Tag Archives: Villanova Basketball

Neptune Leads Nova To Win Over La Salle in First Game at the Helm

November 8, 2022 By in Big 5, La Salle Basketball, Villanova Basketball Tags: , , , Leave a comment

PHILADELPHIA, PA: The College Basketball Season got underway today. Which game to watch live? Tough call for me… Donta Scott and Hakim Hart opened up their fourth season at Maryland under new Head Coach Kevin Willard. The Terps faced Niagara at home. Hysier Miller and Zach Hicks began their sophomore campaign at Temple. The Owls faced a tough Wagner squad led by Donald Copeland in his first year at the helm. Seth Lundy and Andrew Funk laced ’em up for Penn State against Winthrop.

Villanova Head Coach, Kyle Neptune

I decided to head to Villanova. I wanted to see if Fran Dunphy’s Xs & Os could overcome a distinct disadvantage in the Jimmies and Joes. Dunphy began his coaching career 50 years ago at the United States Military Academy (1971–72). Bear in mind, Dunphy is the all-time winningest coach in Big 5 history. After a three year hiatus, he’s back to coach his alma mater and lead his third Big 5 program.

Nova’s head coach, Kyle Neptune was 16-16 last year in his lone season at Fordham in the Atlantic 10 Conference before being tapped to succeed the greatest coach in Big 5 history. This matchup against the Explorers was Neptune’s inaugural Big 5 game.

Does the Big 5 matter? Was I alone in considering that aspect of the game? Did anyone else give even the slightest f*#k that this was a Big 5 contest?

La Salle Head Coach, Fran Dunphy and guard, Josh Nickelberry

Serious question… Just curious.

With 580 career wins, it seemed reasonable to give the X & O advantage to Dunphy. Neptune, however, had a rather distinct Jimmy & Joe advantage. Eric Dixon and Caleb Daniel are top notch veteran Big East performers. During his senior year in high school, Dixon was named by USA Today as Pennsylvania State Player of the Year. He was listed at No. 74 by espn.com in its Top 100 Prospects of 2019. Last season, Dixon started every one of Villanova’s 38 games during the run to another Wildcat Final Four. He averaged 9.1 points and 6.4 rebounds in 25.2 minutes per outing. A very efficient offensive player, he shot .498 from the field goal and .486 from behind the 3-point line. Last year he was awarded Most Improved Player by the Philadelphia Big Five.

This year he’s making an early case for best player in the Big 5.

Kyle Neptune and Villanova forward, Eric Dixon

He’s just one of the Neptune’s Jimmies…

And… There are several Joes.

Last year, Caleb Daniels averaged 10.2 points per game and helped Nova win the BIG EAST Tournament title and make it to another Final Four. Daniels was named to the All-NCAA South Regional Team and Second Team All-Philadelphia Big Five.

Brandon Slater started all 38 games last season. He scored 8.5 points and grabbed 3.7 rebounds for the Wildcats on their run to the Final Four.

Highly touted freshman Mark Armstrong was the 2022 Hudson County Interscholastic Player of the Year. He set a St. Peter’s Prep record with 1,776 career points. Armstrong was listed at No. 61 in ESPN’s Top 100 in the Class of 2022.

Keep in mind that Villanova has two (2) NBA Joes in street clothes at the moment. Senior guard, Justin Moore was named Second Team all-BIG EAST and First Team All-Philadelphia Big Five last season. He was the second leading scorer for the Wildcats, contributing 14.8 points per game and grabbing 4.8 rebounds per game. Moore tore his right achilles tendon suffered in the final minute of Villanova’s 50-44 victory over Houston in the NCAA South Regional Final. He is currently rehabbing the injury.

Freshman Cam Whitmore was the 2022 Gatorade Maryland Boys Basketball Player of the Year and a McDonald’s All-American. He was a two-time Baltimore Catholic League Player of the Year who also played in the 2022 Jordan Brand Classic. Whitmore was ranked No. 21 in the ESPN Top 100 of the Class of 2022.

Now… Keep in mind Whitmore and Moore were unavailable. Maybe… just maybe… Dunphy could scheme his way to an upset in a sold out Finneran Pavillion.

After all, it is a Big 5 game. Anything can happen… right?

Naaaaaah…

The Jimmies and Joes overcame the Xs & Os…

Indeed, there were moments when Eric Dixon looked like he was playing against Quakertown. He finished with 20 points on 8-17 shooting, including 2-4 from behind the 3 point line. Dixon also contributed 4 assists and 3 blocks. Grabbing only 2 rebounds, he’ll need to improve considerably on the boards going forward.

Daniels was magnificent. He finished with 24 points, while shooting an efficient 8-11 from the field and 6-7 from behind the 3 point line. Daniels also pulled down a game high 10 rebounds.

Villanova guard, Caleb Daniels

Dixon and Daniels bussed dey ass…

For the Explorers, Josh Nickelberry scored 22 points while shooting 7-12 from the field and 5-9 from 3. He also pulled down 6 rebounds and 2 assists.

Khalil Brantley probed and penetrated throughout the contest. He managed to score a tough 11 points on 5-12 shooting from the field. He grabbed 4 rebounds and dished 2 assists.

Jhamir Brickus played a listless 34 minutes and did not score a point. Indeed, he only took 3 shots and 2 of them were 3 point attempts. La Salle will struggle to compete against quality opponents if Brickus is not contributing significantly at the offensive end.

Nonetheless, Dunphy kept it within reach… the Explorers were only down 11 with 2:37 remaining.

