Happy New Year to everyone out there! And even though this news broke yesterday, I’m still excited, mainly because I forgot to put it up here!

Mouphtaou Yarou has been cleared to resume basketball activities, and even practiced with the team yesterday. Don’t expect to see the big man play against Marquette tomorrow, but I’d expect to see him back involved in the next couple of weeks.

This is huge news for Mouph, as he has battled this infection and gotten the okay to rejoin his friends and teammates! Congrats Mouph!

According to an official release from the school, freshman Mouphtaou Yarou has been diagnosed with Hepatitis B. He is currently be treated by the team physician, Dr. Frank Furman.

“We are disappointed for Mouph,” stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. “We know that he is receiving great care from Dr. Furman and some of the best specialists in this field. Mouph’s health is our foremost concern.”

“We realize it’s very serious,” Villanova coach Jay Wright told the Inquirer. “He’s definitely out of the Drexel game [tomorrow night], but we realize he could be out for the season.”

Get well soon Mouph!

…I realize Jay left the door open for a return this year…but as I understand it, he is probably going to redshirt and return next year…let’s rally around the big guy…

It appears that all the smoke surrounding Mouphtaou Yarou has quickly turned into fire. Rumors were abound this morning on campus that the big freshman was out for the year, but many held out hope that it wasn’t true. While we still are waiting an official response from the school, Jeff Goodman of FoxSports has gone on record as saying a source has told him that Yarou is gone for the entire 2009-2010 season due to the viral infection that was first discovered in Puerto Rico.

It is a crushing blow to a team that was already rebuilding its frontcourt. Yarou was in the starting lineup on opening night and was expected to play a big role in his rookie season. Now, the team will look to Maurice Sutton, Isaiah Armwood, Taylor King, and Reggie Redding when he returns for quality minutes alongside Antonio Peña.

As for Mouph, stay strong big man. Things happen in life and they suck when they happen, but you only get stronger from it. Get better soon and keep your head up. Your health is the most important thing here, so get healthy and you’ll be back in no time.

According to a Twitter post by ArizonaSecrets Mouphtaou Yarou’s tests may have been a false positive, and he may even return to Puerto Rico for the conclusion of this tournament.

That Twitter account is owned by The Voice, who is a contributor to Fact on Villanova Sports, who originally broke the news that Yarou was being sent home.

Stay tuned…

UPDATE: We’re hearing that this is true on the Hepatitis B part. Waiting for more information, but this does not look good.

We heard Mouphtaou Yarou was “sick” and that’s why he was sent home. We guessed H1N1 because that’s the popular thing to have these days. Well, it may be much, much worse. Fact On Villanova Sports is reporting that Yarou has tested positive for Tuberculosis and Hepatitis B.

These are the same guys we questioned when they said Scottie was entering the draft. Although this news is out of nowhere, we’re going to give these guys the benefit of the doubt this time around.

So everyone, if this is true, please pray for Mouph!

Apparently, Mouphtaou Yarou has boarded a plane and left Puerto Rico to return home to Villanova.  Apparently he has a viral infection (H1N1?). This seems to be a precautionary move, as to not infect the rest of the team, who is already short-handed while Reggie Redding serves out a suspension.

I’d expect Taylor King to get the start, with Maurice Sutton and Isaiah Armwood seeing extra minutes to help on the interior.

…Well, I think we’ll be okay today because Mouph hasn’t exactly blown us away and GMU is smaller than most teams, but this could kill us tomorrow vs. two more classic teams in Dayton and Georgia Tech…stay tuned…

Note: I’m going to be doing my postgame reports a little different this year. More reactions and opinions, less reporting.

My excitement could hardly be contained all day as I sat in my office. And this was all knowing that I wouldn’t be able to watch the first half of the game. Hey, Villanova basketball is back. A light goes on in me. I didn’t think anything could get me down. This, of course, proved to be untrue.

Taylor King impressed in his debut.

I arrived at Grand Central Station ready to catch the 6:29 train when I discover that the train hasn’t even arrived yet, with just 10 minutes until it’s scheduled departure. Finally, at 6:30, it arrives and I hustle on board. The conductor tells everyone to get off, saying the police need to search the train. Fabulous.

After a quick search (seriously, if you are going to search the train with SWAT, be thorough) we depart and I settle in. Around 6:55 I have an epiphany that I can listen to the game on my phone by downloading a radio application. I do this, and tune into 950-AM in Philadelphia, the station that usually broadcasts ‘Nova games. To my dismay, some asshole is talking about Donovan McNabb sucks and he wishes he would just quit. Now, maybe the game wasn’t on the radio, but I was 99% positive that it was, and this really set me off.

So now with just seconds until the tip, I try to load ESPN’s GameCast onto my Blackberry. “Data Not Available.” As 10-12 people around me at the time can attest, this caused an audible curse and a slammed fist into the back of the seat in front of me. I mean, really? I follow football and basketball games all the time on my phone, and never have a problem. Then again, it was Friday the 13th, and something was bound to go wrong.

So as a last resort, I finally load up my Twitter account and begin to follow the game thanks to brianisawesome, dgoneil1, and VillanovaBBall. Many thanks to all 3 of you, who legitimately kept me informed about the 1st half.

