Villanova Basketball: 5 early lessons from 2021-22 Blue/White scrimmage

Oct. 7, 2021 saw Villanova Basketball have its Blue/White Scrimmage in front of – not only- head coach Jay Wright, but in front of fans as well. The game consisted of four ten-minute quarters, with the first five minutes being played with running time, and between each quarter the teams would get switched up as finding a winner was the least of the coaching staff’s concerns.

The game did not include Bryan Antoine and Jordan Longino who sat with knee injuries, center Nnanna Njoku was observing concussion protocols while Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree sat out his first game which will stretch throughout the entire season after having a total of four tibia surgeries over the past five years on his two legs.

What the game did include however were some interesting matchups. Returning guard Collin Gillespie was able to post up freshman Angelo Brizzi with ease, but was just as quick to pass back to the perimeter while being defended by Caleb Daniels in the key.  Coaches even played some zone during the last two quarters, which is always fun to see from a Jay Wright team.

The Wildcats are favored to repeat as Big East Champions after an 11-4 Big East record and a South Regional Semi-Final loss to the eventual National Champion Baylor Bears. The Wildcats reached the Sweet Sixteen without Gillespie, a circumstance that will only benefit them this season.

With the importance of non-conference games in early November up for debate, one has to be very careful when drawing any conclusions from a scrimmage, and this is what this was, a scrimmage that was played and taped in front of fans. Teams do however use scrimmages to work on what they will use during a game and this scrimmage revealed a handful of talking points.