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'Nova freshmen Gillespie, Cosby-Roundtree take their biggest stage yet

03/29/2018, 9:00pm EDT
By Josh Verlin

Collin Gillespie (above) went from the Catholic League to the Final Four in the span of 12 months. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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SAN ANTONIO -- If Collin Gillespie and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree needed any indication that their circumstances this March were just a little different from the ones they were in a year ago, it could be found outside the locker room Villanova is using at the Alamodome this week for the Final Four.

That’s where the pair of freshmen -- and the rest of the Wildcats’ top eight -- were featured in a floor-to-ceiling mural, running a good 50 feet down the hallway.

Just like the rest of the Final Four, played on an elevated court in the middle of a football stadium, it’s larger than life.

“You watch on TV, you don’t really know what it’s like because you’re not there,” Gillespie said after Villanova’s closed practice on the Alamodome court Thursday afternoon, the team’s first since arriving the day prior. “I didn’t know what to expect...and then you walk out there, you see how deep it is and how wide the stands go up.”

“When we were running out to the floor, I was looking out at the stands, the court,” Cosby-Roundtree added. “It’s crazy. I didn’t imagine it could be that big.”

Both Philadelphia natives are used to playing their fair share of important games in front of sizeable crowds, at least as far as high school basketball goes.

Gillespie led Archbishop Wood to its first-ever Catholic League title in 2017, scoring 24 points in a packed Palestra, then followed that up with a 15-point outing in a blowout win at Hershey’s GIANT Center for the 5A championship a few weeks later. And he’d shined in numerous other high-level affairs, scoring 42 points against Quade Green and Neumann-Goretti during the regular season, outplaying the Kentucky freshman in both of their matchups that season.

Though Cosby-Roundtree’s Saints were on the losing end of those games, they’d won plenty others, including PIAA Class 3A titles in the GIANT Center in the 6-foot-9 forward’s sophomore, junior and senior seasons.

Packed houses, tight contests, close finishes, loud atmospheres, Gillespie and Cosby-Roundtree experienced it all.

But they know that what they’ve gone through prior to this season doesn’t really compare to what’s ahead of them on Saturday -- and, if they beat Kansas, on Monday night in the national championship game.

Gillespie called it “a whole other level,” and that might be an understatement.

“It’s all advanced,” the 6-3 guard added. “Just because it’s such a big stage, even the media, you go from one round to the next round, the media gets a lot bigger. So there’s distractions everywhere.”

The distractions can come from home, too.


Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree (above) has been consistently strong this postseason off the bench. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Cosby-Roundtree said he’s been hearing constantly from his mom, Ayesha Cosby-Roundtree, as the Wildcats have advanced deeper and deeper into the tournament. And as much as he likes hearing from his biggest supporter, the topics have to be carefully picked.

“I don’t like talking about the game with my mom too too much,” he said. “I feel like it’s a jinx. She’s been talking about it a lot though...just like, ‘let’s go get it, let’s go win it, let’s do it.’ I’m like, ‘alright mom I got you, I got you.’ Try to get off the phone.”

Luckily for the two Catholic League products, they’ve got plenty of experienced upperclassmen to help them out.

Mikal Brides, Jalen Brunson and Phil Booth played a combined 62 minutes in the 2016 national championship game, and are the first group of Big 5 players to have played in multiple Final Fours since the 1950s.

Now the veteran leaders of this group, they’re happy to give out tips to those who haven’t been here before about how to handle it all -- even if they know it’s going to be overwhelming at first.

“Yeah, they’re human, and it’s tough to not look out there and be like ‘whoa,’ it’s human nature,” Bridges said. “But after that, just tell them we’re here, but just make sure you’re locked in. It’s 94 by 50 feet, just stay locked in and play Villanova basketball.”

Both Gillespie and Cosby-Roundtree certainly should factor into whether or not Villanova leaves San Antonio with the program’s third national championship.

On the season, Gillespie is averaging 4.3 ppg off the bench while hitting 39.1 percent of his 3-pointers; Cosby-Roundtree is chipping in 3.3 ppg and 2.5 rpg while hitting 77.9 percent of his shots.

Gillespie played 19 minutes in each of Villanova’s first two tournament games, but saw only a combined seven minutes in the Sweet 16 triumph over West Virginia and Elite 8 win against Texas Tech, two physical teams that bothered the freshman guard with their defensive pressure. Cosby-Roundtree has averaged 12.8 mpg through the four games, coming up big in the win over TTU with four points and seven rebounds in a solid 12 minutes of work.

If and when their numbers are called on Saturday, there’s no time for nerves.

“They have to know (opportunities) could be different in different games, and it could be different in different parts of the game,” ‘Nova head coach Jay Wright said. “And that's easy to say, but it's hard when you're the player that has to be prepared.

“Just being ready at any possession any time, that's the key for those two. And that's what we're always telling them and they've been amazing.”


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