Villanova Basketball: 2017-18 season preview for the Wildcats

BUFFALO, NY - MARCH 16: Will D. Cat, mascot for the Villanova Wildcats, peforms as they take on the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers in the second half during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at KeyBank Center on March 16, 2017 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – FEBRUARY 4: Villanova’s DiVincenzo (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

Key reserves

SO Donte DiVincenzo

Does DiVincenzo have the talent to be a starter in the Big East? Absolutely. There should be no question that DiVincenzo is an excellent player and a potential starter this season. Yet, last season he showed that he is one of the best sixth men in the entire country. Coach Jay Wright has grown accustomed to having some spectacular sixth men during his time with ‘Nova and DiVincenzo could be next in line.

Although he might come off the bench, DiVincenzo would still play starter-like minutes. He has the ability to be an incredible spark plug off the bench and his all-around game allows him to play with several different groupings on the floor. DiVincenzo is incredibly flexible as a player as he is effective as an off-ball floor spacer, defender, go-to scorer, or even a small-ball power forward. This is a special college basketball player and it would be no surprise if he started for ‘Nova.

SO Dylan Painter, Tim Delaney

Both of these players were very limited in action last season. Painter averaged 5.8 minutes per game (appearing in 22 of 36 games) while Delaney played 3.7 minutes per game (appearing in 7 of 36 games). As for this season, their roles should increase from deep bench players to receiving a reasonable number of minutes off the bench.

Both of these players were three-star recruits out of high school and hovered around the top-200. Their minutes could be dictated based on whoever has the hot hand that night. They both have solid size (Painter at 6’9″, Delaney at 6’8″) and will hopefully make a bigger impact than is anticipated.

FR Jermaine Samuels, Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, Collin Gillespie

Although this is a strong recruiting class, Villanova’s top six is very deep this season and these freshmen will play in somewhat limited minutes. Samuels is a top-50 small forward, Cosby Roundtree is a top-100 power forward, while Collin Gillespie hovers around the top-200. As they are yet to play a collegiate game, it is hard to dictate what kind of impact they will have.