Much has been made of the need for a new approach to recruiting under the future coaching regime at UNLV. Ran across this article regarding how Jay Wright and Villanova altered their approach to recruiting and the dividends it has paid. I forgot Savon Goodman was once a Villanova commit and "reopened" his recruitment prior to becoming a Rebel. Curious if that was completely his decision or if he was nudged in that direction by Villanova's staff.
Anatomy of a roster: Villanova Wildcats
Feb 17, 2016
So how has Jay Wright built a team that can contend for a national championship?
The roots can be found in a philosophical shift that started in the class of 2012. The Wildcats were riding high following their trip to the ’08 Sweet Sixteen and ’09 Final Four and as a result they were recruiting at an unprecedented level, signing six ESPN 100 prospects in a matter of two years.
Unprecedented individual talent was having an inverse reaction on the team’s collective success, though. In 2011 the Wildcats were upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament and then in 2012 finished 13-19, failing to advance to the postseason for the first time since Wright’s arrival in 2001.
It was at that point that Villanova appeared to make a conscious change in its recruiting efforts, rebuilding the program brick-by-brick by putting a premium on character and fit, more than raw talent, or perhaps even recruiting rankings.
As a result, Wright’s program has taken another step toward high-level national relevance with each passing year, with that 2012 class in its senior year, and the Wildcats back among the national contenders. A breakdown of how Wright built this squad on the trail:
Ryan Arcidiacono and big man Daniel Ochefu, both of whom made early pledges to the Wildcats as ESPN 60 prospects. Arcidiacono came first, in October before his junior season following a visit to campus for Villanova’s “Hoops Mania” while Ochefu committed following the conclusion of his high school season as a junior. It would end up being his final high school season, as he missed his senior year with a lower back injury. Villanova also held an early pledge from a third local ESPN 60 prospect, Savon Goodman, but he re-opened his recruitment in August before ultimately playing out his senior year and signing with UNLV. His spot in the class was filled by Mislav Brzoja, a one-time Northwestern commit who was denied admission, thus forcing him to re-open his recruitment and leading him to VU.
Arcidiacono bounced back from his injury better than anyone could have anticipated, was a full-time starter as a freshmen and led the team in both minutes and assists while earning Big East All-Rookie honors. Ochefu was a regular member of the rotation as a freshman before winning the Big East’s Most Improved Player award as a sophomore. Brzoja, who played just 41 minutes at Villanova, transferred to Evansville following his freshmen season.
Class of 2013
A year later, Villanova brought in another three-man class, again with a pair of ESPN 100 products in Kris Jenkins and Josh Hart, both of whom were coming north from the DMV region. Nova started recruiting Jenkins hard in the spring of his sophomore year only to see his stock explode during his junior season. He suffered an injury in the weeks leading up to his final July live period and ultimately committed to Villanova over Clemson, Xavier and Rutgers during an unofficial visit in August. Two months later Hart followed suit, picking the Wildcats over a final list that also included Penn State and Rutgers. Jenkins and Hart both finished as four-star prospects and were ranked 73rd and 92nd. By the end of the season, it had become clear that Nova needed another big body inside, and so Wright turned to local product Darryl Reynolds, who had made significant strides in a postgraduate season at Worcester Academy in the New England prep ranks.
Both Jenkins and Hart saw consistent rotation minutes as freshmen with Hart being named to the Big East’s All-Rookie team. Both continued to see their roles increase as sophomores with Hart again earning Big East honors, this time as the league’s 6th Man of the Year. Both are full-time starters and double-figure scorers as juniors, with Hart emerging as one of the top overall players in the league. Reynolds has also seen his role expand with each passing year, and is currently playing 18 minutes per game as a junior.
