VILLANOVA 2007-2008 SNAPSHOT

May 11, 2007


Head Coach: Jay Wright
2006-2007 Record: 22-11 (9-7 Big East) NCAA 1st Round


Returning Players:
Shane Clark, Junior (Forward)
Dwayne Anderson, Junior (Guard/Forward)
Dante Cunningham, Junior (Forward)
Frank Tchuisi, Junior (Forward/Center)
Scottie Reynolds, Sophomore (Guard)
Reggie Redding, Sophomore (Guard)
Casseim Drummon, Sophomore (Center)
Antonio Pena, Freshman (Forward)
Andrew Ott, Freshman (Center)

Incoming Players:
Corey Stokes (Guard)
Corey Fisher (Point Guard)
Malcolm Grant (Guard)

Transferred Out:
Bilal Benn

Graduated Players:
Curtis Sumpter (Forward)
Mike Nardi (Guard)
Will Sheridan (Forward)

Open Items/Issues:
It has been a quiet spring at Villanova. There was less than a week's worth of suspense in the Scottie Reynolds/NBA story. Reynolds made it clear quickly he would return for his sophomore season. The only other news has surface that seldom-used guard Bilal Benn has decided to transfer to Niagara for his final two seasons of eligibility.


Summary:
By his own admission, Jay Wright expects the 2007-2008 season to be a 'transition' year for Villanova. Don't feel too sorry for the Wildcat coach who returns the 2006-2007 Big East Freshman of the Year, Scottie Reynolds, and welcomes a couple high school All-Americans in Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes to the Main Line campus in Philadelphia.

The Wildcats will be a bit young next season as they are without a senior on their roster and will have to replace three long-time starters in Mike Nardi, Curtis Sumpter and Will Sheridan. The trio supplied nearly half of the Wildcats scoring output last season. Only Syracuse, DePaul, St. John's and South Florida were impacted more by graduation in terms of last season's scoring output. Obviously, we know Scottie Reynolds can score, but nobody else on the roster has shown the ability to be a consistent scoring threat, which is likely to put a lot of offensive expectations on the incoming freshman. Shane Clark has some scoring tools and redshirt freshman Antonio Pena is another combo forward (Villanova is a team full of combo forwards and guards, it seems) that could be a new source of offense and he could evolve in a Sumpter-type player.

The other area we will question Villanova on is their post defense and rebounding. Dante Cunningham is one player whi will embrace both roles, yet he is far from a true post-player. Casseim Drummond did not play a lot as a freshman, but showed some promise in the pain and if he can show a lot of improvement as a sophomore that would be a huge lift to Villanova's ability to match up with more teams in the conference.

Sophomores Scottie Reynolds and Reggie Redding will team with freshmen Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes and Malcolm Grant to give Villanova a deep and exciting backcourt. Their youth will cause some ups and downs, but they will have a three guard line-up that will match-up with anyone's in the conference and don't count out the occassion 4-guard look either. Shane Clark and Dante Cunningham are now juniors, so they will be asked to become leaders on this team and much is expected of Antonio Pena in the future. With 12 scholarship players, none of them seniors, it might be a little while before Jay Wright is able to add some post help, so this Villanova team is going to go as far as their young guards can take them. Connecticut showed last year that it can be a dicey situation depending on so many younger players, so hopefully a couple juniors will step-up for the Wildcats next season.

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