Reynolds declares for NBA draft

Scottie Reynolds will enter his name to this year's NBA draft, according to a press release from Villanova University.

Reynolds, a junior guard and arguably the Wildcats' most valuable player, does not plan to hire an agent, and thus his departure from the team is not yet certain.

Reynolds will be able to attend draft workouts and gauge where he might be selected if he decides to remain in the NBA draft, which will be held in New York on June 25.

"Scottie and I have decided that it would be smart for him to experience NBA workouts at this time," said Villanova head coach Jay Wright.

Wright also said that Reynolds will complete all his spring semester classes to ensure NCAA compliance if Reynolds decides to return to Villanova for his senior year.

If Reynolds remains in the draft, Villanova will lose four starters from its 2009 Final Four team: Reynolds, Dante Cunningham, Dwayne Anderson, and Shane Clark.

According to NBADraft.net, Dante Cunningham is expected to be selected in the early second round of the draft, which usually means a player will be fighting for a spot on the team roster.

NBADraft.nets's mock draft has not been updated after Reynolds's announcement, but it seems likely that Reynolds, if he is drafted, would fall somewhere after Cunningham.

Villanova returns point guard Corey Fisher and shooting guards Reggie Redding and Corey Stokes for next season. In the frontcourt, forward Antonio will be back. Joining the Wildcats will be four freshmen: point guard Maalik Wayns, shooting guard Dom Cheek, small forward Isaiah Armwood, and power forward Mouph Yarou. Duke transfer Taylor King, another small forward, also joins the team after sitting out one year, as does redshirt freshman forward Maurice Sutton.

Personally, I expect Reynolds to be back for his senior season. I do not see him going anywhere near the first-round and its guaranteed salaries.

Whether or not Reynolds returns will have a major impact on the Wildcats' pre-season and early-year rankings; though a Reynolds departure would ease some of the logjam in the backcourt for the younger players.

Wayns, Cheek named McDonald's All-Americans

Maalik Wayns and Dominic Cheek were officially named McDonald's All-Americans tonight. Both have committed to play in Villanova's backcourt next season to headline a recruiting class considered by many to be the best in the country.

Cheek and Wayns were unanimously ranked by recruiting touts as near the top of their respective positions of shooting guard and point guard, so their placement on the team is no surprise.

The duo will play for the East team in the game on April 1, which will be televised by ESPN from the University of Miami.

Incoming Villanova forward Mouph Yarou was not named to the roster, despite his meteoric rise though the high school rankings in the past several months.

Isaiah Armwood, who rounds out Villanova's excellent class at swingman, also did not make the team.

CHEEK WILL PICK VILLANOVA

College recruiting guru Adam Zagoria is reporting that super-hyper-mega recruit Dominic Cheek will announce his choice to attend Villanova at his press conference Friday:

Dominic Cheek is expected to announce at a Friday press conference in Jersey City that he will play for Villanova and not Kansas, according to multiple sources close to the situation.

Update: Sports Illustrated is now also reporting that Cheek will choose Villanova.

Cheek, a 6-5 shooting guard, is one of the top overall players in his class, and is the capstone to what now can safely be called the Greatest Villanova Recruiting Class ever.

Cheek joins top-5 point guard Maalik Wayns, top-5 power forward Mouph Yarou, and top-15 forward Isiah Armwood in what will likely be the consensus best recruiting class in the nation.

Add in Duke transfer Taylor King -- himself an All-American and a redshirt sophomore -- and a likely redshirt freshman, the 6-10 Maurice Sutton, and six new players could all see significant playing time for Villanova next year.

As of right now, high school All-American guards Scottie Reynolds and Corey Stokes are set to return, as is star-recruit Corey Fisher. Antonio Pena is due back in Nova's front court. Villanova will lose seniors Frank Tchuisi, Shane Clark, Dante Cunningham, and Dwayne Anderson next season. Guard Reggie Redding is also set to return.

The arrival of Cheek and next year's class transforms 'Nova from a bubble team to an instant national title contender. College basketball has been increasingly dominated by young 5-star-recruits, and Villanova will have plenty of them. Barring any transfers (which are, admittedly, a possibility given Jay Wright's recent track record), Villanova will not only have firepower but will also possess excellent depth, which is another mark of a team primed to make a serious tournament run.

Cheek will hold his press conference on Friday afternoon, at about 6 p.m. (Eastern).

Wayns to play live on ESPNU tonight

Maalik Wayns, a top high-school point guard and Villanova signee for the class of 2009-2010, will play on national television tonight in the Boost Mobile Elite 24 exhibition.

The game will air live from Rucker Park, Harlem, New York on ESPNU tonight at 8 p.m., and will re-air on ESPN2 at midnight on Tuesday, Aug. 26 (late night after Monday).

Wayns, playing for a team called The Goat, will face Villanova's top recruiting priority, the guard Dominic Cheek, who will suit up for the opposing squad Skip to my Lou. The full roster includes several other high-profile high school stars.

New York locals can attend the game tonight for free. Rucker Park opens at 6 p.m. and admission is free, but first-come, first-served.

Wayns and Team USA earn silver medal

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.

Wayns makes national U-18 team

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.

Armwood commits to 'Nova

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.

Wayns proclaims 'Nova his choice

While Villanova is still diligently pursuing prospects for the 2008 basketball season -- most notably Astoria, PA's own Tyreke Evans -- Maalik Wayns told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he has verbally committed to Villanova as the newest member of the Class of 2009. Posts on Villanova's Rivals.com message boards are also calling the verbal commitment complete.

Wayns, a 6'1" point guard out of Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia, is widely considered to be a top-five point guard in the country, and arguably the best guard Philadelphia has to offer in the 2009 class. Despite having two full seasons of high school basketball left before jumping to college, Maalik said that the decision to choose Villanova at a time when his peers are focused on the SATs was easy: "I just wanted to get it out of the way. Now I can focus on other things, my academics, winning a championship in high school."

Wayns is just the latest in a recent trend of Philadelphia players to commit to Jay Wright and Villanova, following in the footsteps of current players Shane Clark and Reggie Redding, recent Niagara transfer Bilal Benn, and former standout Kyle Lowry, whose style of play is often compared to Wayns's.

Although Villanova has yet to comment on the commitment, Wayns, a rising high school junior, continues to participate in summer development camps, including Reebok's elite Rbk U Camp in an effort to further showcase his talents. "I just wanted to come in here and prove to everybody that I'm one of the top players in my class," Wayns said in mid-July.

Because verbal commitments are not binding -- a prospect is free to opt out at any time due to increased exposure or rising stock -- Villanova fans may worry that Wayns is not serious in his commitment to the Main Line.

Count me among the many, however, that are faithful in Maalik's determination to attend Villanova in 2009. Jay Wright clearly has had the most success in his tenure at Villanova when running a guard-oriented offense.

The results have been noticed by Wayns, who watched Villanova and its patented four guard offense of Lowry, Randy Foye, Allen Ray, and Mike Nardi earn a number 1 seed in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. "Villanova is where I'm going," Wayns reiterated. "That's where I want to be."

It is too early to tell if current guards Redding, Scottie Reynolds, and new additions Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes will still be on the Main Line when Wayns steps foot on campus in 2009. It will be interesting to see, however, what the coaching staff at Villanova does for the recruiting class of 2008, and if we will see a continuation of "Guard U" for years to come.