City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
––

Just before tip-off of Villanova’s Big 5 clash with La Salle on Sunday evening, Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree and Jermaine Samuels raced from one end of the Palestra court to the other. It was a tradition they picked up from former Wildcats Mikal Bridges and Eric Paschall; a little pre-competition competition, a little extra adrenaline as the final seconds ticked off the pregame countdown clock.

There was a huge smile on Cosby-Roundtree’s face as he crossed the baseline first.

“That was the first time I beat (Samuels) in a while,” he explained a couple hours later. “I think I cheated a little bit, to be fair.”

If Cosby-Roundtree had a little extra bounce in his step — or even if he did take off a step early, beating Samuels to the punch — his excitement was understandable. He was ready to play basketball again.

After thinking his basketball career— certainly his one in a Villanova uniform — was over, Cosby-Roundtree found himself on the Villanova bench Sunday night, the familiar feeling of a jersey under his warmups. It didn’t take him long to shed the warmup jacket, the No. 21 appearing once again on the Blue & White bench. 

And then at the scorers’ table. 

And then on the court.

“I was really excited, that’s the only way I can explain it,” the 6-foot-9, 250-pound Neumann-Goretti product said. “I still couldn’t believe it, that it was going to happen.”

Injuries have marred Cosby-Roundtree’s years at Villanova, bad shins haunting him from his high school days. He was a key bench player as a freshman in 2017-18, averaging 3.1 ppg on Villanova’s second national championship of the past decade, then became a part-time starter a year later, averaging 5.1 ppg and 5.8 rpg in 2018-19.

But those old leg injuries never quite went away. Cosby-Roundtree sat out the entire 2020-21 season recovering from multiple surgeries; back in September, Villanova announced his role would transition to an off-court support one.

Even though it looked like his hoops career was over, Cosby-Roundtree remained on the ‘Nova roster, occasionally practicing with his teammates when his body allowed. 

“The doctors couldn’t guarantee if he was going to be able to hold up this year,” Jay Wright said. “They said he’s good, he’s cleared, but (they) can’t guarantee if he can play a week in a row.

“He’s been doing a lot of little things to help our guys, really help the development of [forwards] Eric Dixon and Nnanna [Njoku]. He spends a lot of time with them, so every day he’ll do something, maybe 10 minutes, 15 minutes [on the court].”

Over the first few weeks of the season, it became clear that Villanova needed more bodies on the court. Playing just a six-man rotation, the Wildcats looked worn out by the end of a loss to No. 6 Purdue last week, and there were no clear solutions. 

In addition to Cosby-Roundtree, another upperclassman that ‘Nova had been counting on to fill out its top eight — junior guard Bryan Antoine — has also been sidelined with recurring injuries; behind him were only a trio of true freshmen, plenty talented but not quite ready for significant minutes the way Jay Wright needs them to be played. With Njoku held back by some preseason injuries, including a concussion, Wright was also desperate for some size, the 6-8 Dixon often the only true post presence on the court.

When the flu hit the Wildcats this week, the options were truly limited.

“I wanted to help our team get better any way I could, (the coaches) asked me if I wanted to practice and if I wanted to help, and if I felt good enough to do it,” Cosby-Roundtree said. “I said ‘yes’ and then I felt good, they asked me to do it the following day, and I still felt good. 

“It was just a day-to-day thing, they asked me every day how I felt, and I told them I felt good, and I was working with our trainer Dan [Erickson], getting ice and making sure my body was as strong as possible, as strong as I can be.”

So there he was in warmups and layup lines with the Wildcats, looking every bit ready to step on the court and contribute for the No. 7 team in the country. And then it happened.

Cosby-Roundtree’s first minutes of the season came with Villanova holding an 11-2 lead with 13:42 left in the first half. He immediately grabbed an offensive rebound on his first possession; his next time up the court, a post-up opportunity against La Salle’s Clifton Moore resulted in his first points.

He played four short stints for a total of six minutes in the Wildcats’ 72-46 romp, finishing with those two points on his only shot attempt, grabbing two rebounds, both on the offensive end. His second became a kick-out assist for a Chris Arcidiacono triple. 

It certainly wasn’t Cosby-Roundtree’s most stat-heavy game of his collegiate career, but there’s no doubt it was one of his most meaningful, including to his teammates.

“It was really exciting,” said Collin Gillespie, who came in with Cosby-Roundtree as freshmen from the Philadelphia Catholic League more than four years back. “He’s kept a great attitude through the whole thing, we always knew he wanted to play, his role just changed but his status was the same, and he was bringing a great attitude every day and helping our guys and our team be successful.”

“He looked really good — he wasn’t supposed to be able to do this,” Wright said. “And I know he’s been wanting to play anyways, so I said let’s give him a shot. For not playing for a year and a half, I thought he looked really good.”

What Cosby-Roundtree’s role with the team will be moving forward is unclear. It’ll depend on how his legs respond to a more increased workload, whether his body can handle the grind of a college season once again. 

If he can’t play, the Wildcats will still benefit from his leadership and his presence, something they don’t take for granted. But based on one night, Cosby-Roundtree certainly doesn’t sound like a young man who’s ready to put on khakis and a polo for his next pregame race.

“Physically I didn’t feel any pain or anything like that,” he said. “Just in terms of the basketball aspect of it, I felt as though I just want to get back, get some more experience, get some more time playing, and hopefully I can get better at the things that we do.”

~~~

For more photos, check out @GShotPics on Instagram