Foye likely to be traded to Wizards

[Let's Go Nova is on summer break, but we will continue to update for important breaking news.]

According to an ESPN report, former Wildcat Randy Foye will be traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Washington Wizards in a deal that includes the 5th pick in Thursday's draft.

Says ESPN:

The Washington Wizards are close to a deal that would send the No. 5 pick in Thursday's draft, Oleksiy Pecherov, Etan Thomas and Darius Songaila to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Randy Foye and Mike Miller, a league source told ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher on Tuesday. [...] The trade hasn't been consummated yet because of a clerical point that Etan Thomas needs to handle, a source told Katz.

According to the ESPN Magazine report, the trade will probably become official tomorrow, one day before the draft.

The trade would bring Foye, a Newark, N.J. native, back to the East Coast. Foye was drafted by Minnesota after his senior season at Villanova in 2005.

Wayns, Cheek play McDonald's A.A. game tonight

Even though the 2009 season is gloriously still ongoing for Villanova, Wildcat fans can get a sneak peak at two of the team's best incoming players for next season in the annual McDonald's high school all-American game tonight.

Guards Maalik Wayns and Dominic Cheek, both Villanova commitments, will play together on the East squad.

The game airs live tonight at 8 p.m. from the University of Miami, and will be broadcast nationwide by ESPN.

Wayns and Cheek join fellow high-school stars Dexter Strickland, Lance Stephenson, Kenny Boynton, and Derrick Favors to face the all-stars from the West.

Memphis recruit DeMarcus Cousins, whose matriculation might now be in jeopardy with John Calipari leaving for Kentucky, is also a member of the East squad.

The West team is led by Memphis-signee Xavier Henry, generally considered the top player in the country. The North-Carolina bound Wear brothers, David and Travis, are also on the West team.

The official site uses annoying-as-hell Flash, horrible music, and (no joke!) floating cartoon bubbles spewing Dick Vitale's voice on every page, so here is a screenshot of the rosters, for your sanity:



Wayns and Cheek will join forwards Mouph Yarou, Isaiah Armwood, and Taylor King as Villanova's fab five in 2009-2010.

With the possible dissolution of Memphis's unheard-of-good recruiting class (Cousins, Henry, and likely John Wall), Villanova's four freshmen might be the very best class in the nation next season.

Best and worse cases for Villanova

Every March, Let's Go Nova's favorite college basketball writer Pat Forde pens his best and worst cases column, where he outlines the wildest dreams and worst nightmares for all 64 NCAA tournament teams.

Forde hit the nail on the head for Villanova last year, when his best-case scenario of Villanova beating Clemson and Siena before losing in the Sweet 16 came true to the letter.

This year, he sets the bar a little higher. According to Forde, the dream 'Nova run ends as national runner-up:

Best Case: Under-the-radar Big East power flexes its muscles, pounding American and VCU while taking advantage of absurdly friendly Philadelphia draw. The Wildcats wear down Duke and then beat Pitt for the second time this season to reach their first Final Four since winning the whole thing with the Perfect Game in 1985. Dante Cunningham finishes off NBA audition by averaging 20 and 10 on the way to Detroit, where Jay Wright looks flawless as the Wildcats beat North Carolina and then lose to Louisville for the third time this season in the final.

I think that scenario is a tad generous, even as the best case. Just getting to the Final Four would be a dream come true for this 'Nova team, and I am not sure the Wildcats could defeat the UNC juggernaut even in my wildest dreams. But, you never know, especially with Ty Lawson's toe on paparazzi watch all March.

Villanova's worst case is exactly the scenario I dread will happen -- a second-round loss to an excellent UCLA team:

Worst Case: Nova is slowed down and taken out in the second round by UCLA, but that's only the beginning. Turns out Wright was doing his own NBA audition and takes a job in The Association. Guard Reynolds bugs out after his junior season for the pros as well. Rollie Massimino agitates to get his old job back. Even worse, so does Steve Lappas.

Exactly my fear, although as regular readers of this column surely know, I would not mind having Lappas or Rollie back over Jay Wright!

Let's hope that Forde makes it two years in a row for his best-case scenario coming true for Villanova.

What are you best and worse cases? Does anyone think we could actually lose to American? And who is dreaming even higher than Forde, wishing for a national title?

'Cats to defy conventional wisdom, actually mess with Texas

#15 Villanova (8-0) vs. #6 Texas (6-1)
9 p.m. at Madison Square Garden (New York)
TV: ESPN
Line: Villanova +2.5

Villanova heads to New York today for the Jimmy V Classic nightcap against Texas, a battle of top-15 teams in Madison Square Garden.

The game should be the first real test for undefeated Villanova. While the strongest opponent the 'Cats have faced is arguably a mediocre Rhode Island team, Texas is fresh off a win against then #12 UCLA. The Longhorns have also beaten Oregon and St. Joseph this season, and lost by 1 point to current #12 Notre Dame.

It will also be Villanova's first game outside the Philadelphia area. Texas has played four home games and three tournament games in Hawaii.

Villanova will be faced with containing the immense talent of the Longhorns, starting with national player of the year candidate A.J. Abrams. Abrams, a guard who should need no introduction, is averaging 18 points per game, and dropped 31 on the Bruins last week in a low-scoring game.

It will be the first time in Villanova's young season that the 'Cats do not have by far the most talented players on the court, so execution and strategy will play a much larger role than in previous contests this year.

Look for one Wildcat to be tasked with containing Abrams -- perhaps Reggie Redding -- while the frontcourt tries to stay out of foul trouble against the formidable twin-towers of Connor Atchley and Dexter Pittman.

The athletic swingman Damion James should also give the 'Cats fits on the wing, and it will be interesting to see if Corey Stokes or Shane Clark can stay with him defensively. James was injured against UCLA, but should be back in the starting lineup tonight. This would be a great game to have Dwayne Anderson at 100 percent; we will see how well Villanova's own athletic wing has recovered from his foot injury.

This is one of the biggest games of the year for the Wildcats, and the Villanova blogosphere is practically brimming with excitement. Villanova by the Numbers, I Bleed Blue and White, and VUhoops all run breathless previews. Also check Nova News later today to see if they weigh in with pre-game thoughts.

Should Villanova win this game and then avoid upsets against St. Joseph and La Salle later this week, the Wildcats will vault into the nationwide top 10 and possibly the top 5, depending on other games.

Let's Go Nova will be in attendance at the Garden tonight, so you might want to check the "live updates" sidebar on the right for any Twitter-assisted updates I can send from my mobile phone.

Finally, try to predict the game's final score in the comments section below.

'Nova ranked 31st best program

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.