By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) +
Kassidy Ingram (@ingram_kassidy)
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It’s been a while since Villanova had someone in the paint like Enoch Boakye.
Enoch Boakye (above) had 15 points and 10 rebounds about RMU. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
The 6-foot-11, 255-pound center from Ontario arrived on the Main Line this offseason as a grad transfer from Fresno State, the first true ‘5’ the Wildcats have had on the roster since Daniel Ochefu graduated in 2016. And while Ochefu and 2013 grad Mouphtaou Yarou were both physical post presences, Boakye is the type of rim-running, high-flying big man that hasn’t been seen on Lancaster Avenue in much of the recent past.
Boakye’s presence was certainly notable as Villanova publicly played a Division I opponent for the first time this fall, beating Robert Morris 87-73 in an exhibition game on Sunday afternoon. Teaming with All-Big East First Teamer Eric Dixon in the frontcourt, he went for a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double in 28 minutes of action, going 7-of-8 from the floor, with a couple blocks for good measure.
“Defending and rebounding, that’s what I want to bring to this team,” he said afterwards. “I just think I can just complement and help as much as I can, and be a force in the paint.”
His offensive output included a couple alley-oops, the Wildcats’ players clearly picking up on the fact that they’ve got a big-time lob threat in the post.
Thanks in part to Boakye’s presence, Villanova won the rebounding battle over Robert Morris, 51-27 in the paint, with a 44-20 advantage on points. Seven different Wildcats grabbed at least five rebounds.
“I’ve had a lot of great frontcourt mates, but I think Enoch, he’s a great defender, he’s a great finisher,” Dixon said. “You talk about his scoring, he’s just down there and he’s big, and he takes a lot of attention away from me as well.”
In the last decade, ‘Nova has mostly relied on a frontcourt with two versatile posts, including the likes of Omari Spellman, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Tyler Burton and more. The addition of Boakye allows Dixon to slide to his more natural position at the ‘4,’ where the 6-8 Abington grad can really show off his versatility.
Dixon, as he’s sure to do often this season, led Villanova in scoring with 28 points in the win, shooting 11-of-16 from the floor and 5-of-9 from the 3-point range.
“I look at Eric Dixon as probably the most versatile player, probably, in the country,” Neptune said. “When you talk about offense, there’s literally nothing he can’t do. He can catch and shoot, he can post up, he can isolate from the perimeter, can finish around the rim, and I think he’s a much-improved passer this offseason as well.”
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Longino looks healthy, produces
Jordan Longino (above) scored 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
All preseason long, the reports coming out of Villanova have indicated that Jordan Longino is the healthiest he’s been in his college career.
The Germantown Academy grad, a 2000-point scorer in high school, hasn’t quite been able to play up to potential in his first three years as a Wildcat, averaging 4.5 ppg in 80 career games, including a career-best 6.6 ppg in 29 games (five starts) as a junior last year.
Longino certainly looked good against Robert Morris, scoring what would have been a career-best 21 points if the game had been a regular-season contest. The 6-5 wing, who started at the ‘3,’ was an efficient 8-of-12 from the floor (3-4 3PT), finishing second to Dixon amongst all scorers.
He hit several open catch-and-shoot jumpers, but much of Longino’s production came off creating his own shot, hitting a few tough contested jumpers while generally getting to his spots and squaring up for clean looks from all over the court.
“We’ve seen him in practice a lot when he’s healthy, I don’t think a lot of people have seen him a lot when he’s healthy,” Neptune said. “We know what he’s capable of, none of this is a surprise to us.”
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Rotation watch
Coming out the gate, Villanova started Boakye and Dixon, along with Jhamir Brickus, Wooga Poplar and Jordan Longino. Neptune made the first substitution in the first three minutes, putting sophomore Tyler Perkins in the game; freshman Josiah Moseley and redshirt freshman Kris Parker checked in around the 12-minute mark of the first half.
That group comprised the eight which saw the bulk of the minutes for the Wildcats. Nobody played more than 28 minutes against RMU, but everybody in that top eight saw at least 17 minutes of action.
In the last couple minutes of each half, freshmen Aleksander Gavalyugov and Malcolm Thomas were able to snag a couple of minutes; Gavalyugov, Thomas, Moseley, Parker and Perkins also closed the game out, Neptune letting his youngsters deal with RMU’s desperation full-court press with mixed results.
While things are always prone to change over the course of the season, it looks like Neptune’s got a clear top eight, with the underclassman depth to develop.
“We’re a work in progress, we’ll go back and watch the film, and we’ll go back and keep making our evaluations and we’ll change our substitution patterns as we see fit,” Neptune said. “But I like how it went today, I think we’ve got a lot of guys a lot of minutes.”
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Mixed bag for Poplar, Brickus, Perkins
While Dixon and Boakye shined up front, the new-look ‘Nova backcourt of starters Jhamir ‘Jig’ Brickus and Nisine ‘Wooga’ Poplar and sixth man Tyler Perkins had a little more of an up-and-down afternoon at the Pavillion.
On one hand, the three transfer guards combined for just seven points on 3-of-18 shooting, including 0-for-11 from downtown.
On the other hand, they also combined for 13 assists and five turnovers, including a 10-assist, one-turnover line from Brickus in 28 minutes of play.
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Hodge sits due to eligibility concerns
The only member of the rotation not available for Sunday was freshman Matt Hodge. The Belgium native and St. Rose (N.J.) grad is still “awaiting completion of the NCAA Initial Eligibility Process,” the program announced Sunday morning.
A 6-8 wing, Hodge came over from Belgium for his last two years of high school basketball, playing for Villanova alum Brian Lynch at St. Rose. The 6-8 wing emerged as one of the best prospects in his class, putting together a dominant 2023 summer where he showed off his ability to score from all three levels, defend and rebound at a high level.
Neptune declined to clarify if it was related to Hodge’s European background, saying only “it’s just a clearinghouse issue that we’ve just got to clean up” afterwards.
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Next up
Villanova opens its season on Mon, Nov. 4, with a home game against Lafayette. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 PM.
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