City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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BOSTON -- Nine years ago, Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds went the length of the court at the Boston Garden to beat the buzzer against Pittsburgh and end a 24-year Final Four drought for the Wildcats.

While it was not the first Final Four in school history, it was the first for head coach Jay Wright, and it felt like a gigantic step for a Villanova program that at that point had been on the cusp of something special for quite a few seasons.

In the four previous years, the Wildcats had made two Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight, starting to establish themselves among the top programs in the country, but not quite making their way into the category of a true national power. Wright said something changed after finally cracking into the Final Four.

“It seems like Final Four in college basketball takes you to another level in everything --- recruiting, perception,” Wright said on Saturday before the Wildcats’ took on Texas Tech in Boston once again with a Final Four Trip on the line. “You know, that was our first one in our tenure. Villanova had been there a couple times before obviously.

“It definitely gave us a cache in recruiting and in perception of getting there, and even within the team, the players having known they did that and the program knowing that they can do that, that it’s really attainable, I think it helped in every year.”

It took seven years after Reynolds’ shot, including a one-year absence from the tournament, before Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu helped lead the Wildcats back in 2016 on their way to a national title. In many ways that title was similar in putting Villanova back in the national conversation after a bit of struggle following the 2009 season.

With a 71-59 win against Texas Tech on Sunday, in the same building Reynolds’ sent the Wildcats to the Final Four nearly a decade ago, Villanova clinched its spot for the second time in three years.

Much like those before it, this win seems like a benchmark for the Wildcats, but it’s a much different one. The Reynolds team was No. 3 seed knocking off No. 1 seed Pitt. In 2016, the Wildcats were a No. 2 seed and still felt like a little bit of an underdog when they knocked down top-seeded Kansas.

This year the Wildcats were the No. 1 seed staving off any potential upsets, showing they’re truly one of the most dominant programs in the country in this era.

“At this point, when you realize you’ve made it through the final eight and you’re going to go, you just feel so blessed,” Wright said after Sunday’s win. “You think why me? You know there’s a lot of great teams out there, a lot of great programs. At this point, you don’t really try to figure out why...You’re kind of saying, ‘Why us?’ and just soaking it in.”

In the past 10 years, only four other programs have made the Final Four three times: North Carolina (2009, 2016, 2017), UConn (2009, 2011, 2014), Michigan State (2009, 2010, 2015) and Kentucky (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015). Those other programs are considered some of the blue bloods of college basketball.

Even more impressive might be that the Wildcats got back to the Final Four just two years after going. Only Kentucky (2012 and 2014), UCLA (2006 and 2008) and UConn (2009 and 2011) have accomplished that since 2000. That might speak even more than a program winning back-to-back title because it likely means a team won with a different group leading the way.

Along with Arcidiacono, gone from the 2016 team are Josh Hart, a former National Player of the Year candidate, and Kris Jenkins, who hit the game-winning three in the national title game. The remaining holdovers are junior guard Jalen Brunson and redshirt-juniors Phil Booth and Mikal Bridges.

Brunson started all but one game for that team, but he was fifth on the Wildcats in scoring. Bridges and Booth played mostly supporting roles. Donte DiVincenzo and Eric Paschall were both redshirting during that season. Now, Brunson is a National Player of the Year candidate and Bridges is a potential NBA lottery pick, while Booth, Paschall and DiVincenzo are all averaging double figures.

This year’s group also includes three freshman in Omari Spellman, Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree and Collin Gillespie who had no connection to that 2016 squad.

Parts of each group gave Villanova a little bit of something in Sunday’s win. Brunson led the way with 15. Paschall, DiVincenzo and Bridges each had 12. Spellman scored 11.

“It’s great to be able to do it with new leaders, new guys on this team,” Brunson said. “We have a lot of younger guys on this team contributing big minutes in big roles.”

“We just talk about every day trying to be the best we can be, not really worrying about if we’re gonna make it back there again,” he added. “It’s just us getting better everyday.”

While Final Fours may be the measuring stick for success in college basketball, winning national championships is still the goal for every team that gets there.

Winning two in a three-year period would put the Wildcats in even more elite company. No team has been able to do that since Florida won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.

“I haven’t had time to even think about that,” Brunson said of making another Final Four appearance. “I know that’s something I’ll think about for the rest of my life, but as of right now, I’m not satisfied. I’m extremely honored to be in this position. Don’t get me wrong, to be in the Final Four again does mean a lot, but I’m not satisfied.”