But it was not to be… Not tonight… The young coach with the Jimmies & Joes got the win. The winningest coach in Big 5 history learned something about his team… Gotta somehow get some of those Jimmies & Joes…

For the first time in the history of the Wildcat program, the Head Men’s Basketball coach is a Black man. Deserves mentioning, didn’t really factor in the game so I placed it here.

#RespeckNova

Collin Gillespie: Catholic League Champion

February 28, 2017 By in Collin Gillespie, Uncategorized Tags: , 5 Comments

They both wear number 1…

Quade Green has the bigger rep. He’s a Team USA Gold Medalist… He’s a McDonald’s All-American… He will play in the Jordan Brand game… He killed Nike’s EYBL last summer… He will travel to the land of “One and Dones” when he joins the vaunted Kentucky Wildcat program in the fall.

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Collin Gillespie, on the other hand, was a nice Catholic League guard… Last year, he tended to defer to another nice Catholic League guard, Tommy Funk. Funk ended up at West Point, where he was named to the Patriot League All-Rookie team. Nice stuff… But… Light years away from the land of “One and Dones.” Unlike Quade who shined on the brightest summer stage at the Peach Jam, Collin plied his trade on the equivalent of the AAU “Chitlin’ Circuit”. As a member of Nike Team Final’s “B Team” he played in Spooky Nook, King of Prussia and Neptune, NJ. As late as December, Collin was sitting on scholarship offers from Basketball powers Albany and Maine.

Then over a period of about 8 days, he received offers from Rider, Drexel, Delaware and Hofstra. All of sudden, he was becoming “sexy”… The word was getting out…

He was the darling of mid-majors… His performances were becoming impossible to overlook… 25 in a win over suburban power Abington… 27 in blowout over Scranton Prep… 27 in a tough loss to Father Judge… 29 in win over 2-time defending Catholic League and State Champion Roman Catholic… All this while playing the role of a traditional pass-first point guard.

If you paid close attention to the crowds at these games, there was always a well-dressed guy lurking on the fringes of the crowd. He tried to blend in, but it was tough. He was always surrounded by friends and passionate Philly hoop heads peppering him with question after question… Ashley Howard, Villanova Assistant Coach, was stalking Collin Gillespie.

Unlike so many other college coaches, Ashley Howard trusted his own eyes. Like his mentor, the legendary Claude Gross, Ashley determined on his own that Collin Gillespie could really fucking play basketball. He never had to ask: “Who else is recruiting him?” He watched him closely game after game after game… He concluded that Gillespie could play at Villanova. Based on that determination alone he brought his boss, National Coach of the Year, Jay Wright out to see what he had been witnessing for weeks.

They sat together during the first matchup between the two number 1s… They were not disappointed. Mr. Green put up 30 points in a valiant effort. The night, however, belonged to Mr. Gillespie! He poured in 42 points while playing a flawless floor game to lead Wood, a football and girl’s basketball school, to the top of the Catholic League standings.

Those who were there, knew what they witnessed. It was now undeniable… Gillespie is a bad muthafucka! Heard it in the gym… Heard it in the parking lot… Heard it over the phone on the ride home… But… in the rematch, you had to like Green’s chance to redeem himself and the Neumann-Goretti juggernaut.

Well… they played tonight before an overflowing crowd of 9,000 plus. The Catholic League Championship was on the line. All the familiar faces were in the building… St. Joseph’s greats like Brian Warrick and Rashid Bey. Temple alums Lynn Greer and Levan Alston sat courtside. Representatives from every media outlet in the region clicked away on MacBook Pros. College coaches from near and far glad-handed their way through the thick crowd. In the end, everyone agreed, Quade Green is a magnificent high school player. But… After the game, they were all saying the same thing…

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Collin Gillespie is a “Bad Muthafucka”! Heard it in the gym… Heard it in the parking lot… Heard it over the phone on the ride home…

Drexel Coaching Candidates

March 7, 2016 By in College Athletics, Uncategorized Tags: , , 2 Comments

Early names surfacing around the Drexel Basketball coaching job include Geoffrey Arnold, St. Joseph’s University assistant and Ashley Howard, Villanova assistant. Both worked previously as Drexel assistant coaches.

Geoffrey

Geoffrey Arnold, pictured with his nephew Langston Galloway (NY Knicks) whom he recruited out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Ashley Howard

Ashley Howard, Assistant Coach under Jay Wright at Villanova University

Terrell Myers, Director of the WeRone Hoops Basketball Club which plays on the Under Armour circuit, weighed in on the Drexel coaching search. “It’s a no-brainer… If they want a guy with experience recruiting high level players and getting Philly players to stay home they can’t go wrong with Geoff or Ashley. I have a tremendous amount of respect for those guys. They have paid their dues. WeRone would be fully supportive of either one of them at Drexel.”

2014 Under Armour Association Finals

SUWANEE, GA – JULY 19, 2014: The Under Armour Association Finals at the Suwanee Sports Academy in Suwanee, GA. (Photo by Kelly Kline/Under Armour)

WeRone Hoops won the 2014 National Championship on the Under Armour Association Circuit. Their current 17U roster includes Trevon Duval, (ranked 5th on the ESPN top 60 Class of 2017), Zack Kent (ranked 50th by 247sports.com) and Antwan Butler (All-City, All-Public in Philadelphia). Recent WeRone alums include Austin Tilghman (Monmouth), AJ English (Iona),  Sedee Keita (South Carolina commit), Ben Bentil (1st Team All-Big East) and Nysier Brooks (Cincinnati commit).