By ADAM ZAGORIA
One door closed and another opened for Villanova on Saturday.
The defending NCAA champion Wildcats were thumped out of the NCAA Tournament by Purdue in the second round, 87-61, in Hartford, Conn.
It was the last college game for seniors Phil Booth and Eric Paschall, the only players remaining from the 2015-16 team that won the first of Villanova’s two NCAA titles in a three-year span.
The Wildcats will lose the scoring, playmaking and leadership of Booth and Paschall, but they return a number of key players, including sophomores Collin Gillespie, Jermaine Samuels and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree and freshmen Saddiq Bey and Cole Swider. Bey was named to the Big East All-Freshmen Team. (It remains unclear what will happen with freshman point guard Jahvon Quinerly, who had a limited role this season.)
“We have a really young crew next year,” coach Jay Wright said after the loss. “No seniors and these sophomores become juniors. We got a couple of these freshman we got to develop. So we’ve got a lot of work to do, but I’m looking forward to it. I like these young guys a lot, and tonight will teach them how hard you have to work to prepare every game and to play against the top teams.”
Led by Ranney School (N.J.) guard Bryan Antoine, Villanova also has the No. 2-ranked recruiting class nationally by 247Sports.com behind Arizona. Big East coaches have already expressed concern over how to guard Antoine, who led Ranney to its first New Jersey Tournament of Champions title and is ranked the No. 2 shooting guard nationally. He is one of two McDonald’s All-Americans in Villanova’s class, along with IMG Academy (FL) power forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. The McDonald’s All-American Game is set for Wednesday in Atlanta.
Need a bucket? @BryanAntoine_ can hit from anywhere on the floor ? Follow @overtime for more before ATL. #WhereTheFutureStarts #repost pic.twitter.com/G4Uo0VTP0n
— McDonald’s All American Games (@McDAAG) March 10, 2019
Antoine is already projected as the No. 10 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft per ESPN.com, and could become the first one-and-done in the Wright Era.
With Villanova’s loss, all four Big East teams are now out of the Big Dance, having gone a combined 1-4. St. John’s lost in the First Four, while Marquette and Seton Hall lost their first-round games.
Marquette, Seton Hall, Georgetown and Creighton figure to be very strong next year, and St. John’s could be back depending on who returns.
“I just think you saw a lot of young Big East teams this year just get worn down at the end, and when you get to this tournament, you run into experienced teams and that’s what happens,” Wright said.
“[There are] lot of young teams who will have everybody back next year. There will be a lot of really good teams. We could be one of the younger teams next year.”
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