I Bleed Blue and White

As you can see by the title, this post will contain a variety of different things, so I apologize for the randomness.  First, with the deadline to withdraw from the NBA Draft officially over, some new preseason rankings have come out.  Andy Katz has placed Villanova at #4 in his new top 25.  Katz on the Cats,

Corey Fisher and Scottie Reynolds and a highly touted newcomer class means the Wildcats are the pick to win the Big East.  Losing Dante Cunningham hurts, but Jay Wright has this program rolling. There won’t be a dip.

SNY also published their updated Big East rankings for next season with Villanova coming at #1 in the conference.  On Villanova,

Reynolds returns to bolster an experienced core that includes Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes and Reggie Redding.  The Wildcats also feature a top-five national recruiting class that should make Jay Wright’s team the class of the Big East.

While Katz released his opinion on teams for next year, he also came out with a story regarding the World University Games.  Corey Fisher is trying out for the U.S. team competing in the Games, and it looks like he has a good shot to make the team now, as Kansas guard Sheron Collins recently backed out of the tryouts.  Katz on Fisher,

Collins’ absence practically puts a must-get tag on Arizona point guard Nic Wise and Villanova lead guard Corey Fisher. Both players were probably going to make the squad anyway, but now it almost seems like a given.

Katz also mentions in the article that Boston College is trying to schedule a Big East opponent for next season, and Villanova is at the top of their list. 

 The Nova Notebook is back with another offseason feature, entitled “Attitude of a Champion.”  This is the title of the 70-minute DVD that will be coming out in August, which tells the tale of Villanova’s 2008-2009 basketball season and their ultimate run to the Final Four.  The film features behind the scenes footage and interviews throughout the season.  All of Nova Nation will be looking forward to this release later in the summer.     

Lastly, even though many people see Villanova as a national title contender next year, replacing a player like Dante Cunningham will be a tall task.  Recently, Jay Wright and Tony DiLeo (former 76ers head coach) gave their thoughts on Dante’s future in the NBA.  Most notably, they both think he will have a long career, lasting possibly 10 years or more.  The above link will take you to the video page for Comcast SportsNet.  Then, click on the SPORTSNITE tab, and the aforementioned video is from 6/16-Jay Wright on Dante Cunningham’s future in the NBA.

ESPN’s Andy Katz breaks down the 17 players who will try out for the 12 spots on the U-19 National Team.  Tryouts are June 16th-18th in Colorado Springs, and as Chris mentioned in the previous post, Dominic Cheek will be trying out.  Katz on Cheek,

He is a part of a heralded freshmen class entering the Main Line campus. If the ‘Cats are to win the Big East — and they will be favored to do just that — Cheek will likely be a key element.

Additionally, Katz believes that New Mexico assistant and former Villanova player Chris Walker will be the replacement for Patrick Chambers as assistant coach.  Katz on Walker,

Expect Jay Wright to announce Villanova graduate and current New Mexico assistant Chris Walker as his new assistant coach in the near future. Though the deal isn’t finished yet, a source told ESPN.com that Walker will be hired to replace Pat Chambers, who left Villanova last month to become the head coach at Boston University.  A former point guard for Rollie Massimino, Walker led the Wildcats in assists for three seasons and made three postseason berths in his collegiate career.

In a post to his blog for ESPN, Andy Katz updates us on the draft process for Scottie Reynolds. Reynolds has now worked out for 4 teams, and is schedule for a league-wide workout as we previously mentioned. According to Reynolds, he wouldn’t be against staying in the draft if he felt he’d be a 2nd-round pick, but no final decisions have been made.

UPDATE: Maalik Wayns will not be having surgery. Andy Katz got a hold of a bad rumor.

…If you click through to Katz’s post the Villanova info is about 2/3 of the way down the page…still rooting for Scottie to do well, but still under the impression that he’ll return for his senior season…

Yesterday, May 18th, Scottie Reynolds had a workout with the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center.  Joining him in this workout was Jerel McNeal, Lester Hudson, and Mike Rose.  The Wizards website has some videos posted of the workout and player interviews.  It looks like new head coach Flip Saunders worked these guys out extremely hard, with lots of full court drills. 

