December 2017 | Page 19 of 22

By DENNIS CHAMBERS & ADAM ZAGORIA

NEW YORK — Villanova has won as many NCAA championships in the last six years as Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville, and UConn.

During that span, the Wildcats have also won five straight November tournaments, four straight Big East regular-season titles and two Big East Tournament championships.

But perhaps because they haven’t had a single one-and-done player during that span, Villanova is never perceived to be on the same level as the aforementioned blue bloods.

After losing to No. 4 Villanova 88-72 on Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic fueled by Mikal Bridges’ 28 points and 6 rebounds, Gonzaga coach Mark Few said they should be.

“There’s no question, no question, yes,” Few said. “I think it’s just kind of the way the hierarchy’s been built, it’s almost propaganda in nature and not real.

Video, Villanova

Villanova’s Mikal Bridges Dunks on Gonzaga’s Jacob Larsen en Route to Career-High

December 5, 2017

author: Adam Zagoria

NEW YORK -- Villanova's Mikal Bridges had

Texas, Video

Mo Bamba dunks all over VCU Defender

December 5, 2017

author: Sean Bock

By SEAN BOCK Looking at Mo Bamba's measurements,

Seton Hall, Villanova

Weekly Post-Ups: Seton Hall, The Middling Big Ten, and Mikal Bridges

December 5, 2017

author: Mike McCurry

By MIKE McCURRY Player of the Year is

Recruiting, Syracuse

With Jim Boeheim set to coach until his late 70s, it brings stability to Syracuse’s recruiting situation

December 5, 2017

author: Adam Zagoria

By ADAM ZAGORIA

NEW YORK — Khalif Battle originally thought he might be playing for Mike Hopkins if he chose to follow his brother’s path to Syracuse.

Tyus Battle, Khalif’s big brother, is a sophomore guard who leads Syracuse in scoring at 19.7 points per game and is projected as a first-round NBA Draft pick in 2018.

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim announced in March 2015 that he planned to retire after the 2017-18 season. At that point, Hopkins, who was listed on the Syracuse website as “head coach-designate,” was scheduled to slide into the head coach’s seat.

But it’s funny how things can change on the way to such grand plans. Hopkins took the head coaching job at the University of Washington in March, and soon after Syracuse announced that the then 72-year-old Boeheim had agreed on contract extension, the length of which was not specified.

Boeheim, now 73, has since said he plans to coach through his son Buddy Boeheim’s tenure at Syracuse, which would mean Boeheim would be coaching the Orange until at least the 2021-22 season, when Boeheim will turn 77. Buddy is a senior shooting guard at Brewster (N.H) Academy who has signed to play with Syracuse beginning in 2018-19.

“I’m not leaving my son there,” Boeheim, whose team meets UConn in the second game of the Jimmy V Classic Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden following the Villanova-Gonzaga game, told me in September.

That would make Boeheim the oldest coach in Division 1 history, as the Syracuse Post-Standard pointed out. John Chaney (Temple), Lute Olson (Iowa, Arizona) and Jim Phelan (Mount St. Mary’s) all coached until they were 74.

These developments, in turn, have helped stabilize Syracuse’s recruiting situation with younger recruits like Khalif Battle, ranked the No. 7 combo guard in the Class of 2019 by 247Sports.com. Battle is also being courted by Miami, Rutgers, UConn, Villanova, St. Joe’s, Butler and Washington, where of course Hopkins is now running the show.

“Obviously, they’ve done well recruiting with the ’18 class and you can see we got some pretty good players,” Gary Battle, Tyus and Khalif’s father, said of Syracuse. “I think they’ve targeted guys and I think it’s helped them. They have some stability there. Jim’s an exciting guy. He brings excitement. He knows what his kids have done. And it’s fun playing for him, Tyus likes playing for him.”