Tag: villanova wildcats

Furious comeback comes up short as Penn State Lady Lions fall to Villanova in WBIT semifinal

The Penn State women’s basketball team saw its season end with a hard-fought loss to Villanova in the WBIT semifinal round.

Despite a heroic effort by [autotag]Leilani Kapinus[/autotag], Penn State was unable to keep its women’s basketball season going for one more game. The Lady Lions fell to Villanova in a seminal matchup in the Women’s Basketball Invitational tournament in Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Monday afternoon. Penn State’s 58-53 loss to the Wildcats brought a tough ending to a season in which the program took some big steps forward overall.

Kapinus led the Lady Lions with 18 points in a defensive battle with Villanova. The Wildcats had three players score in double figures for a much more balanced offensive attack, led by a 21-point effort by Lucy Olsen. Kapinus nearly brought Penn State all the way back in the fourth quarter alone, but she received a helping hand from [autotag]Ashley Owusu[/autotag] as well. Owusu hit a three-point shot with five seconds remaining in the game to bring the Nittany Lions to within three points.

Villanova outscored Penn State by one point in each of the first two quarters of the semifinal matchup to hold a two-point lead at halftime. The Wildcats created some separation after halftime with a 17-9 advantage on the scoreboard in the third quarter. Penn State chipped away in the fourth quarter and outscored Villanova by five points, but it was just enough of a hole that was too big to climb out of for the Lady Lions.

Penn State’s season ends with a 22-13 record, an improvement of 8 wins from the previous season. ending the season with a loss will be tough to take, but the Lady Lions have improved their win total each of the last few seasons and the program does appear to be heading in a positive direction once again, which should bring some sense of optimism for the 2024-25 season.

Villanova will now get a chance to play for the first WBIT championship in NCAA history. The Wildcats will face the winner of Monday’s other semifinal matchup between Illinois and Washington State. The WBIT championship will be played on Wednesday evening. There is no third-place game.

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Villanova misses the men’s tournament in back-to-back seasons

It’s another Villanova-less Selection Sunday

The post-Jay Wright era at Villanova has gotten off to a rocky start under head coach Kyle Neptune and things did not get much better on Selection Sunday.

For the second consecutive season, the Wildcats will not participate in the NCAA men’s tournament.

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Wright’s tenure started in 2001-02 with three consecutive trips to the NIT before he got his program back to the NCAA tournament, so Neptune isn’t completely off track yet, however this is the first time the Wildcats have missed out on an opportunity to play for a championship in back-to-back seasons since then.

 

The three-time NCAA champions were among the most notable names on a particularly strong bubble this year, which kept the Wildcats’ tournament dreams on edge over the last two months. While early season victories over No. 14 North Carolina, Texas Tech, Maryland and No. 12 Creighton bolstered the Wildcats’ resume, the team really struggled against ranked opponents, going 2-5 with two losses each to Marquette, UConn and St. John’s.

Villanova wasn’t even among the first four out.

One year after going 17-17 (10-10 Big East) with a first round exit in the 2023 NIT, Neptune’s second year on the job didn’t yield much better results as the program went 18-15 (10-10 Big East).

Duke softball sweeps Sunday doubleheader to finish off unbeaten weekend at home

The Blue Devils extended their win streak to 13 games after beating Villanova and Elon by 20 combined runs to finish the Duke Invitational unbeaten.

The Blue Devils finished the Duke Invitational with back-to-back wins on Sunday, first defeating Villanova 11-5 earlier in the afternoon before shutting out Elon for a 14-0 run.

The Wildcats, whom Duke beat on Friday to begin the weekend in Durham, actually got off to a decent start offensively. Each of Villanova’s first three batters reached base safely, including an RBI double from catcher Ally Jones to open the scoring.

With two outs in the second, Villanova chased Duke starter Sophie Garner-Mackinnon from the mound with a two-out homer from leadoff hitter Tess Cities.

Despite the three runs in the first two innings, though, the Wildcats still weren’t leading. The Blue Devils put up four runs in the bottom of the first, including a two-run shot of their own from junior Ana Gold.

The bomb was Gold’s sixth of the year and her third of the weekend, and she has a team-leading 22 RBIs through the Blue Devils’ first 14 games.

Senior Claire Davidson scored the third run almost single-handedly, singling and stealing second before racing all the way home after a fielding error.

The third inning and the top of the fourth passed without any runs, with Duke reliever Lillie Walker holding the line to keep the Blue Devils’ lead intact. No team has been able to hold the Duke offense down very long, however, and it scored multiple runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to cement the final margins. Davidson and Aminah Vega added the final two runs with solo home runs at the buzzer, the final two hits of the game.

If you track the trend of “Duke scored seven runs in the final three innings of its first game,” the Blue Devils’ offensive performance against Elon won’t shock you in the slightest. Duke scored 14 runs in the first three innings against the Phoenix powered by a seven-run explosion in the first.

Three of the first four Blue Devils at the plate reached base after a single and two walks before Kelly Torres drew another walk for the game’s first run. Gisele Tapia and Francesca Frelick immediately followed that with back-to-back base hits, each bringing home two runs.

Frelick’s two-RBI single capped off one of the best weekends you’ll ever see on the diamond. Frelick entered the home tournament with one hit, a solo home run against Army, in her first 12 at-bats of the season. Over her four games in Durham this weekend, she went 6/9 at the plate with another home run and nine RBIs.

