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Wright, 'Nova happy to be back in NCAA picture

03/12/2013, 10:15pm EDT

By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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After seven consecutive NCAA tournament bids, Villanova sputtered to a 12-18 regular-season record last year and was never mentioned near the words “March Madness” or “bubble.”

But with three wins over top-5 opponents this year and a winning record in the super-competitive Big East, Villanova is relevant once again. And although a bid isn’t assured at 19-12 heading into this week’s Big East Tournament, the Wildcats are on the brink of returning to the NCAA tournament.

“It’s nice playing meaningful games at this point in the year, it really is,” Villanova head coach Jay Wright said before the Wildcats practiced on Monday afternoon. “Even going up to Seton Hall, Pitt, Georgetown, you knew those were meaningful games. It’s fun, and that’s why you strive for and it really is enjoyable.”

After a 67-57 win over No. 5 Georgetown on Wednesday, every major bracket projection has Villanova safely on the right side of the bubble. Even with a few likely bid thieves winning conference tournaments around the country, the Wildcats still have a good chance of hearing their names called on Selection Sunday no matter what happens in New York City.

Wright isn’t taking anything for granted, however.

“I think a lot of crazy things could happen that could keep us out, we don’t control that,” he said. “So we have to go prepare for this St. John’s game and that’s the only thing we can control so we can do that.”

What the year away from tournament contention means is that Wright now has two classes of kids who’ve never played games this crucial on the collegiate level. That includes his starting backcourt in freshman point guard Ryan Arcidiacono and sophomore wing Darrun Hilliard, the two players who are likely to have the ball in their hands in crunch time up in Madison Square Garden.

Neither of them seemed fazed by the task that lay before them.

“It’s just another game that we’re going to have to play our best and try to play hard and play together,” said Arcidiacono, the CoBL City 6 Rookie of the Year after he averaged 12.2 ppg and 3.5 apg as a starter from game one. “Just Villanova basketball, that’s what coach wants us to do and that’s what we want to do, and if we play that way we’re confident that we can get a win.”

It’s not just those two, either. Redshirt sophomore JayVaughn Pinkston is the teams’ leading scorer as its sixth man, while freshman forward Daniel Ochefu as well as sophomore guard Achraf Yacoubou are both key bench pieces. Only senior forward Mouphtaou Yarou had any significant playing time for Villanova back when they went to the NCAA Tournament in both 2010 and 2011.

This is unfamiliar territory for the rest of them.

“We’re all kind of new to this,” Hilliard said. “We’re just having that blind faith in coach Wright and the coaching staff in knowing that they’re leading us in the right direction. Just have to keep pushing forward and keep getting better.”

What’s tougher for Wright and his staff to control is keeping the bubble talk away from his team.

“I don’t think we can keep them from hearing it and listening to it,” Wright said. “ I think it’s one of the challenges in coaching now, you know that these kids are getting so much inside information that you just have to address it daily.”

“Honestly, it’s everywhere,” Arcidiacono said. “You can’t watch a game on TV and not see it, so you’re eventually going to see it whenever.”

Though the Wildcats aren’t completely ignorant of their position in regards to NCAA probability, they’re not spending too much time thinking about it, either. Just like they have in their biggest wins, Villanova’s youngest players are acting beyond their years.

“I just try to keep ready for the next day of practice and just try to focus on our game and not really listen to any of that stuff because we control our own destiny,” Arcidiacono said.

“We can’t base our season off what somebody says, we can’t make everybody happy,” Hilliard said. “We just have to play every game like it’s our last and play every practice like it’s our last and keep getting better every day.”

The fact that Villanova is even in this position is somewhat surprising to begin with considering where they were just a few weeks ago. A loss at Providence back on Jan. 19 left the Wildcats’ record at 11-7 (2-3 Big East), and it looked like finishing .500 overall would be a struggle with as many as eight ranked teams ahead on the schedule. Then came wins over No. 5 Louisville, No. 3 Syracuse, No. 17 Marquette and No. 5 Georgetown and suddenly there’s a whole new air about the program.

“We knew it was a possibility, we knew we could be a good team, we didn’t know how long it was going to take,” Wright said on being tournament-ready this year. “We were committed to being patient about it as a staff and not getting discouraged, but I think the players just really took a hold of the challenge, especially our leaders–Mouphtaou Yarou, James Bell and Ryan Arcidiacono–those three really took control of the team and forced us to get better every day.”

Villanova opens the Big East tournament on Wednesday night as the No. 7 seed when they face 10-seed St. John’s at 7p.m.