Welcome to The Holy Land of Hoops

Wow!! What an incredible run! Congrats to Villanova on their 2nd title in 3 years. They just absolutely dismantled everyone in their path. Most dominant tournament run I've seen since UNC '09. Now let's take a look at who's going, staying, and coming in.

(Maybe) OUT:
*Jalen Brunson
*Mikal Bridges
I could see both of them leaving for the pros.

STAY:
*Donte Divincenzo
*Phil Booth
*Eric Paschall
*Collin Gillespie
*Omari Spellman

IN:
*Cole Swider
*Brandon Slater
*Jahvon Quinerly

THOUGHTS
NO seniors on this team oh my goodness. If everyone returns, Nova could maybe try to take a run at an undefeated season or at least be similar to Kentucky 2015. If guys like Brunson and Bridges bounce out then while Nova will still be the team to beat they won't be as dominant. I think Villanova has officially declared themselves a blue blood program and Jay Wright is one of the best to ever coach the game.

Brunson and Bridges are all but confirmed gone. Wright has been dropping hints of this for a while.

DD and OS will test the draft waters. My take: moderate risk one may go; low risk both.

as we've discussed absolutely no guarantee Spellman stays. I don't know if it's 50/50- but it's definitely not a stretch at all to see him turning pro. He did nothing this tourney to hurt his pro stock at all.

And frankly, you wonder about Donte after last night. How much higher is his draft stock going to get? Remember he's the equiv of a junior right now. I'm sure he's seen what happened with Grayson Allen at Duke in not quite the same situation, but kind of similar. He'll probably test the NBA draft process for sure- and where that goes you never know.

My gut says:

Brunson and Bridges are 100% gone. No doubt about it. Mikal is a Top 15 pick and becomes an instant millionaire. Great for him. Jalen gets drafted 2nd round and is perfectly suited as a backup PG in the league for a decade. He may never be an All-Star like Lowry but he does too many good things across the board and is such a tireless worker, that someone will appreciate his talents.

I believe both DD (after his eye opening NC) and Spellman will undergo "the process" by which they test the waters in order to get feedback from NBA teams, but will return for at least 1 more year a la Josh Hart when he was a junior.

Not sure with Booth. He's graduating. He's got 2 rings. Not sure he can improve all that much to improve his stock for the NBA. He may just look to play overseas and make a nice living for a as long as his knees can hold up. I have a feeling he is gone, especially if his two buddies Jalen and Mikal are gone.

Predicted starting lineup next year:

Gillespie
DD
Samuels (comes back a new player)
Paschall
Spellman

Bench:
Quinnerly
Swider
Roundtree
Painter
Slater - Redshirt

GumbyDamnit! wrote:
Predicted starting lineup next year:

DD
Samuels (comes back a new player)
Paschall
Spellman

This would be an insanely athletic core of players. Samuels has a pro body already and can jump out of the gym. And we've seen what DD and Paschall can do. All big/thick, all high flyers. They could be a lot of fun on both ends of the court. Add in Gillespie who today is already a better defensive player than Brunson, and it's a tough team on both ends IMO.

So seeing how this Nova team was more or less unbeatable in March. Do we think they would've been going for 3 straight had Spellman been eligible last year?

Nah Gumby...the money is too sweet - Paschall signs with Pillsbury or Kraft Foods as their national spokesman and commercials lead. He'll be the next
Al Roker.

GTMO!!! Showing the love again for your boy EP! 12 hours of this kumbaya stuff... Now lets get back to it!

DudeAnon wrote:So seeing how this Nova team was more or less unbeatable in March. Do we think they would've been going for 3 straight had Spellman been eligible last year?

I've been bitching about this for 2 years now. Spellman last year wouldn't be the same player that he is now, but the field was weak last season and even a small contribution & better depth might have got us over the hump. That Carolina team scares nobody...

GumbyDamnit! wrote:Gillespie
DD
Samuels (comes back a new player)
Paschall
Spellman

Bench:
Quinnerly
Swider
Roundtree
Painter
Slater - Redshirt

Gillespie is such a heady player, but I don't know if he's ready to run the offense. Also Slater's not getting redshirted, especially if one or both Booth/Donte leaves.