Big East Basketball: Top 10 players entering the 2018-19 season
By Brian Foley
4. Eric Paschall, Villanova
2017-18: 10.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.2 apg, 53.3/35.6/81.3 percent shooting
Paschall has been the forgotten man since transferring to Villanova, but he has turned into a steady presence for Jay Wright’s Wildcats. He started all 38 games he was healthy for last season, always posting box score lines consistent with his season-long averages in points and field goal attempts per game (7.1).
With four integral pieces from last year’s run – Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo, and Omari Spellman – now in the NBA, Wright will need Paschall to seriously beef up his shot attempts. Luckily, we have already seen what Paschall can do when given more rope, both last season and way back during his freshman campaign with Fordham.
More. Top-five Big East players at each position. light
Last year, in perhaps Villanova’s biggest game – the Final Four contest against fellow one-seed Kansas – Paschall posted his finest effort of the year. The 6-foot-6 forward finished with 24 points on 10-11 shooting (4-5 from three), while also dishing out three assists. Throwing it back to his Fordham days in 2014-15, Paschall led the Rams in usage rate (27.3 percent) and averaged 15.9 points per game.
He was not incredibly efficient, but he was just a freshman trying to lead an overmatched Fordham squad. Now he is a redshirt senior squeezed into the best offensive system in the nation. Paschall is certainly comfortable as a primary option, and we know Wright will always put him in the best positions to succeed. If Villanova wins the Big East once again, Paschall’s emergence will be a big reason why.