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NCAA Basketball: Previewing the 2020 2K Empire Classic

By Benjamin Zacher

Nov 10, 2018; Syracuse, NY, USA; General view of the 2K Empire Classic logo prior to a game between the Morehead State Eagles and the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 10, 2018; Syracuse, NY, USA; General view of the 2K Empire Classic logo prior to a game between the Morehead State Eagles and the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports /
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NCAA Basketball Empire Classic
NCAA Basketball Empire Classic Villanova Wildcats (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

Villanova

  • 2019-20 record: 24-7 overall, 13-5 Big East
  • 2019-20 KenPom rating: 18
  • 2020-21 KenPom rating: 4

The Villanova Wildcats ended last season as one of the best teams in all of college basketball, ranked tenth in the nation, and sharing a Big East regular-season title with Creighton and Seton Hall.  This year, they will pick up right where they left off – and be even better.

Despite losing Saddiq Bey, the team’s leading scorer last season, to the NBA, the Wildcats may be the most complete team in the Big East.  They feature two preseason All-Conference First Teamers and one Second Team selection.  They return four double-digit scorers, and Jay Wright should not have any issues replacing Bey.

Collin Gillespie (15.1 ppg), Justin Moore (11.3), Jermaine Samuels (10.7), and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (10.5) all return from a team that was ranked as high as eighth last year and maintained some of the best wins in all of college basketball, including road victories at Creighton and Seton Hall, and a one-point win over the number-one team in the nation in Kansas.

Jay Wright’s teams have traditionally been designed where all five starters can handle the ball, making some of his positions interchangeable – and, in addition to that being true, this team will also feature one of the best guard/forward duos in all of college basketball in Gillespie and Robinson-Earl.

Gillespie dished out an incredible 138 assists last year against just 60 turnovers while maintaining a 41% shooting clip on field goals and 36% from beyond the arc.  He was just one of two unanimous selections to the preseason First Team, the other being Seton Hall’s Sandro Mamukelashvili.

Robinson-Earl nearly averaged a double-double, providing 9.4 rebounds per game while shooting 46% from the floor.  He will most likely be joined in the frontcourt by Cole Swider – Bey’s replacement.  Swider played 574 minutes last season while starting in 15 minutes, averaging 6.1 points per game.

Again, this team will not miss a beat despite losing their leading scorer.  They get the added benefit of bringing in Tulane transfer Caleb Daniels, the star player for the Green Wave in 2018-19 when he averaged nearly 17 points in 34 minutes a game.

My colleague Jason Burgess talked about Villanova in greater detail in his season preview a few weeks ago, but I will echo his, and the national, sentiments regarding the Wildcats: this team is scary good.  They should be deeper than last season, and they are led by one of the greatest coaches in college basketball.

They are legitimate championship contenders, and they have the opportunity to lay down that groundwork at Mohegan Sun.  A win against Boston College will not really prove much – Villanova fans should be salivating to prove themselves in a second-round match-up against a Baylor team that was nearly picked to be number one in the nation.

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