City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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There are plenty of players throughout sports who have been known as artists on their respective court or field of play.

Whether or not Jermaine Samuels, the newest Villanova basketball commit, earns that moniker for his ability on the hardwood is still to be determined.

But he doesn’t need a broadcaster’s turn of phrase to validate his hobby off the court.

“As a kid, I was always drawing,” he said by phone Saturday night, several hours after announcing his commitment over Twitter. “I used to draw football helmets and football teams in 2-D when I was like eight years old. Once I started reaching around 10, 12, I wanted to learn how to do lightning and things like that, and I went on YouTube and started learning about shading and things like that. So that’s when I started expanding my artistic skills.”

A 6-foot-6, 190-pound wing, Samuels -- a Boston native who currently resides in Franklin, Mass. -- is a consensus four-star prospect, ranked in the top 50 prospects in his class by ESPN, Scout, Rivals and many other national scouting services.

And it’s no wonder.

When the Rivers School (Mass.) product takes pen to paper, he holds himself to the same standard he does every time he takes the court.

“(It’s) almost trying to be a perfectionist,” he said. “When it comes to drawing and painting, I have to get it exactly right, and I think in basketball, you try to get the moves right, try to make the perfect play, everything like that.”

Samuels’ recruitment ended suddenly on Saturday, two days after he announced a final five schools of Villanova, Duke, Georgetown, Kansas and Indiana.

An official visit to Villanova from Wednesday to Thursday sealed the deal.

“We came back from the visit, and already in my head, I was already in awe,” he said. “I came home, and I was sitting down with my parents, and I was like I really liked that school, it feels right. And they said ‘well, you know, if this is what you want to do, then just do it.’”

He’s the second member of the Villanova’s class of 2017, along with Neumann-Goretti (Pa.) forward Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree.

Villanova had been involved with Samuels’ recruitment since last spring, just after the conclusion of his sophomore season in high school. Wright and his staff were early fans of his work ethic and well-rounded game, not to mention his long wingspan and impressive upside, and offered him in April 2015.

This summer on the Nike EYBL circuit, he averaged 13.4 ppg for Expressions Elite, shooting 47 percent overall and 33.3 percent from 3-point range. He also contributed 6.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contests.

The Wildcats pursued him strongly all throughout his junior season, which gave Samuels plenty of time to see what they brought to the table. And they couldn’t have made a better impression on the top-50 recruit, riding a 27-win, Big East regular-season championship into a perfect run through the NCAA Tournament and the program’s second-ever national championship.

“I’ve learned that they played exactly the way I love to play basketball,” Samuels said. “The way I like to play basketball, which is team oriented, everybody plays with passion, they all play together, and they all have one common goal and put their differences aside, user everything they do great, they all put their strengths together to win basketball games, and that was what I loved about it.”

Villanova has a chance to repeat this year, with senior wing Josh Hart (15.5 ppg) leading a strong returning perimeter group for Wright & Co. The Wildcats lose Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu from last year but add in the 2014-15 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year in 6-7 wing forward Eric Paschall, a Fordham transfer, plus big men Omari Spellman and Dylan Painter.

By the time Samuels gets to campus, Hart will be beginning his professional career, as will championship game-winning shot hitter Kris Jenkins. The offense will likely be in the hands of then-senior Phil Booth and juniors Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson, if the latter doesn’t depart early for the NBA.

The opportunity certainly exists for Samuels to come in right away and make a big impact for the program.

“(I’ll do) anything they need, honestly,” he said. “I can’t really specify one thing, but anything they need me to do and more. My objective when I get there is to be the best player I can be as possible, for them to develop me into the player I want to be.”

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Original Story

Ari Rosenfeld (@realA_rosenfeld)
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Villanova secured its second commitment of the 2017 class today, when four-star wing Jermaine Samuels announced his intentions to become a Wildcat just days after completing his official visit to the Main Line.

A Massachusetts native who attends the Rivers School and plays AAU for Expressions Elite on the EYBL circuit, Samuels had narrowed his list of schools to just five on Thursday, with Villanova joining Duke, Kansas, Indiana, and Georgetown in making the cut. Duke was his most recent offer, extending a scholarship this past week during his visit to Villanova, and it was expected that Samuels would subsequently visit the Blue Devils’ campus.

Samuels is an athletic and powerful 6-foot-6 wing with the versatility to be able to play a multitude of positions in Jay Wright’s four-out attack. He’s at his best slashing to the rim and using his strong frame to finish inside, but he’s developing a solid three-point stroke and some more advanced facilitation skills.

Following a strong junior season at the Rivers School, Samuels was named All-NEPSAC Class B First Team and built on that by averaging 13 points and six rebounds for Expressions over the spring and summer.

Samuels has been a big name within the 2017 class since early in his high school career, but after seeing his stock drop a bit prior to his final AAU season, used impressive performances at Peach Jam and in Las Vegas during July to cement his status as one of the nation’s elite wing prospects.

The Wildcats now have a strong two-man class in place so far, with Samuels joining Neumann-Goretti power forward Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree. They remain in hot pursuit of Cosby-Roundtree's Team Final teammate, five-star shooting guard Lonnie Walker, and recently made the Reading product’s final five.

It remains to be seen how Samuels’ commitment impacts Villanova’s recruitment of Baltimore’s Darryl Morsell and Illinois’ Justin Smith, both of whom had planned to take official visits to the Main Line.