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Brunson the potential missing piece for Villanova tourney run

09/11/2014, 1:00pm EDT

By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Shabazz Napier and UConn. Russ Smith and Louisville. Kemba Walker and UConn (again).

To make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament these days, it’s pretty clear that you need a lead guard who can put a team on his shoulders.

Villanova fans know that, having watched first Allen Ray and then Scottie Reynolds bring the Wildcats deep into the NCAA Tournament during the last decade. But though they’ve made it to the big dance in nine of the last 10 seasons under Jay Wright, they haven’t advanced further than the Round of 32 in their last four appearances dating back to 2009-10.

On Wednesday, Wright and his program got the commitment they might need to finally get them over the hump and back to the promised land of the second week of the NCAA Tournament–if not much further.

When Adlai E. Stevenson (Ill.) guard Jalen Brunson revealed the Villanova shirt he was wearing at a press conference, he gave the program the blue-chip recruit it needed to maybe take ‘Nova from an NCAA Tournament regular to a potential national title contender.

The consensus top point guard in the 2015 class, Brunson was ranked in the top 25 nationally by ESPN (22nd), Rivals (15th) and 247Sports (19th). A 6-foot-1, 185-pound guard, the son of former Temple guard Rick Brunson, is coming off a very strong summer with the Mac Irvin Fire of the Nike EYBL, for whom he averaged 18.1 ppg, 6.8 apg and 3.7 rpg while getting near-universal acclaim at events across the country.

Of course, the commitment was about the worst possible news for Temple fans, who had held out hope that Brunson would follow his father to North Broad Street even after the elder Brunson–ready to accept a Temple assistant coaching gig earlier this summer–was arrested on several charges. Brunson was scheduled to visit Temple this upcoming weekend, but cancelled his visit when he announced his intent to make his college decision.

Now, instead of hoping the younger Brunson would help lead a revival of the Owls’ program following the worst season in its long history, those Temple fans will have to see him on the opposite side of the Big 5 rivalry for four years in a row, surrounded by quite a bit of talent.

When he gets to the Main Line campus next fall, Brunson will complete a backcourt that should rival that of Ray, Randy Foye and Mike Nardi for the best under Wright in his 13 years at the school. Along with seniors Ryan Arcidiacono, junior Josh Hart, sophomore Phil Booth and fellow 2015 commit Donte Divincenzo, Brunson gives Wright five players who were ranked in the top 100 nationally in their classes (only current junior Dylan Ennis, who was a four-star prospect in his own right, was not).

On top of that, the frontcourt should be solid as well. Daniel Ochefu is a 6-11 defensive center who blocks shots, rebounds and runs the floor, Kris Jenkins is a 6-6 combo forward with a sweet shooting stroke, and 6-8 Tim Delaney should chip in right away with his versatility when he gets to campus next fall as well. Having Brunson around could help attract a blue-chip big man in 2015 or 2016 as well to keep that area strong.

Now, it might not be that first year that Villanova makes a run. But with Booth, Brunson, Hart, Divincenzo, Jenkins, Delaney, 6-7 sharpshooting freshman wing Mikal Bridges and 6-8 redshirt freshman Darryl Reynolds all with multiple years together on campus, the pieces are in place.

It looked like this past year might be the one to buck that trend, after Villanova went 28-3 and took home the Big East’s regular-season title. But then the Wildcats lost their Big East tournament quarterfinal game to Seton Hall on a buzzer-beater and after beating UW-Milwaukee 73-53 in their opening game of the NCAA Tournament, fell to eventual champions UConn before making it out of Buffalo.

And even before Brunson gets to campus, it’s very possible that Arcidiacono, Hart, Darrun Hilliard and JayVaughn Pinkston get the team into the Sweet 16 this year before Hilliard and Pinkston graduate. But what that group doesn’t have right now–at least, nobody has established themselves as such–as a true spotlight player, someone who will take over and dominate whenever the situation demands it.

That’s not to say that Wright hasn’t gotten a solid group of talented players on campus. All of the four players listed above have shown the ability to put up big numbers against top competition, and any one of them (and include sophomore forward Kris Jenkins as one who could do this in a year or two) could very well carry the team through a mediocre performance in an NCAA Tournament game.

It’s certainly not fair to expect that Brunson’s arrival will mean Villanova wins its first national championship since 1985. After all, college basketball is certainly a team sport, and it’s going to take a strong group effort and a bit of luck at the right time to accomplish that dream.

But that dream took a small step closer to reality on Wednesday.