Explaining why Villanova star Cam Whitmore fell so far in the 2023 NBA Draft

What is going on with Cam Whitmore right now?

Editor’s note: This story was originally published prior to the NBA Draft and has been updated.

Every year, there is a player expected to hear his name called early in the draft but falls a bit lower than initially anticipated. One of the players in the 2023 NBA Draft who dealt with such a slide was Cam Whitmore.

He was a projected top-5 pick in the latest aggregate mock draft provided by HoopsHype. But he did not hear his name called until the No. 20 overall pick by the Houston Rockets.

Here is what you need to know: Before his freshman season, the Villanova star was named MVP during the 2022 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship tournament. Whitmore, however, was unfortunately on the sidelines for each of the first seven games of his collegiate career due to a thumb injury.

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He eventually returned to the court and had a strong campaign for the Wildcats. The Big East Rookie of the Year averaged 12.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game during his one-and-done campaign in the NCAA.

Whitmore was one of just four Power Five freshmen to record at least 25 dunks and 25 shots from beyond the arc last season, per Bart Torvik. So why is his draft stock sliding?

Whitmore was seen “struggling at times with his shooting and intensity” during his individual team workouts, per ESPN draft expert Jonathan Givony.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Wasserman also shared an update about Whitmore (via Bleacher Report):

“There have been some concerns over Cam Whitmore’s medicals, which could cause a few teams to pass in the mid-lottery, per sources.”

Additionally, here is what one Eastern Conference executive told David Aldridge (via The Athletic):

“At the Hoops Summit, Whitmore was not a practice-type player and didn’t look very good during the week. But once he played, he was one of the better players in the game. That’s going to have to change at the NBA level. He’s going to have to exert some effort, some ability and skill level in practice for a head coach to put him in a game. He’s not going to be guaranteed minutes like he probably was at Villanova.”

You never want to see potentially poor medical information about a player.

But the upside is still strong for Whitmore, who measured with a 40.5-inch max vertical during the 2023 NBA Draft Combine and tested well in drills for speed and agility as well.

Whitmore uses that to attack the basket and he scored 0.76 points per touch on drives, per Stats Perform, which ranked as the best among projected first-rounders.

However, one scout told Seth Davis from The Athletic that there are questions about Whitmore’s “feel” for the game.

His coaches will need to see more playmaking from Whitmore. Among all prospects in a draftable range who finished at least 40 possessions as the ball handler in pick-and-roll sets, per Synergy, none opted to pass less often (22.7 percent) than Whitmore.

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What the heck happened to the men’s college basketball blue bloods?

UNC, Duke and Kentucky are down bad.

Men’s college hoops is a burning house right now, and I’m just Childish Gambino returning with leftover pizza from a Super Bowl party.

What in the world happened?

Last time I checked (not literally), North Carolina was the preseason No. 1 team in the AP rankings. Kentucky was No. 4 and Duke was No. 7. The so-called blue bloods of the sport were still expected to be good. Even Villanova was ranked 16th.

So, I did what any self-respecting writer of sports betting content would do and attached myself to some of those giants. Among my conference championship picks were UNC, Kentucky and Kansas, each boasting top-10 national title odds at the time. Duke did as well.

Today, only No. 5 Kansas even has top-20 title odds, let alone a top-25 AP ranking. UNC, my pick to win it all, lost Monday for the fourth time in its last five games to fall to 8-7 in the ACC (16-10 overall).

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College basketball has been flipped on its head. So much so that No. 23 NC State is the best team in North Carolina. Football powerhouse Alabama is the No. 1 team in the country for the first time in 20 years. Even Gonzaga, the preseason No. 2 team, matched its highest loss total since 2016-17 — with five games left in the regular season.

None of UNC, Duke (17-8, 8-6 ACC), Kentucky (16-9, 7-5 SEC) or Villanova (12-13, 6-8 Big East) even received a vote in the latest rankings, and nothing about it is a fluke. Villanova is objectively bad, and the other three don’t appear to be very good either. None have a KenPom rating better than 35.

We knew the retirements of coaching legends Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski and Jay Wright would usher in a new era of college basketball. I’m just not sure we knew it meant a potential changing of the guard. But is that actually what’s happening?

Maybe not. The “old” guard can certainly bounce back — even as early as this year. ESPN bracketology expert Joe Lunardi currently has Duke as a 9-seed in the NCAA tournament, North Carolina among the last four in and Kentucky in his first four out. Any of those teams would be considered dangerous in March just off sheer talent alone. They still recruit well.

But what’s happening to them this season is worth monitoring because it opens the door for other teams to make some noise. The schools with the top three betting odds to win this year’s title, according to DraftKings, are all programs that have never won it before: Houston (+700), Purdue (+900) and Alabama (+900).

The Jayhawks could also swoop in and go back-to-back, but there’s a decent enough chance we’ll have an unfamiliar champion by season’s end.

