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31 July 2008


'Nova lands Bell for 2010

posted by Pete @ LetsGoNova.com
7/31/2008 06:31:00 PM
James Bell, a 6-4 shooting guard from near Orlando, Florida., has verbally committed to Villanova's class of 2010, according to the recruiting guru Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.

Bell, a rising junior at Montverde Academy, is the Wildcats' first addition for the 2010-2011 season, which is more than two years away.

Bell is ranked in the top 100 overall players by a variety of scouting services, including Rivals.com, which pegs him at number 73 overall for the class of 2010.

According to Zagoria, Bell said he is pleased to be committing to Villanova's program:

I like the coaching staff. I met the players. There’s a 100 percent graduation rate. I want to get my degree and be a part of the family that Coach Wright has created. I think I can bring a lot. I can play defense. With my athleticism, I change the game in more than one way.


For a highlight reel of James Bell in AAU play, see the video below, courtesy of YouTube.


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25 July 2008


Friday poll: who are you?

posted by Pete @ LetsGoNova.com
7/25/2008 12:02:00 PM
Who the heck are you people? I'm not sure I want to know.

This week's poll asks about your Villanova background. If your Villanova attendance spans two decades, just pick the decade you liked best.

You may vote in the Flash poll below, or in the right sidebar on any Let's Go Nova page.




Last week's poll asked you to predict how far Villanova will advance in the 2008-2009 postseason. After 111 votes, everyone agreed that Villanova would be playing after the season, and 99.1 percent of voters believed it would be in the NCAA tournament.



109 of the 111 voters thought Villanova would win at least one game in the NCAAs this season. The plurality (41 percent) said Villanova would win three games before bowing out in the Elite Eight. A Sweet Sixteen exit came in second with 34 percent.

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22 July 2008


'Nova ranked 31st best program

posted by Foye's Boy
7/22/2008 05:55:00 PM
ESPN ranked ranked Villanova 31st out of 300 eligible schools in its feature on the best basketball programs of the modern era.

The Worldwide Leader allocated points for positives like national titles, NCAA tournament appearances, All-Americans, and deducted points for losing seasons. Only seasons from 1984 to 2008 were counted to coincide with the expansion of the NCAA tournament.

ESPN ranked each team according to its point total. Programs were eligible if they had plated in Division One for at least 15 seasons. I think the point system that ESPN used is a pretty fair, but please feel to offer your own comments and criticisms. Let's all hope that Villanova can add to its prestige next season.


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19 July 2008


Wayns and Team USA earn silver medal

posted by Pete @ LetsGoNova.com
7/19/2008 02:23:00 AM
The United States 18-and-under men's basketball team earned a silver medal and a 4-1 record overall in the FIBA Americas U18 Tournament after Team USA fell to host Argentina Saturday.

The loss to Argentina was the only the second defeat for the U.S. U18 team in its 35-game history at the FIBA Americas tournament. In six tournaments, Team USA has won four gold, one silver, and one bronze medals.

(Greycat at Villanova by the Numbers has been following this tournament closely, so head there for his customary statistical analysis.)

Maalik Wayns, a Villanova commitment for 2009-2010, is a backup point guard on the American team.

Wayns and his teammates will qualify for the FIBA World Championship next year in New Zealand after placing in the top four of the eight-nation tournament in Formosa, Argentina.

Wayns was shut out in the gold-medal game, going 0-1 with 0 points, 1 assist, and 2 turnovers in 13 minutes (box score, PDF).

Wayns performed better against Canada in the semifinal, notching 7 points in 16 minutes on 3-9 shooting.

In group play, Wayns scored 8 points in 21 minutes in Team USA's win over Puerto Rico.

Wayns played perhaps his best game of the tournament in game 2 versus the Bahamas, where he scored 10 points in 17 minutes on 3-5 shooting from the field. Wayns added 3 assists and 2 steals, but committed 6 turnovers, a team high.

Wayns opened the tournament with 5 points in 12 minutes against Venezuela last Monday.

Overall, it was a decent performance for Wayns, whose play nonetheless demonstrated that he may not yet be at the same developmental level as his older USA teammate and Connecticut signee Kemba Walker, considered by many the top one-guard in the country for the 2008-2009 class.

Walker won the tournament-wide MVP award after scoring 21 in the loss to Argentina.

With one more year of high school before matriculation at "Guard U," however, Wayns may well prove to be as bright a star.

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18 July 2008


Friday poll: 2008-2009 postseason

posted by Pete @ LetsGoNova.com
7/18/2008 02:24:00 AM
With everyone back except the transferred Malcolm Grant, the Villanova Wildcats look primed to make a run at the top 25 this season.

