From the villanovambb YouTube account. Enjoy!

Here’s an early look at freshman Isaiah Armwood, who won the Dunk Contest last night. Here he flies high over Jay Wright. Thanks to Ali for recording this, as well as the Thriller video.

First video we have from Hoops Mania is the team and the dance team dancing to Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Thanks to Jamie for getting this up amidst the Homecoming festivities.

Head over to VUHoops for a phenomenal recap of Hoops Mania last night by derp. Sounds like a great night and a well-planned event by everyone involved.

Jamie has promised some exclusive video, so hopefully we’ll have that up soon.

No problem (or so we think). Villanova is advertising that you can watch Hoops Mania tonight (which is only open to students and season ticket holders) on ‘Nova Nation All-Access, which you can sign up for here.

I believe that a subscription costs $9.99 per month, but they will also be showing a lot of basketball games that aren’t picked up by TV during the early portion of the season.

Then again, this has been one of the more unreliable tools that the Villanova Athletic Dept. has employed. It hasn’t worked a lot in the past. So sign up at your own risk.

The 2009-2010 college basketball season has officially started.  Numerous teams held their respective “Midnight Madness“ (or some variation)last night.  As you all know, Villanova will celebrate the the new campaign with Hoops Mania next Friday night, October 23rd.  In effect, it is time to focus on the task at hand: reaching the NCAA Tournament this year.  Last year’s Final Four run was unbelievable and truly something people (including myself) will never forget, but the time is now to close the book on 2008-2009.  Jay Wright and his team agree, as Dan Gelston of the Associated Press found out.  As Wright puts it,

We’re doing all the Final Four things now.  Then we’re going to say, ‘That’s it.’  Let’s get fired up about ‘09-’10.  Let’s put it behind us.

Scottie Reynolds adds,

It’s kind of like the closure of the Final Four thing.

In addition to the Wildcats getting things underway, the rest of the Philly-area teams have begun official preparation for the upcoming season.

Guard might be Jay Wright’s favorite word in the English language.  Zagsblog reported that Rivals’ #19 shooting guard, Achraf Yacoubou, will visit Villanova on October 23rd for Hoops Mania.  Currently, Yacoubou is a 6′4″ 200 lb. junior out of Long Island Lutheran.  Along with the Villanova visit, he will visit Kentucky on October 16th for their Big Blue Madness.  The other school on Yacoubou’s top three is UConn.  Is there a leader yet though?  According to Yacoubou, no.

They are all equal.  I don’t have a leading school just yet.

Hoops Mania, the unofficial start to each Villanova Basketball season now has a date. It will be October 23rd, and doors will open at approximately 6:30 p.m.

As always, the Blue-White scrimmage will be a big part of the evening. It’s the first time that the masses get a preview of the players on the team, and more specifically, the freshman.

No word yet on any special guests for the musical portion of the evening, but it will remain hard to top the surprise appearance of 50 Cent from a couple years ago.

…Hat tip to VUHoops for the link…

By the way, in case you missed it, the Philadelphia alumni function has been changed from October 15th to October 16th. This event is located at Villanova and includes and open practice from 6:00-7:00 p.m. and then a reception in Bartley Hall from 7:00-8:30. The cost of this event is $40 and you can order tickets by calling Vanessa at 610-519-3293.