Comcast SportsNet also covered Scottie’s workout with the Wizards.  A short video clip in which Scottie talks about what needs to work on is posted.  This link will take you to the video page for Comcast SportsNet, then click on the SPORTSNITE tab, and the aformentioned video clip is from 5/18 – “Scottie Reynolds visits the Wizards.”

Lastly, ESPN’s Andy Katz wrote an article today regarding the underclassmen players who are currently sitting on the fence for the NBA Draft.  Scottie was not mentioned in the article, but the piece is an excellent read and provides insight into who might stay in the draft and who may return to school.  Obviously, these decisions will have a big impact on Scottie staying in or returning to Villanova.

Yesterday, the NBA pre-draft combine list came out. This event is similar to the NFL Combine, as potential NBA prospects show off their agility and athleticism in various drills.  The pre-draft combine will take place from May 27th-May 29th in Chicago.  According to ESPN’s Andy Katz,

“Getting invited to the NBA’s pre-draft camp doesn’t mean a player is a lock to be selected in the first round or even the top of the second.  But it usually means the player is at least in the discussion for those spots.”

Dante Cunningham has been invited to the combine and thus, is on the list, while Scottie Reynolds is not.  Speaking of Cunningham, there’s a video clip from Comcast SportsNet about Dante and Temple’s Dionte Christmas regarding their NBA aspirations.  This link will take you to the video page for Comcast SportsNet, then click on the SPORTSNITE tab, and the aformentioned video clip is from 5/14 – “Christmas and Cunningham on the NBA.”

Now that the deadline has officially passed for underclassmen to declare for the NBA Draft, ESPN’s Andy Katz and Doug Gottlieb have updated Top 25 Rankings for next season.  Katz has Villanova at #6 and he says:

“The Wildcats drop a tad, as Scottie Reynolds‘ decision to enter the draft without an agent has resulted in some uncertainty. But the incoming class — Maalik Wayns, Dominic Cheek and big man Mouphtaou Yarou all are top-25 recruits — is so good the Wildcats get the benefit of the doubt here. With the departure of three Syracuse underclassmen, Nova should be the pick to win the Big East.”

Gottlieb, on the other hand, seems to like the Wildcats a little more than Katz, as he has Villanova at #3.

“The Wildcats are loaded with talent, and with some added inside depth, will be better than the team that made its Final Four run this past season. Nova has a legitimate shot at a title in 2010. Some in Philly believe the Wildcats might be better off without junior Scottie Reynolds, who entered the draft but hasn’t hired an agent. Incoming big man Mouphtaou Yarou is tough to handle and Dominic Cheek can defend several positions. Like Kansas, the Wildcats only have to sacrifice their individual egos to win big.”

 There a few comments that these writers made that I wanted to comment on.  Katz mentions Syracuse’s losses to the draft, which I think certainly propels us ahead of them for next year, but don’t sleep on West Virginia.  They should be very, very good next year.  Gottlieb says that some people think Villanova will be better off without Scottie, but I completely disagree.  Scottie is a proven veteran who has been through the trenches of the Big East, and this should not be underestimated.  Villanova didn’t have the most talent this year, but the veteran leadership and experience proved to be vital in the run to the Final 4.  I, for one, definitely want Scottie to come back. 

ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz wrote an article about this year’s underclass entrants into the NBA Draft.  The article is entitled, “Sorting through the draft decisions,” and Katz places players into certain categories, including best move (Blake Griffin), perfect timing (Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington), hard to argue, foolishness, questionable, should go back, and winners (denotes college teams who benefited from guys staying at school).  Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds falls into the “should go back” category, as Katz says:

“Reynolds had the shot of the NCAA tournament, the game-winner against Pitt in the East Regional final. But he doesn’t have enough in his game to warrant a high pick. If he goes back, he has a real shot to win the national title.”

This article is a great read, as Katz does a fantastic job at ESPN.  I wholeheartedly agree with his comments about Scottie.