In this week's edition of the Let's Go Nova Friday poll, we ask just how far Villanova will advance in the 2008-2009 postseason.

You may vote in the Flash poll below, or in the right sidebar on any Let's Go Nova page.






Last week's poll asked about your favorite player on the team for the upcoming season. After 184 votes, Scottie Reynolds emerged the winner by the narrowest of margins, edging Dante Cunningham by a tally of 38 to 37. Sharpshooter Corey Stokes was third with 30 votes.



As always, you may comment on the poll in this thread, and check back next Friday for the results and a new question.

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11 July 2008


Friday poll: favorite player

posted by Pete @ LetsGoNova.com
7/11/2008 02:18:00 AM
Three cheers for the groundbreaking new feature here at Let's Go Nova, a new poll every Friday. Each week, we will give you a new poll question, and mention the previous week's poll results.

Please vote in the poll on the right sidebar on any Let's Go Nova page or in the flash poll below.

Feel free to discuss this week's poll or last week's results in this thread.

July 11 poll: Who is your favorite player on the team this upcoming season?








Last week's poll
asked which Big East home game you were most excited about for next year. As expected, Villanova's top rival Georgetown ran away with the contest, notching 39 of 64 votes for a filibuster-proof 61 percent. Louisville and Pitt tied for second with 8 votes each, and Syracuse was the fourth-most-anticipated home game.



Check back next Friday for this week's results and the next poll.




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08 July 2008


Wayns makes national U-18 team

posted by Pete @ LetsGoNova.com
7/08/2008 12:09:00 PM

Maalik Wayns, a Villanova commitment for the 2009-2010 season, was named to the final roster of the national under-18 team by USA Basketball today. Players are eligible if born on January 1, 1990 or later.

Wayns, a point guard from Philadelphia, joins 11 other stars on the national team, including Dominic Cheek, the shooting guard from Jersey City, N.J, who is now Villanova's top recruiting priority.

Wayns and Team USA will travel to Argentina for next week's FIBA Americas U18 Championship, slated for July 14-18 in Formosa. Four of the eight international teams there will advance to next year's FIBA World Championship in New Zealand.

Team USA will face Venezuela on July 14, the Bahamas on July 15, and Puerto Rico on July 16. The United States team will need to finish in the top two of that four-team pod to advance to the medal rounds on July 17-18 and to the world championship tournament next year.

Before leaving for South America, the team will practice three more times in Washington, D.C. Wayns and the team will practice at the Verizon Center today and tomorrow, and will conclude practice on Thursday on campus at Georgetown University, according to USA Basketball.

Team USA is coached by Davidson head coach Bob Mckillop. Georgetown's John Thompson III and VCU's Anthony Grant are assistants.

Player selection was made by a committee chaired by Syracuse chief Jim Boeheim and manned by several other high-profile collegiate coaches, including Tubby Smith, Fran Dunphy, Bill Self, Ernie Kent, and Tom Izzo.

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02 July 2008


Big East opponents set

posted by Pete @ LetsGoNova.com
7/02/2008 02:35:00 PM

The Big East released the slate of conference opponents for each men's basketball team today. Dates are not set yet, but Villanova will play 18 conference games in 2008-2009, nine away and nine at home.

Villanova will face 13 conference teams once and three teams twice, once each home and away. The Wildcats will take on Marquette, Providence, and Syracuse in the home-and-away series next year.

Villanova's home games are Cincinnati, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rutgers, St. John's and Syracuse.

The Wildcats face away games at Connecticut, DePaul, Marquette, Notre Dame, Providence, Seton Hall, South Florida, Syracuse, and West Virginia.

Dates and locations remain to be scheduled, but it seems safe to assume that a few of Villanova's Big East home games will be slated for the Wachovia Center. The Louisville and Georgetown games might be good candidates for the Wachovia games.

According to the press release on Villanova.com, "the complete Villanova schedule, with dates, sites, and non-conference opponent information will be released in September."

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Armwood commits to 'Nova

posted by Pete @ LetsGoNova.com
7/02/2008 01:48:00 AM
Isaiah Armwood, a 6-7 forward from Baltimore, committed to Villanova on Tuesday to join the incoming class of 2009-2010.

Armwood, point guard Maalik Wayns, and Duke transfer Taylor King will debut for the Wildcats the season after next.

Armwood selected Villanova over Syracuse and Texas, according to Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.

Armwood's commitment gives Villanova a high-profile big man recruit after a flurry of talented guards that included Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes, outgoing transfer Malcolm Grant, and Wayns. Armwood is ranked in the top 20 in his position, and the top 50 of his class by several recruiting scout services.

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