The Holy Land of Hoops

If you are unfamiliar with PP, here is a little background on him, http://espn.go.com/college-sports/baske ... -pritchard.

He is mentioning about 5 schools right now but word is it is between Villanova and Gonzaga. If he ends up at Villanova, with Jalen Brunson committing recently, Jay Wright continues to kill it on the recruiting trail. I will keep you guys posted if I hear anything more. GUARD U!

FWIW, when I initially posted this thread I did so believing Villanova had a very good shot with Payton. Over the past 24 hours, things have changed and I would be quite surprised if Pritchard ends up a Wildcat. Jay has many irons in the fire so I am still confident 2016 will be a nice haul for Villanova and I will continue to keep you guys posted.

Rockwell, why has Villanova fallen out of the lead dog spot? Does it have anything to do with Brunson possibly or likely staying longer than a year?

R Jay wrote:Rockwell, why has Villanova fallen out of the lead dog spot? Does it have anything to do with Brunson possibly or likely staying longer than a year?

Could it have anything to do with the fact that he lives on the West Coast?

Payton will announce 9:45am PST on Tuesday morning. As of right now I am being told Villanova is out. I was told that it was between Villanova and Gonzaga with Villanova having the slight edge when I initially posted this. Now I am being told Villanova is out which would lead me to believe it is Gonzaga but all signs are pointing to Oklahoma which I believe is his father's alma mater. Perhaps both his father and mother's alma mater. Regardless, at this point I am being told Villanova is out. If anything changes I will let you know but yes, I feel that location is certainly a factor that is working against Villanova, just too far away.

With that being said Brunson has stated that he wants to play at Villanova for all 4 years, whether that happens or not I don't know, but one thing I am pretty sure of is he won't be a 1-and-done. Not sure if Jalen coming in at PG a year ahead of Payton discouraged him, but knowing Villanova's offense, it shouldn't have.

Long story short, I would have loved to get Payton, he seems like a great kid and I wish him all the best, but with Brunson coming in in 2015 the need for a PG in 2016 was just not really there so it won't make or break Villanova by any means. Right now I would say most Wildcat fans are hoping for a class that looks something like this: Rawle Alkins, Lamar Stevens and Omari Spellman. Fingers crossed. Good Luck to Payton!

For anybody interested it will be Oklahoma. It will become official tomorrow. On to the next.