a season in which he improved his field goal percentage by 50 points from the year before, he's refined his trademark skill even more. Allen is far from a specialist shooter, though; he will also do his part on defense.
Going into camp, Coach Sims hadn't committed to giving highly touted freshman center
Avery Sullivan a place in the starting five. Sullivan, however, made such strides in preseason that he locked down his spot. The five-star recruit seems well on his way to achieving his potential as a dominant inside force. He's already being talked about as a future lottery pick.
Redshirt junior
Duncan Sims came from Lafayette with his dad, and after sitting out a year, will serve as the Wildcats' sixth man. He's a versatile guard who, like Allen, is best known as a shooter but can also run the point and defend tough opponents.
Corey Hicks will also get some run as a reserve wing. He'll spend another year as a valued reserve, and Coach Sims fully believes his patience and hard work will pay off in a starring role in his last two years as a Wildcat. Corey is a particularly promising three-point shooter.
Through no real fault of their own,
Charles Vancleave and
Richard Pray will find playing time tougher to come by. Vancleave, a senior, could find his way to the court as a defensive stopper. Junior Pray is, simply, a less accomplished version of the same sort of player as Allen, Sims, and Hicks.
Frontcourt depth could be this team's Achilles heel. If
Caleb Blaney can begin to deliver on the potential that made him a highly regarded recruit in the Class of '25, he'll go a long way to solve this problem. Caleb is more of a finesse big who doesn't rebound like a big man.
First year guard
Kelley Van Houten and sophomore post
Joshua Parkin round out the cast of scholarship players.
Poll voters are high on the Wildcats, and after looking at their roster, it's easy to see why. There's a Blue player at every position in the starting lineup and Green guys filling out the rotation. Coach Sims has the personnel to run his trademark man-to-man defense, with some matchup zone mixed in.
If this team can stay healthy, it might be cutting down the nets next April.