City of Basketball Love

Zach Drapkin (@ZachDrapkin)
--

Villanova head coach Jay Wright would rather be eight or nine men deep, but as long as his seven-man rotation is as versatile as Donte DiVincenzo, he won’t be too concerned.

With Phil Booth out due to a long-term knee injury and Omari Spellman declared ineligible for the season, DiVincenzo has stepped in as one of two main reserves, along with redshirt sophomore Eric Paschall.

The 6-foot-5, 205-lb redshirt freshman who missed all but eight games during the Wildcats’ NCAA title run last year has certainly come into his own this season, averaging 6.9 points and 3.4 rebounds in 21.6 minutes per game off the bench.

“We need him. He gives us great versatility. He can play 1, 2, 3, he can play 4. He’s physical enough. He’s big,” Wright said. “He and Eric, their developing is really important to our team.”

DiVincenzo certainly played a crucial role in Villanova’s 93-81 win over Marquette on Saturday night, mustering eight points (2-4 FG, 4-4 FT), six assists, a rebound, and a steal in 29 minutes of Wells Fargo Center action.

The Wilmington, Del. native provided a signature balance of flashy playmaking and composed distribution. He took on a point guard’s mentality when needed, as evident by his career-high assist tally, but still provided the energy that makes him such a valuable asset for the Wildcats.

“I just go in there and try to bring energy on defense, and offense will come by itself,” DiVincenzo said. “I’m trying to work on becoming more of a point guard but also staying aggressive on offense and being able to guard one through three, one through four.”

His versatility couldn’t have been more on display midway through the first half, as DiVincenzo slammed home a dunk on the fast break and assisted a Kris Jenkins three-pointer on the next trip down to halt any Marquette momentum and keep the Villanova lead above two possessions.

“He’s become a complete player where he can defend, rebound, now he’s scoring, he’s getting assists,” Wright said. “He’s just really becoming a well-rounded, complete player.”

There are still aspects of DiVincenzo’s game needing to be tweaked, as is evident from his three turnovers Saturday. Having missed out on lots of practice and in-game reps while injured during his freshman campaign, he’s still working to refine his game as he applies new approaches and techniques on the court.

Luckily, he has some of the nation’s best coaches and teammates to help guide him and motivate him along the way.

The Wildcats’ roster is full of seasoned veterans who now have championship experience after last season, and that’s a massive benefit to younger players like DiVincenzo who haven’t spent as much time in the spotlight.

“We have the best seniors. Darryl (Reynolds), Kris (Jenkins), and Josh (Hart), they’re on us all every single day, and they’re on themselves everyday, and they hold themselves accountable,” DiVincenzo said. “They’re not holding themselves to a different standard, they’re holding everybody to the same standard.”

Moreover, DiVincenzo competes daily in practice with Jalen Brunson, a member of the same recruiting class but one who did hold a key position in last year’s title-winning side and made the Big East All-Freshman team.

“Jalen and I, off the court we’re best friends. On the court, at practice, we go at each other every single day, and that’s only going to make us better,” he said. “I try to give him my hardest defense and he tries to give me his best effort every single day in practice.”

Eager to excel, DiVincenzo is just playing through the season looking at every bump in the road as an opportunity to improve.

In a way, so too is Villanova as a team. They responded to their first worst performance of the season with perhaps their best on Saturday night, and that’s what Jay Wright’s program is all about.

“The Butler loss, we watched film and we learned from it, we had to make sure that game was behind us, we had to move on to the next opponent,” DiVincenzo said. “(Tonight,) I feel like we played really well. We played together. We executed on offense.”

“We gave up some easy baskets but we’ll go back tomorrow and watch film and learn from it.”