Big East Basketball: Buy or sell UConn, Marquette, Villanova and Xavier?
By Joey Loose
Villanova
Suffice to say, things are looking rather different at Villanova this season. A national contender most of the last decade, that script has been flipped on its head in Kyle Neptune’s first season as head coach. Jay Wright’s retirement shocked the nation, but perhaps more shocking has been Villanova’s 8-9 start to the season, one that includes a last-place finish in Portland, and a recent 10-point loss to DePaul that dropped them to 2-4 in conference play.
Three talented seniors are back this season, though Villanova lost some great pieces from last year’s squad. Caleb Daniels (16.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg), Eric Dixon (16.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg), and Brandon Slater (11.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg) have been good, but not good enough for this Wildcats squad that just isn’t holding up this season and hasn’t gotten much from the point guard position. Talented freshman Cam Whitmore (13.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg) missed time early while the Wildcats are also still waiting for Justin Moore to get healthy and onto the court.
The expectations for this squad have certainly changed and the energy around the program has soured quite a bit. There’s certainly blame to go around, with the Wildcats simply not performing well at all this season. Clearly, we’re going to sell on this team as a contender. Even if Moore returns and plays elite-level basketball, this team still isn’t going anywhere.
Sell