November 10, 2030
Let's meet the 2030/31
Villanova Wildcats...
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#1 VILLANOVA General
Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
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Noah Gardner 0 SF Fr 6-5 198 Yes 80 OK Jenkintown, PA
Ernest Adcock 1 PG Fr 6-1 203 Yes 68 OK Pasadena, MD
Blake Norton 4 PG Jr 6-1 176 Yes 31 OK Palmyra, NJ
Lowell Welter 5 C Jr 6-8 221 Yes 43 OK Cochranton, PA
Justice Stafford 10 PG So 5-9 164 Yes 92 OK Midlothian, VA
Asher Wise 13 SF So 6-6 209 Yes 77 OK Berwyn, PA
Peter Segal 15 SG So 6-3 179 Yes 78 OK Fort Lee, NJ
Darius Pettway 23 SF So 6-8 234 No 29 OK Copenhagen, NY
Michael Petit 24 SG Fr 6-5 193 Yes 72 OK Medford, NJ
Tony Ezell 31 PF Jr 6-7 212 Yes 58 OK Somerville, NJ
Clemens Schwaiger 33 C Jr 6-11 320 Yes 44 Unhappy Apolda, Germany
Chris Ramos 34 C Fr 6-10 236 No 53 OK Warwick, NY
Kris DeMello 40 PF So 6-9 251 Yes 58 OK Grimsby, Canada
Reed Weisberg 55 SG Fr 6-5 189 Yes 54 OK Colonia, NJ
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#1 VILLANOVA Training Results
Player Ins Jps Fts 3ps Hnd Pas Orb Drb Psd Prd Stl Blk Qkn Str Jmp Sta
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Noah Gardner 4 6 6 6 2 2 4 4 2 8 2 2 2 6 2 10
Ernest Adcock 2 6 6 2 6 6 2 2 4 10 8 2 2 6 1 20
Blake Norton 5 2 1 6 12 2 2 2 3 3 10 3 0 1 1 12
Lowell Welter 2 2 1 1 6 3 8 10 7 2 2 7 1 2 0 0
Justice Stafford 2 9 9 9 10 10 2 2 2 8 8 1 1 1 0 3
Asher Wise 11 10 7 10 10 5 4 7 7 7 7 1 0 2 1 4
Peter Segal 3 2 2 4 3 4 1 2 4 5 1 0 1 2 1 12
Darius Pettway 1 3 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 2 1 5
Michael Petit 6 4 6 4 6 6 4 8 2 6 6 4 2 6 1 20
Tony Ezell 0 2 2 0 4 0 3 7 6 2 2 6 1 2 1 9
Clemens Schwaiger 4 1 2 0 1 2 6 6 7 1 1 4 1 0 1 4
Chris Ramos 2 2 2 0 2 2 8 8 8 2 2 10 1 8 1 26
Kris DeMello 6 2 2 2 3 2 6 6 4 1 1 8 0 4 1 8
Reed Weisberg 2 6 6 6 2 2 2 4 2 4 2 4 3 8 3 30
Coach
Graham Sims enters his fifth season at Villanova with a roster filled with players he has recruited.
The Wildcats must replace two starters, guard
Corey Hicks and center
Avery Sullivan, from a team that spent much of the year ranked #1 before losing in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Both departing players were All-Americans, so their shoes will not be easy to fill.
Sophomore
Asher Wise is the player most eyes will be focused on this season. A freshman All-American last year, Asher worked hard in camp and should be one of the Big East's most dynamic offensive players. Draft experts almost unanimously consider Asher a future Top 5 pick.
Playing alongside Wise at forward will be junior
Lowell Welter. He is an elite rebounder, a solid post defender, and a sneaky-good outside shooter who has made 46 percent of his shots from behind the arc. Lowell was a second team All-Big East selection, and he's a player Coach Sims knows he can count on.
We have two possible starters at point guard, either of whom look like they could be first-rate.
Blake Norton did just fine in his first year as a starter last season. He handed out almost 5 assists a game, with almost three times as many assists as turnovers. Blake, now a junior, shoots well enough to force teams to guard him.
Sophomore
Justice Stafford earned more playing time as the season went on. A five-star recruit, Stafford is a better defender and possibly a more dangerous scorer. Last year, Blake offered more creativity and reliability running the offense, but Justice worked hard on these aspects of his game in camp. Both Norton and Stafford will play a lot, and it's possible they could play together.
Coach Sims has always liked using a dynamic sixth man. He's got a good one in
Tony Ezell, who returns to the role for the third consecutive season. As a sophomore, Tony raised his scoring average over a point while playing five fewer minutes per game. His midrange game is solid, and he is extremely good at finding ways to score inside.
Junior
Clemens Schwaiger or sophomore
Kris DeMello will start at center. Schwaiger offers more defense and rebounding, while DeMello offers more offense. Again, they'll both see the court quite a bit.
Who will the be the fifth starter? It might be
Justice Stafford. It also might be freshman
Reed Weisberg, whose silky-smooth jumper brings to mind marksmen like
Byron Shores and
Duncan Sims. Weisberg doesn't have Stafford's defensive chops,
If any backcourt player starts to slide, highly regarded freshman
Ernest Adcock is the next man up. The top point guard in his class, Ernest is more ready for the demands of Big East basketball than most newcomers. He's looking forward to the challenge of stopping the conference's top backcourt players.
Sophomore
Peter Segal and freshmen
Michael Petit and
Noah Gardner round out the scholarship roster. Segal is a good outside shooter and a tenacious defender.
Two consecutive #1-ranked recruiting classes have stocked the Wildcats roster with talented players. "Just think," said one Big East coaching rival, "
Avery Sullivan could still be in school. Imagine this team with him on it." Keeping this many talented players happy and finding a role for each of them will present Graham with a significant challenge, but it's one any coach would welcome.
The expectations on the Main Line are always high. This team looks like they could meet those expectations.