Class of 2014
The pattern continued with a small, strategic class targeting a pair of local ESPN 100 products from the Mid-Atlantic region. Mikal Bridges, a late-blooming athletic forward from nearby Malvern (Pennsylvania), had a breakout junior year before catching on with local EYBL program Team Final. He had his choice of offers from the Philadelphia schools, along with Xavier and George Washington, and seemed on the verge of landing additional offers before Villanova landed a commitment just prior to the July recruiting period. Phil Booth came just following the period after earning offers from the likes of Georgetown, Indiana, Temple and Virginia. Bridges and Booth finished as the 82nd and 92nd ranked players respectively in the ESPN 100. Booth was farther along in his development than Bridges and was able to earn consistent rotation minutes, while Bridges redshirted. Now, the tandem is the one-two punch that highlights the Wildcats’ bench.
Class of 2015
Jalen Brunson became the first five-star prospect to sign with Villanova since ESPN first adopted the star system back in 2010 and while he’s certainly the most talented individual prospect to sign since that 2009 group, his addition was in line with Villanova’s now time-tested philosophies. While Brunson was a Chicago native, he wanted to return to Philadelphia -- the city where his father Rick once starred. He appeared to be headed to his father’s alma mater, Temple, before that fell through (amid a legal issue that caused the Owls to withdraw a coaching staff position from the elder Brunson) and Wright and his staff pounced. There was an immediate opportunity given Wright’s penchant for playing multiple ball-handling guards at the same time. Brunson was the 16th ranked prospect in the ESPN 100 and has been as good as advertised thus far this season, starting next to Arcidiacono and averaging 10 points and 25 minutes per game. The rest of the class was built around more local products like Donte DiVincenzo and Tim Delaney, both of whom have been out with injury.
Conclusions
Villanova’s No. 1 ranking isn’t the only validation of Jay Wright’s recruiting philosophy and is evolution. In a day and age in which the transfer rate seems to break new records with each passing year, continuity has been one of the Wildcats’ greatest strengths. Revisit the last four recruiting classes and you’ll find only one player who has transferred out. Glance through the current rotation, and you’ll find eight players who all signed with the Wildcats straight out of high school. In fact, some might say it’s been as much about retention as recruitment, but for Villanova, the reality is that when geography, character and player development are all a part of your recruiting philosophy, retention is a byproduct that could ultimately lead to Wright’s best Villanova team yet.
Anatomy of a roster: Villanova Wildcats
Feb 17, 2016
- Adam FinkelsteinESPN.com
- Villanova is the number one ranked team in the country heading into tonight’s Big Five matchup with Temple (7pm, ESPN2).
So how has Jay Wright built a team that can contend for a national championship?
The roots can be found in a philosophical shift that started in the class of 2012. The Wildcats were riding high following their trip to the ’08 Sweet Sixteen and ’09 Final Four and as a result they were recruiting at an unprecedented level, signing six ESPN 100 prospects in a matter of two years.
Unprecedented individual talent was having an inverse reaction on the team’s collective success, though. In 2011 the Wildcats were upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament and then in 2012 finished 13-19, failing to advance to the postseason for the first time since Wright’s arrival in 2001.
It was at that point that Villanova appeared to make a conscious change in its recruiting efforts, rebuilding the program brick-by-brick by putting a premium on character and fit, more than raw talent, or perhaps even recruiting rankings.
As a result, Wright’s program has taken another step toward high-level national relevance with each passing year, with that 2012 class in its senior year, and the Wildcats back among the national contenders. A breakdown of how Wright built this squad on the trail:
Ryan Arcidiacono and big man Daniel Ochefu, both of whom made early pledges to the Wildcats as ESPN 60 prospects. Arcidiacono came first, in October before his junior season following a visit to campus for Villanova’s “Hoops Mania” while Ochefu committed following the conclusion of his high school season as a junior. It would end up being his final high school season, as he missed his senior year with a lower back injury. Villanova also held an early pledge from a third local ESPN 60 prospect, Savon Goodman, but he re-opened his recruitment in August before ultimately playing out his senior year and signing with UNLV. His spot in the class was filled by Mislav Brzoja, a one-time Northwestern commit who was denied admission, thus forcing him to re-open his recruitment and leading him to VU.
