NEW ORLEANS — Tim Thomas nonetheless holds a novel distinction within the historical past of the Villanova males’s basketball program.
Thomas, a 6-foot-10 Paterson, N.J., native, is the one participant to declare for the N.B.A. draft after only one season on campus. Thomas left Villanova after the 1996-97 season, and the New Jersey Nets chosen him seventh total earlier than buying and selling him to Philadelphia.
Again then, Thomas may have gone straight from highschool to the N.B.A. Beginning with the 2006 draft, all gamers needed to be at the least 19 years previous and a yr faraway from highschool to be eligible.
“I used to be a professional man taking an opportunity on going to varsity and I selected Nova,” Thomas stated in a cellphone interview this week.
Within the 25 years since he left this system, Villanova has been profitable on the highest ranges of the school sport — the Wildcats have gained two of the final 5 nationwide championships — and produced a gentle stream of N.B.A. prospects, however no one-and-done gamers. Because the Wildcats head into this weekend’s Ultimate 4, Coach Jay Wright’s method stands in stark distinction to these of the opposite three packages right here. Duke, North Carolina and Kansas have all had their share of one-and-done expertise through the years. Below Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who will retire following this match, Duke’s present roster has three freshmen projected to be first-round draft picks this summer time.
“One of many issues that we actually attempt to concentrate on at Villanova is authenticity,” Wright, who has been Villanova’s head coach since 2001 and who’s a member of the Naismith Corridor of Fame, stated this week. “We don’t attempt to out-Kentucky Kentucky, or out-Duke Duke. We have now nice respect for these packages. We have now all the time tried to be one of the best Villanova we might be.”
Wright has instilled a number of beliefs: emphasizing program gamers over particular person stars, working an offensive system that options guards who can submit up and shoot, putting crew protection, rebounding and tradition over private branding. It’s common for Villanova’s greatest gamers to be juniors, seniors or, as is the case this yr with level guard Collin Gillespie and ahead Jermaine Samuels, graduate college students. In an interview with ESPN Tuesday night time, Gillespie described Villanova’s tradition: “We have now a saying, ‘All people’s standing is identical however their function is completely different,’ and we dwell by that. We deal with everyone the identical. And I feel that’s why a part of the rationale why coach has constructed one thing actually particular right here.”
“Everybody ought to applaud what they’ve constructed there,” stated Kansas Coach Invoice Self, whose groups misplaced to the eventual champion Wildcats in each the 2016 and 2018 N.C.A.A. tournaments. Kansas will meet them once more on Saturday in a nationwide semifinal. “And naturally, Jay’s the ringmaster of that. You bought to beat them, they don’t beat themselves.”
The numbers communicate for themselves on a number of ranges.
There are 9 former Villanova gamers within the N.B.A., tied with Virginia for essentially the most of any college with none one-and-dones.
Wright has stated that he would “love” to efficiently recruit some one-and-done gamers, however he simply hasn’t discovered the best match. (Omari Spellman, the previous Villanova ahead now taking part in in South Korea after competing within the N.B.A., was a redshirt freshman and thus not a pure one-and-done when he entered the draft in 2018.)
Bryan Antoine, a junior guard, was tabbed as a possible one-and-done participant when he got here to Villanova, however accidents have hampered his profession and prevented him from leaving early.
“We nonetheless need one-and-done guys in the event that they need to be a part of Villanova tradition,” Wright stated this week. “We nonetheless need them, so I don’t need to say we don’t do this. We simply had been capable of persist with what we do firstly.”
Within the one-and-done period, solely Kentucky in 2012 and Duke in 2015 have gained a nationwide title whereas relying closely on one-and-dones of their beginning lineups. North Carolina captured the title in 2017 with the one-and-done massive man Tony Bradley coming off the bench; he was Carolina’s first one-and-done in a decade. The college had seven beneath Roy Williams, its coach from 2003-21. Virginia in 2019 and Baylor in 2021 each had a number of future execs, however not one-and-done freshmen.
“I feel the rationale the Dukes and Kentuckys have gained it, and I actually imply this, I don’t assume anybody understands how troublesome it’s to educate freshmen in high-level video games,” Wright stated on the 2018 match. “I don’t care how good they’re. I don’t care if it’s LeBron. You simply haven’t been anticipated to have the sort of element wanted to play. And I feel John and Coach Ok do one of the best job of that.”
He added: “After which there are solely so a lot of these guys which are one-and-done which are able to profitable nationwide championships.”
That’s very true this yr. The game is stuffed with skilled groups that includes fifth-year seniors and gamers who not have to take a seat out a yr after transferring. Duke, North Carolina and Kansas all have their share of veterans, too. Self identified in a video information convention Tuesday that his crew options the senior guard Ochai Agbaji, certainly one of 4 finalists for the Naismith Trophy because the nationwide participant of the yr; the senior ahead David McCormack and the junior guard Christian Braun.
The Ultimate 4 within the Males’s and Ladies’s Tournaments
The nationwide semifinals. March Insanity is narrowing right down to the highest groups, and can culminate with the Ultimate 4 groups dealing with off within the girls’s and males’s tournaments on April 1 and April 2, respectively. Right here’s a better take a look at the semifinals:
Villanova’s roster doesn’t have anybody who jumps out as a future N.B.A. star, however Gillespie, Samuels and the junior guard Justin Moore (who tore an Achilles’ tendon within the spherical of 8 and is out for the season) all have professional potential.
“Villanova beneath Jay Wright has been capable of accomplish three very onerous issues,” stated Chris Ekstrand, a advisor to N.B.A. basketball operations whose work entails the draft. “One, to efficiently recruit gifted, clever gamers. Two, to develop the abilities in addition to the basketball I.Q. of these gamers. And three, to retain these gamers for a number of years.”
Wright stated an inflection level for this system got here in 2013, when the Massive East Convention broke up and universities with soccer packages, like Syracuse and Pittsburgh, moved on to greater leagues that generated extra income from soccer.
Wright at one level felt unsure about the place Villanova would find yourself, and he and his employees knew they may should radically alter their recruiting and training philosophies, maybe turning towards extra of an emphasis on one-and-done gamers.
However as soon as the brand new Massive East settled as a group of basketball-centric colleges, including Butler, Xavier and Creighton — Midwestern universities that weren’t within the convention’s unique geographical footprint — and signing a 12-year, $500 million cope with Fox Sports activities that added to the league’s visibility and stability, Wright settled on a brand new course for Villanova.
“We’re on this league,” he stated. “Let’s begin with attempting to be one of the best of this league.”
Because the formation of the brand new Massive East, Villanova has dominated the league, profitable at the least a share of seven regular-season convention titles and capturing 5 convention match titles, together with this yr’s championship. And, after all, there are the 4 Ultimate 4 appearances within the final 13 tournaments, and the 2 N.C.A.A. championships.
Nonetheless, Thomas want to see his former program add some one-and-done expertise.
“If we’re going to be having to play Duke and Kentucky and Kansas and North Carolina nearly each single yr, and these groups are loaded with 5 or 4 professional guys, then why not have one or two of these guys to keep up that degree of consistency?” he stated. “However to Jay’s credit score, what he’s been capable of do with the fellows staying in class for a number of years and creating, it’s been wonderful, it actually has been wonderful.”