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Bad beat: A late missed Villanova dunk vs. Marquette cost bettors dearly

Watching the ball rattle around the rim was SO painful.

After holding serve in the first half Wednesday night, it looked like Kyle Neptune’s Villanova Wildcats were going to let their matchup with the Golden Eagles get away from them. Marquette would outscore Villanova 39-29 in the second half — with a 16-3 in the final moments — to wrestle away control from their Big East rivals.

This opened thee door to the wilting Villanova covering a +8.5 pregame spread. As Marquette took a 73-64 lead into the final moments, prospects for this outcome looked dicey. Then the Wildcats’ Mark Armstrong streaked up the court and found himself with an open lane. A clear shot for a dunk if anyone ever saw it. Bettors who had +8.5 were about to rejoice.

Except Armstrong missed it. Badly. He didn’t quite get enough arm extension, and the ball would rattle around the rim before falling into the waiting grasp of Marquette’s Kam Jones.

“Oof” doesn’t do this bad beat proper justice:

Here’s hoping for better luck next time. But if there’s one lesson to be learned: college basketball can be a precarious place to put sizable bets on.

Temple’s win over No. 16 Villanova on Friday was so chaotic fans stormed the court twice

Storming the court once is fun. Storming the court twice is more fun.

The college basketball season isn’t even a week old and fans everywhere are already experiencing the wide range of emotions that arrive this time of year.

On Friday night, when Temple defeated Villanova for the first time in 10 years, the men’s basketball team and its fans were certainly on cloud nine.

After Temple’s sophomore guard Damian Dunn knocked down two go-ahead free throws to give the Owls a 66-64 lead with just over one second to play, the Owls intercepted a full-court pass to seemingly clinch the win.

As expected, almost every Temple fan inside Liacouras Center stormed the court to celebrate the fulfilling victory. But moments later the court was cleared and those same folks returned to their seats.

Why? The game wasn’t officially over yet.

Upon intercepting the Hail Mary pass from Nova, Zach Hicks was fouled by Villanova’s Eric Dixon with .2 seconds left on the clock. So, Hicks stepped to the line and sunk two free throws.

A simple inbound by the Wildcats followed, time expired, and finally, Temple officially logged itself a win — one worthy of a second court storming.

It was an absolutely crushing way for bettors to lose as they had to watch their tickets become worthless twice.

According to Action Network, 56 percent of all bets on the spread and 57 percent of the money backed the Wildcats (-5). Another 90 percent of bets and 84 percent of the money had Nova (-230) on the moneyline.

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Villanova’s Final Four celebration was very bittersweet because of Justin Moore’s leg injury

Hopefully, Moore’s okay.

From wire to wire, Saturday night felt like a coronation for Villanova. The Wildcats (-3) took on a tough Houston squad in the Elite Eight. Most expected a dogfight where Jay Wright’s crew would have to claw their way to earning every single basket, rebound and free throw. This game would be one of the best matchups of the Men’s NCAA tournament. That didn’t happen.

Instead, we got a clinical 50-44 Villanova win in a game that honestly never seemed close. As impressive as Houston might have been beforehand, a beyond efficient Villanova undressed them from top to bottom. It was their moment through and through.

And in the closing moments, with seconds left toward a berth in the Final Four appearance, the Wildcats tried their best to celebrate properly.

 

Despite the joy and revelry, an unfortunate injury sullied the Wildcats’ festivities.

Late in the second half, one of Villanova’s best players, Justin Moore, suffered what’s been called a leg injury. Moore did not return to the game, and he didn’t leave Villanova’s bench either — even through the post-game celebration.

Moore’s teammates tried to console him as much as they could.

Awful all around. You have to feel for the young man and his teammates who are hurting for him.

At the time of publishing, there is no word on the severity and exact nature of Moore’s leg injury, though it doesn’t look great for now.

Villanova is onto the Final Four and has established itself as one of the blue-bloods of modern men’s college basketball. If only their latest triumph could’ve come with a happy and healthy Moore.

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Villanova beat Michigan and their fans were overjoyed about another deep March run

There’s nothing quite like a win in a big game in March.

By now, Villanova’s fans expect success during the Men’s NCAA tournament. Under Jay Wright, the Wildcats have advanced out of the first round in each of the last nine tournaments, winning the national title in 2016 and 2018. Still, even with such consistent excellence, it doesn’t mean their fans can’t revel in the good times when they come.

On Thursday night, Villanova (-4.5) beat Michigan, 63-55, to advance to the Elite Eight. (Note that the last two times the Wildcats advanced to the Regional Final under Wright, they ended up winning the whole thing.)

Collin Gillespie was predictably great. Jermaine Samuels was dynamite, as usual. All in all, it was a night for the team and the Nova faithful to remember.

As the game started to wind down, fans who were at the arena in San Antonio made sure to celebrate appropriately.

