November 9, 2042
Here's the 2042/2043
Villanova Wildcats squad...
Code:
#1 VILLANOVA General
Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joel Campbell 0 SF Fr 6-6 206 Yes 70 Redshirt Royersford, PA
Scott McMasters 1 PG Fr* 6-3 188 Yes 80 OK Wallingford, PA
Kai Smith 2 PG Sr 5-5 172 Yes 80 OK Lansdale, PA
Israel Moody 3 SF Jr 6-5 218 Yes 82 OK Joppa, MD
Asaad Richardson 4 SF So 6-4 208 Yes 80 OK Pennsburg, PA
Tyson Lien 11 SG So 6-3 206 Yes 79 OK West Windsor, NJ
Weston Wagner 12 PF So 6-9 234 Yes 96 OK Hillside, IL
Roman Holloway 14 C Fr 7-0 263 Yes 82 OK Glen Mills, PA
Forrest Curl 22 PF Sr* 6-10 234 Yes 59 OK Chatham, NJ
Nick O'Brien 24 PG Sr 6-0 176 No 76 Unhappy Tonbridge, UK
Immanuel Bahr 32 PF So 6-8 269 Yes 43 OK Munich, Germany
Brian Cioffi 33 PF Jr 6-7 204 No 52 Unhappy Greenbelt, MD
James Largent 34 C So* 6-8 236 Yes 74 OK Petaluma, CA
Mark Ferree 45 SG Fr 6-2 186 No 21 OK Wexford, PA
Dan O'Halloran 52 C Jr 6-10 270 Yes 87 OK Newtown Square, PA
And how did training camp go?
Code:
#1 VILLANOVA Training Results
Player Ins Jps Fts 3ps Hnd Pas Orb Drb Psd Prd Stl Blk Qkn Str Jmp Sta
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joel Campbell 2 8 8 4 2 2 4 4 2 8 2 2 0 8 1 12
Scott McMasters 1 2 4 3 5 5 1 1 1 3 2 1 0 2 0 5
Kai Smith 5 1 0 1 0 1 2 5 1 3 3 1 1 1 3 8
Israel Moody 2 1 5 3 2 0 2 2 9 3 11 7 0 4 0 15
Asaad Richardson 5 9 9 9 5 5 5 3 3 8 8 1 0 3 2 5
Tyson Lien 1 9 9 9 5 5 3 3 3 5 5 1 0 1 1 3
Weston Wagner 7 8 8 8 2 2 5 4 7 1 1 5 1 4 1 5
Roman Holloway 8 2 4 2 2 4 8 8 8 2 2 8 4 12 2 10
Forrest Curl 4 1 2 0 3 6 1 1 10 7 7 1 0 2 0 9
Nick O'Brien 1 3 2 1 0 6 1 1 1 4 4 1 1 1 1 8
Immanuel Bahr 9 3 5 2 2 1 9 9 7 2 1 9 1 3 0 6
Brian Cioffi 2 2 1 0 0 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 15
James Largent 4 2 1 0 1 1 4 5 6 0 0 6 0 3 2 8
Mark Ferree 2 2 4 4 2 2 4 2 2 4 4 2 2 2 2 18
Dan O'Halloran 2 4 9 4 3 1 2 1 0 5 3 0 1 4 0 6
Coach
Graham Sims is entering his 17th season as Villanova's head coach. The 63-year-old Sims spent 15 seasons at Lafayette before moving to the Main Line.
From last year's national champions, the Wildcats return four starters, including two All-Americans. It's reasonable for 'Cats fans to expect another deep run in the NCAA tournament this coming spring.
Wildcat Nation rejoiced last spring when point guard
Kai Smith announced he would return to Villanova and pursue a fourth national championship with his teammates. Kai's ability to orchestrate an offense is unmatched. Last season, he led the nation in assists (8.2 APG) and turned the ball over only 1.5 times per contest. Despite his 5'5" frame, he is a lockdown defender and an opportunistic ball hawk. Kai has led three teams to national championships, and he's certainly capable of doing so again.
Isn't it wonderful when a player you've recruited turns out to be exactly the star you expected him to be? Center
Dan O'Halloran arrived on the Main Line with the title of "nation's top recruit." After two years at Villanova, Dan has delivered on that promise. He's a reigning first team All-American with the full range of skills you'd want in a big man. His game is so polished and complete that he was able to devote much of his time and energy during camp to the task of becoming a better free throw shooter.
The first point Dan scores this season will be the 1000th of his career; that career will almost certainly last only three years, as he's the top professional prospect in all of college hoops. Still, one more season like his first two will assure Dan's place in the inner circle of Villanova legends.
Junior forward
Israel Moody's first two seasons were marred by injury. Now healthy, the 6'5" swingman wants to show the Big East what he can truly do. A freshman All-American, Moody uses his muscular frame to mix it up inside with much larger players.
Rounding out the frontcourt is
Forrest Curl, a redshirt senior who has transformed himself from a seldom-used reserve into a powerful post presence who can subdue the best big men in the nation. Forrest doesn't shoot often, but he makes half the shots he does take, and he is a fine passer for a 6'10" forward.
The fifth starter is last season's Freshman of the Year,
Asaad Richardson. This 6'4" guard began the season as a starter, transitioning to a role as sixth man when
Israel Moody returned to the lineup. Asaad flourished in both roles. He averaged 14 points per game, shooting .497/.383/.824. We can afford to give Asaad a simple task, at which he excels--score points--because he has many teammates who can concentrate on the rest.
Richardson's sixth man role will go to soph
Tyson Lien. Recruited as a shooting specialist, Tyson last year demonstrated his ability to spell
Kai Smith at the point, too. This year, we have
Scott McMasters, returning from a redshirt season, so Tyson can focus on providing instant offense. Meanwhile, McMasters will keep the team running on an even keel when Kai needs a breather.
Four big men will vie for the most playing time among the frontcourt reserves: sophomores
Immanuel Bahr, Weston Wagner, and
James Largent; and freshman
Roman Holloway. Immanuel and James are Blue Collar Men; Weston is a stretch four with a deadeye outside shot; Roman is O'Halloran's heir apparent at center. All of them got better at their specialties during camp. We'll see which of them assert themselves once the season begins.
Popular walk on
Nick O'Brien is also returning for a fourth season. Nick wouldn't hurt the team if we needed him to play significant minutes at guard sometime.
Freshman wing
Joel Campbell is taking a redshirt this season. If he continues to develop his game as much as he did during camp, he'll be a force by the time he's done.
Expectations are high at Villanova, and they should be. Wildcat fans expect trips to the Final Four, and more, each season. This year might very well bring a fourth national title to the members of the Class of 2043.