But oh no, from there the trouble wasn’t over. I finally get home with the 2nd half about to start and begin to get the backdoor feed going on my computer. Now, keep in mind this is a new computer that doesn’t have all my necessary add-ons installed yet. So I need to install Microsoft Silverlight to watch the game. Fine, this will take 20 seconds. But oh no, the file is corrupt! I have no idea what this means. And I was very angry for hours as I watched updates on ESPN’s bottom-line. As I said, ‘Nova basketball turns a switch on.

So I didn’t get to see any of the game. Until RFC brilliantly uploaded the highlights just hours after the game. Phenomenal. I really went from a completely angry person to a very euphoric person — all because of highlights. In the end, nothing could spoiler the opener for me, even if I didn’t get to see it. I did get to talk to some people who did see it, and take a few notes from the highlight tape. Here we go:

• Heard from multiple people that Antonio Peña had a crappy game? Really? 9 points and 10 rebounds seems pretty solid to me. FT’s (3-6) continue to be a problem but I think I’ll take a (near) double-double from ‘Tone every night.
• As much as I like hearing that Scottie Reynolds was managing the offense, I like hearing even more that he’s got 2o points or more. Terrible shooting night for the senior and I’m sure he’ll rebound nicely soon, but I don’t want to see too many of these games this year.
• Corey Stokes! Looks like he’s taken a big leap forwards in terms of leadership, defense, and scoring. Yes, the majority of his points were of the long-range variety but that and-1 finish was great and it wasn’t the only time he attempted to get into the lane.
• Taylor King! Heard from a lot of people that he has the best game out of everyone. Enthusiastic, great rebounding, and scoring to boot. That 3 he launched from the corner was one of the quickest releases I’ve ever seen. So smooth. TK looks like he’s going to be big for us this year.
• Corey Fisher looks like he’s in better shape (again) and legitimately looks like a guy who will challenge for 1st-team All-BIG EAST. He just looks so much more confident than he already was.
• Dominic Cheek just looks like a basketball player. Super smooth. Mouphtaou Yarou looked better than I expected, and at the same time I was a little disappointed. Can’t decide. Maalik Wayns doesn’t look like a freshman, nor play like one. He’s the real deal. Hopefully I’ll get to see some Isaiah Armwood next game. Love that he played. Don’t redshirt him!
• Maurice Sutton may be ready to contribute sooner than we thought.
• Seriously, Reggie Redding isn’t back yet. How friggan deep are we?

All in all, I just loved seeing the first game. It’s a joy to finally have ‘Nova basketball back. I’m excited for the year and ready for the ride!

Jay Wright joined Mike Missanelli on ESPN-950 AM in Philadelphia yesterday to discuss the upcoming season. Among other things, Jay talked about:

• Te pressure of being the hunted instead of the hunter.
• Making the new players understand that they are not as good (yet) as last year’s team.
• The Mouphtaou Yarou situation, and how the same thing happened to Mike Nardi with an Italian team.
• Which freshman are ready to make an impact right away — Maalik Wayns got a very good review.
• How St. Joe’s hasn’t even told him where the game is this year (Seriously Hawks? Are you that stupid?)

Let me just say that I do not like Mike Missanelli. He sucks up to Jay Wright, and at the same time asks him what his ’spin’ on the Yarou situation is. It’s known that he is not a ‘Nova fan and during the season will take continuous digs at the program.

Regardless, it was good to hear Jay talk about the Yarou situation. If they really do have all that documentation, this is probably a closed case.

Is it Friday yet?

I hesitated to report this story when I first saw it this morning, but I’m sure most of you have seen it by now as it has quickly become national news. The Sporting News reported late last night that Mouphtaou Yarou may have eligibility concerns because of questions surrounding his real age.

That quickly sent ‘Nova Nation into a state of panic.

(Not me, I was on my 3rd glass of wine and was completely clueless. IBBW, your #1 source for breaking news)

Anyways, Dana O’Neil talked with Jay Wright today who is reporting that Yarou has been cleared and is good to go for Friday’s opener against Fairleigh Dickinson. In fact, it appears that Yarou never even played in the tournament in question. Solid reporting, TSN. Way to give everyone a heart attack.

So everyone take a deep breath. It appears that everything is okay.

Mike Sheridan’s latest ‘Nova Notebook focuses on Jay Wright and the lack of defense that was exhibited by the Wildcats in their win over Kutztown last Thursday. According to Wright, the graduation of Shane Clark, Dwayne Anderson and Dante Cunningham, along with the suspension of Reggie Redding, is a huge part of what went wrong on opening night.

“That’s the sign of a young team,” said Wright. “A young team looks at the scoreboard and it only has to change your intensity a little bit for there to be a drop off. You have to give (Kutztown) credit – they made shots and they pushed the ball at us. It’s just the little things with young guys. You score and they’re jogging back remembering their score and Kutztown was pushing it right at us. We need to learn that lesson.”

Wright believes that the team will improve as the year goes on however. Scottie Reynolds shared that sentiment, and believes it is up to the veteran players to show the younger guys what playing Villanova basketball is all about.

“We have to continue to stay to our principles and stay with what Coach (Wright) preaches,” said the senior guard, who’ll enter the regular season with 1,620 career points. “We can’t just get lackadaisical. We have to stay focused and that’s going to take time. We have to just keep pounding, keep pounding and never let up. When you let up a team can get hot like that – just look at the score.

“We, as upperclassmen, have to preach what Coach is saying. We have to do it ourselves and let the younger guys watch that happening on the floor so that when they come in, they can pick up where we left off.”

Wright also talks about the debuts of Mouphtaou Yarou and Taylor King in the article.

..As always, great job by Sheridan…