Villanova Basketball: 2019 recruit Bryan Antoine commits to the Wildcats

Villanova basketball has been the best program in the country for the past few years. Now with 2019 recruit Bryan Antoine in tow, the future looks bright too.

To put it simply, Villanova basketball is in the midst of a tremendous stretch of victories both on and off the court. Of course, the two national championships in the past three years are incredibly impressive but head coach Jay Wright is also taking the program to a whole new level on the recruiting trail. After a top-10 recruiting class in 2018, the Wildcats are dominating in terms of securing 2019 talents as well. With Bryan Antoine committing on Sept. 4, the program now has three top-75 recruits landed for the class.

Antoine, one of the best players in the entire class, comes in ranked at No. 11 in the country and as the best shooting guard in the country. At 6-foot-5, he brings plenty of size to the position and there is no shortage of talent in Antoine. An elite scorer who can also create for others when necessary, Antoine will be a major addition for the future of Villanova basketball. Quite honestly, Antoine is just hardwired to score when he has the ball in his hands.

While playing for Team Rio in the UAA, Antoine flashed his all-around game. Over the course of 12 games, the guard posted 15.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game. Additionally, he showed above-average efficiency from the floor, posting shooting slashes of .434/.386/.796. A superb athlete who can score from just about anywhere on the floor, Antoine projects as an elite college player after using his final high school season as a means of improving his game.

In terms of Antoine’s reasoning for committing to Villanova over several other top programs, he had this to say (Prep Circuit):

"“The reason why I chose Villanova was because it was family. Family goes a long way with me and their school. I also looked at how they played and how they play for each other. I’ve done the same thing with my coaches in AAU and school ball. I feel like I’ve already lived in that for so long and Villanova fits that system perfectly.It’s also close to home, which is great because I feel like the same people who saw me in high school are going to see me in college. They are a great coaching staff, everyone just shows love no matter what including the students whenever I post anything. It’s just general love coming from the school.”"

Even though Villanova has not necessarily been a “one-and-done” program in the past, Antoine could potentially break that trend. A potential top-10 player in the class when all is said and done, Antoine will certainly start to appear on more and more 2020 NBA Draft boards once those start to be released with more regularity.

For now, though, the star guard can focus on securing a strong senior campaign in high school while keeping his sights set on a national championship while donning a ‘Nova jersey. The Wildcats have emerged as a consistent title contender over the past few seasons and these elite recruiting classes of late are just pushing that narrative even more. Head coach Jay Wright has been tremendous with high-level recruits but these incoming players are a step up overall.

https://twitter.com/BryanAntoine_/status/1036995233752526849

With Jay Wright at the helm and this much talent coming in, the rest of the nation might in danger of seeing Villanova cutting down the final nets once again fairly soon. The Wildcats are not only the top program in the Big East right now but quite possibly could be the best in the country.