Michael Cohen
Faculty Soccer and Faculty Basketball Author
LAS VEGAS — If there was any doubt surrounding why Villanova energy ahead Eric Dixon, a graduate pupil and the reported beneficiary of a number of profitable NIL offers over the course of his profession, wished to proceed taking part in after the Wildcats missed the NCAA Match for a 3rd straight season — which prompted the college to fireplace embattled head coach Kyle Neptune — the reply turned clear throughout the first eight seconds of Tuesday’s opening-round recreation on the Faculty Basketball Crown. It was on the primary possession, after only one move from level guard Jhamir Brickus, that Dixon launched a 3-pointer from the highest of the important thing in a transparent signal of intent. He entered the night needing 9 factors to interrupt this system’s all-time scoring mark held by Kerry Kittles, a two-time consensus All-American within the mid-Nineties, and Dixon wasted no time embarking on his pursuit of the report in what might have been the ultimate recreation of his profession.
That Dixon missed the preliminary try did little to dissuade his quest for historical past. He drilled a tough fadeaway from the left baseline with 15:11 remaining to notch the primary bucket on his scoring ledger and buried a triple on the subsequent possession. By the 9:48 mark, at which level Dixon related on one other 3-pointer that prolonged the Wildcats’ result in 13, there was not a single identify atop the varsity’s scoring record. And when Dixon dribbled from proper to left throughout the lane a couple of minutes later, pump faking his defender to create some house, he swished a brief jumper that pushed his level whole to 2,244 — essentially the most in Villanova historical past. Dixon’s teammates stood and cheered alongside the bench whereas a jersey-wearing fan filmed the scene on his telephone from the premium courtside seats.
“I attempted to not pay a lot consideration to it,” Dixon mentioned with a sheepish smile. “I believe I heard a little bit little bit of response within the crowd. However for me, simply going on the market and being with this group, being on the market and having enjoyable, seeing [my teammates] smiling, that is why we’re out right here to play. We’re out right here to play collectively, to win and luxuriate in it. It was a pleasant little second, however I am making an attempt to maintain the principle factor the principle factor.”
In his a hundred and sixtieth look for the Wildcats — which is 38 extra video games than Kittles performed — Dixon completed with 22 factors on 8-for-13 capturing in a recreation that was by no means shut. Villanova’s lead stretched to twenty with 2:40 remaining within the opening half as Dixon and teammate Wooga Poplar (team-high 24 factors) practically outscored Colorado by themselves on the break. The Wildcats cruised to an 85-64 victory that extends their season for not less than two extra days beneath interim coach Mike Nardi, who coached alongside each Neptune and Jay Wright after starring for Villanova as a participant, earlier than a quarterfinal matchup with USC on Thursday night time right here at MGM Grand Backyard Enviornment.
However the actuality surrounding Villanova this week is that no matter occurs in Las Vegas will at all times be overshadowed by the varsity’s choice to rent Maryland head coach Kevin Willard because the everlasting successor to Neptune, whose last report of 54-47 general and 31-29 within the Massive East was deemed unacceptable when the Wildcats failed to succeed in the NCAA Match but once more, even with this system’s enviable NIL sources and a roster housing multiple future professional. Neptune’s standing because the handpicked successor to Wright, who received two nationwide titles and made a quartet of Ultimate 4 appearances, might solely defend him for thus lengthy as soon as he proved incapable of replicating something near that stage of success. Villanova fired Neptune on March 15, two days after the Wildcats fell to UConn within the second spherical of the Massive East Match.
A training search carried out by athletic director Eric Roedl lasted two weeks earlier than Villanova landed on Willard, who spent three seasons at Maryland and guided the Terrapins to the Candy 16 on this 12 months’s NCAA Match, in the end shedding to Florida. Information of the Wildcats’ choice to rent Willard broke three days later, although hypothesis about his future had dominated the faculty basketball panorama for many of Maryland’s run by the Massive Dance as soon as he started expressing frustration with the varsity’s monetary dedication to his program. Willard, 49, is right here in Las Vegas to spend time with Villanova’s gamers and workers in the course of the Faculty Basketball Crown and made a short tv look through Zoom on Tuesday night time from his lodge room.
“When the job got here open,” Willard informed studio host Rob Stone on FS1, “it is actually simply a type of jobs you can’t move up as a result of it is among the finest basketball jobs within the nation. To be again within the Massive East, to be a part of this household and tradition, it is simply such an honor.
“The model of play is unquestionably going to alter. What’s not going to alter is that this nice tradition and this brotherhood that Jay [Wright] has created. I believe it is the very best tradition in all of school basketball. I am not going to alter the Villanova approach in any respect.”
However what Willard must change is the gamers — and many them. The beginning 5 Nardi chosen on Tuesday night time featured two graduate college students in Dixon and Brickus, alongside three seniors in Poplar, middle Enoch Boakye and small ahead Jordan Longino. All of them might be out of eligibility when the Wildcats’ season ends later this week, be that within the quarterfinals of this match or past. The one highschool participant dedicated to Villanova for the 2025 recruiting cycle was four-star small ahead Dante Allen, the No. 64 general prospect within the 247Sports Composite, however he backed away from his pledge per week after Neptune was fired.
Willard’s deep ties to each the convention and the northeast area ought to assist in his efforts to retool the roster. A local of Lengthy Island, Willard spent a part of his taking part in profession at Pittsburgh from 1994-97, which uncovered him to the Massive East at a time when his father, Ralph Willard, was main this system. He later labored at Louisville beneath Corridor-of-Fame coach Rick Pitino and ultimately turned a head coach himself at Iona (2007-10) and Seton Corridor (2010-22) earlier than taking up the Terrapins. Willard guided Seton Corridor to 4 consecutive NCAA Tournaments at one level and introduced the Pirates to the Massive Dance 5 occasions general, although it wasn’t till this season at Maryland when he superior past the opening weekend for the primary time, a perpetual knock on his credentials.
Now, Willard’s major purpose at Villanova might be to keep away from this system’s first four-year NCAA Match drought because the early 2000s, when the Wildcats transitioned from former coach Steve Lappas to Wright.
“I believe Kevin is a terrific coach,” mentioned DePaul head coach Chris Holtmann, whose workforce additionally participated within the Faculty Basketball Crown this week, throughout an interview with FOX Sports activities. “We have had quite a lot of battles over time between Massive Ten and Massive East. I believe he’ll do a extremely good job.
“I’d anticipate Villanova to most likely — sooner reasonably than later — get proper again to the place they have been [under Jay Wright] once they have been a perennial workforce that superior within the match.”
And within the meantime, as Willard acclimates himself to a brand new set of challenges behind the scenes right here in Las Vegas, the Wildcats’ pursuit of a postseason title will proceed as Dixon’s scoring whole rises.
Michael Cohen covers faculty soccer and faculty basketball for FOX Sports activities. Comply with him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.
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