Your alma mater making a run into March Madness doesn’t happen every year. Villanova’s fans have done well to remember that, even if it now sometimes seems like they’re playing deep into this month each season.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).

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Michigan basketball vs. Villanova: The good, bad, and MVP

Michigan really beat itself in this one.

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Michigan found itself playing in the Sweet-16 for the fifth-straight time on Thursday evening against the Villanova Wildcats. The game is a rematch from the 2018 national championship game when the Wildcats defeated the Wolverines, 79-62.

Would Michigan be able to get revenge four years later?

In the first half, the maize and blue found themselves trailing 31-28 at halftime. The Wolverines played extremely sharp defense, save for a few possessions where they left Collin Gillespie wide open. The only big downside was from the charity stripe, where Michigan only shot 1-for-6 from the free-throw line. Hunter Dickinson led the team with eight points at the half, where he could use his size advantage at full force, but he did pick up two fouls during the first 20-minutes.

The Wolverines trailed for the entire second half, but Michigan continued to battle with ferocious defense which kept the Wolverines in the game. Michigan found itself down eight to nine for most of the second half, and then all of a sudden it was a four-point game with two minutes left in the game. But, the Wolverines had too many self-inflicted wounds to win the game with missed shots, missed free throws, and untimely turnovers. The Wildcats defeated Michigan, 63-55 — the Wolverines season is officially over.

Here is the good, the bad, and the MVP from the defeat.

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Michigan basketball Sweet 16 game vs. Villanova time, channel set

Game, set, match! #GoBlue

The national championship game rematch is officially set, as 11-seed Michigan upended 3-seed Tennessee, while 2-seed Villanova took down 6-seed Ohio State in the Round of 32. Both teams will move south to San Antonio, where the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will take place for the NCAA Tournament’s south region.

But when will they play and on what channel?

CBS announced the next round of matchups while some games are still in progress, but noted the tip time and channel for the highly anticipated matchup. The game will be on Thursday night at 7:15 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast on TBS with Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson, and Allie LaForce on the call.

The two teams met up in the 2018 national championship game — also in San Antonio — where Villanova won thanks to Donte DiVincenzo’s heroics in a 79-62 loss for the Wolverines. The two teams met again on Villanova’s campus in Nov. 2018, where Michigan got revenge, winning 73-46.

According to KenPom, this time around, the Wildcats are the No. 10 team in the country with the eighth-ranked offense and 30th defense. The Wolverines are 28th nationally, with the 19th-ranked offense and 78th defense.

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Ohio State falls to Villanova, fails to make Sweet 16

Ohio State falls to Villanova, fails to make Sweet 16. #GoBucks

The Ohio State Buckeyes lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to the No. 2 seed, Villanova Wildcats, 71-61. It was a valiant effort by Ohio State as they trimmed a 15-point Villanova lead down to two points before the Wildcats took the game back over and finished strong down the stretch.

The Wildcats are moving onto the Sweet 16 and will see another Big Ten opponent in the No. 11 seed, Michigan Wolverines. That contest will tip-off on Thursday.

Malaki Branham was the star of the show for the Buckeyes, as he scored 23 points with 15 occurred in the second half. E.J. Lidell was the second leading Ohio State scorer with 17 points in his last game in a scarlet and gray uniform.

Despite the loss, it was an effort that showed heart, grit, and determination against a team that has enough of the same traits to make a deep run to the Final Four. Villanova’s Collin Gillespie went on a tear in the first half to lead the Wildcats to an eleven-point lead in the first half and into the locker room they never relinquished.

Ohio State was outdueled in the paint with physicality and one-on-one-isolation it could never quite figure out. Despite it all, the Buckeyes made a serious run at an upset bid in the second half when it began to get stops and slowly work its way back into the game, eventually getting as close as 60-58 with under five minutes to play.

But it was all too much to overcome as Villanova found itself at the end of the game and went on a mini-run to take control and fend off an OSU team that never quite found itself this season. Now, it’ll be time to figure out what this offseason holds with several key question marks heading into next season.

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Ohio State vs. Villanova NCAA Tournament matchup: Lineups, injury reports and broadcast info

Everything you need to know as Ohio State prepares to take on Villanova for a chance to go to the Sweet 16.

It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but the Ohio State basketball team got a win in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday. The Buckeye’s reward? A date with a veteran Villanova team with a Sweet 16 birth on the line.

The Wildcats have four players who average double digits and have outstanding guard play. Villanova is also an above-average defensive team holding opponents to just 63 points per contest. Ohio State could be in trouble if it doesn’t do better on the offensive end than it showed against Loyola.

Nova’s head coach, Jay Wright, was quoted as saying of OSU “…if they would have been healthy toward the end of the season — I think they lost the last four out of five. But if they would have had their guys together, this would have been a 2 or 3 seed…” He may be right, but the Buckeyes know they will have to be on top of their game to reach the next round.

Here’s everything you need to know to find the game and get ready to cheer the Bucks on to victory.