Arcidiacono bounced back from his injury better than anyone could have anticipated, was a full-time starter as a freshmen and led the team in both minutes and assists while earning Big East All-Rookie honors. Ochefu was a regular member of the rotation as a freshman before winning the Big East’s Most Improved Player award as a sophomore. Brzoja, who played just 41 minutes at Villanova, transferred to Evansville following his freshmen season.
Class of 2013
A year later, Villanova brought in another three-man class, again with a pair of ESPN 100 products in Kris Jenkins and Josh Hart, both of whom were coming north from the DMV region. Nova started recruiting Jenkins hard in the spring of his sophomore year only to see his stock explode during his junior season. He suffered an injury in the weeks leading up to his final July live period and ultimately committed to Villanova over Clemson, Xavier and Rutgers during an unofficial visit in August. Two months later Hart followed suit, picking the Wildcats over a final list that also included Penn State and Rutgers. Jenkins and Hart both finished as four-star prospects and were ranked 73rd and 92nd. By the end of the season, it had become clear that Nova needed another big body inside, and so Wright turned to local product Darryl Reynolds, who had made significant strides in a postgraduate season at Worcester Academy in the New England prep ranks.
Both Jenkins and Hart saw consistent rotation minutes as freshmen with Hart being named to the Big East’s All-Rookie team. Both continued to see their roles increase as sophomores with Hart again earning Big East honors, this time as the league’s 6th Man of the Year. Both are full-time starters and double-figure scorers as juniors, with Hart emerging as one of the top overall players in the league. Reynolds has also seen his role expand with each passing year, and is currently playing 18 minutes per game as a junior.
Class of 2014
The pattern continued with a small, strategic class targeting a pair of local ESPN 100 products from the Mid-Atlantic region. Mikal Bridges, a late-blooming athletic forward from nearby Malvern (Pennsylvania), had a breakout junior year before catching on with local EYBL program Team Final. He had his choice of offers from the Philadelphia schools, along with Xavier and George Washington, and seemed on the verge of landing additional offers before Villanova landed a commitment just prior to the July recruiting period. Phil Booth came just following the period after earning offers from the likes of Georgetown, Indiana, Temple and Virginia. Bridges and Booth finished as the 82nd and 92nd ranked players respectively in the ESPN 100. Booth was farther along in his development than Bridges and was able to earn consistent rotation minutes, while Bridges redshirted. Now, the tandem is the one-two punch that highlights the Wildcats’ bench.
Class of 2015
Jalen Brunson became the first five-star prospect to sign with Villanova since ESPN first adopted the star system back in 2010 and while he’s certainly the most talented individual prospect to sign since that 2009 group, his addition was in line with Villanova’s now time-tested philosophies. While Brunson was a Chicago native, he wanted to return to Philadelphia -- the city where his father Rick once starred. He appeared to be headed to his father’s alma mater, Temple, before that fell through (amid a legal issue that caused the Owls to withdraw a coaching staff position from the elder Brunson) and Wright and his staff pounced. There was an immediate opportunity given Wright’s penchant for playing multiple ball-handling guards at the same time. Brunson was the 16th ranked prospect in the ESPN 100 and has been as good as advertised thus far this season, starting next to Arcidiacono and averaging 10 points and 25 minutes per game. The rest of the class was built around more local products like Donte DiVincenzo and Tim Delaney, both of whom have been out with injury.
Conclusions
Villanova’s No. 1 ranking isn’t the only validation of Jay Wright’s recruiting philosophy and is evolution. In a day and age in which the transfer rate seems to break new records with each passing year, continuity has been one of the Wildcats’ greatest strengths. Revisit the last four recruiting classes and you’ll find only one player who has transferred out. Glance through the current rotation, and you’ll find eight players who all signed with the Wildcats straight out of high school. In fact, some might say it’s been as much about retention as recruitment, but for Villanova, the reality is that when geography, character and player development are all a part of your recruiting philosophy, retention is a byproduct that could ultimately lead to Wright’s best Villanova team yet.