The real star of the Elon blowout win was shortstop Jada Baker, who ended every at-bat with a run on the board. First, she batted Frelick home in the first with a single into left field. In the next inning, she had runners on first and second and again laced a base hit into the outfield to bring home another run.

With two runners in scoring position in the third inning, Baker roped one up the middle to bring both Blue Devils around to score and end her three-hit, four-RBI day.

Those two runs were Duke’s last of a productive afternoon, and pitcher Dani Drogemuller never let the Phoenix off the mat offensively. The graduate student surrendered just four hits in her five-inning performance, striking out six batters in the shutout.

After a five-game weekend, Duke gets a full workweek off. They’ll take the diamond again on Friday against Syracuse, the start of a three-game weekend series.

Blue Devils only need five innings to beat Villanova in Duke Invitational opener

The Blue Devils needed just five innings for a weekend-opening victory over Villanova powered by a shutout performance from Jala Wright in the circle.

Duke softball had a long break this past week, getting five full days off after Sunday’s game against FIU was called due to weather.

The extended rest didn’t slow down the surging Blue Devils, however, as Duke dismantled Villanova for an 8-0 victory in just five innings on Friday night to open the Duke Invitational

The Blue Devils welcomed a handful of teams to Durham for the weekend, taking on the Wildcats on Friday night to kick their games off.

Star pitcher Jala Wright, who was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week after opening weekend, continued her remarkable start to the season. She went all five innings in the circle, allowing just four hits and striking out five batters.

Wright sent 11 of Villanova’s first 13 batters straight back to the dugout, a spell only briefly interrupted by a one-out single in the first and a two-out single in the third. She produced a 1-2-3 inning on just 10 pitches in the second.

The only spot somewhat close to trouble the entire night came in the top of the fourth when the Wildcats laced back-to-back singles with two outs. Wright struck the next batter out on three pitches to halt the charge.

Villanova never produced another baserunner.

Through 22.2 innings pitched so far this season, Wright has allowed two runs. She’s given up 10 hits and a single walk, and she has retired 24 batters via strikeout. Friday was her third complete game of the young season, and her ERA is an eye-popping 0.62 through five appearances.

On the offensive end, it took Duke a second to get warmed up. The Blue Devils’ first four batters all struck out, and they didn’t get anyone on base until the third inning. Leadoff hitter D’Auna Jennings singled home Amiah Burgess, who led off with a walk, to finally open the scoring.

The game broke open during Duke’s seven-run fourth inning. Kelly Torres smacked a double, her 100th career hit as a Blue Devil, to put two runners on base. A walk loaded the bases before Burgess brought them all home with a double to the outfield.

Kelsey Zampa brought Burgess home with a bunt, and after a walk and a fielder’s choice, Duke slugger Ana Gold stepped into the batter’s box with runners on first and second.

She did exactly what she’s done her entire career in Durham, blasting one over the left-center wall for a three-run shot to cement the 8-0 advantage.

The home run was Gold’s fourth of the season, the most on the team, and she also leads the Blue Devils with 17 RBIs thus far.

The Blue Devils return with a doubleheader on Saturday, first taking on Boston University at 5 p.m. before a 7:30 p.m. game against Michigan State.

James Franklin responds to strength of schedule criticism following win over Delaware

James Franklin had no apologies to issue for Penn State dominating Delaware, an FCS opponent, in Week 2.

Penn State easily dispatched of Delaware in a Week 2 matchup in Beaver Stadium on Saturday, and head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] is not about to apologize for the mismatch. Delaware may be among the 25 best FCS programs this season, but the Blue Hens do little to provide any boost to the overall strength of schedule for the Nittany Lions. As far as Franklin is concerned, that is a bit of a necessary evil and the reality of the landscape of college football.

“I think if you look at the model of teams that have been in the championship, teams that have been in the playoffs, teams that have won conference championships, I think there’s pretty good data and evidence on what’s the right thing to do,” Franklin said when asked for his thoughts to criticisms over Penn State scheduling a game against an FCS program like Delaware.

Of course, Franklin has a case to be made here. Take last year’s four College Football Playoff participants, for example. Georgia, last year’s national champion, hosted Samford and won 33-0 in their second game of the season after opening against a power conference opponent (Oregon). The season before, when Georgia won its first of back-to-back national titles, the Bulldogs opened with a game against Clemson and hosted Charleston Southern late in the regular season, as a handful of SEC teams tend to do with their schedules.

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TCU, who lost in the national championship game to Georgia, also hosted an FCS team in Week 2 last season. The Horned Frogs blew out Tarlton State a week after facing Colorado. Ohio State and Michigan, to their credit, did not face any FCS opponents last season, but the Wolverines were hardly tested with their non-conference slate of Colorado State, Hawaii, and UConn.

The scheduling of FCS schools has been a talking point for a number of years. Penn State avoided it for a long time but a game against an FCS school on a regular basis is probably here to stay, whether Franklin agrees with it or not. When nine games are locked in for conference matchups, a school like Penn State will do what it feels is necessary to ensure getting as many home games as possible. A one-off game against an FCS school is the easiest way to go about filling a vacancy on the schedule in a sport where schedules can be booked years, if not decades in advance.

“And again, like we talked about before, nine [conference] games factors into that as well,” Franklin explained. “Those things have kind of changed college football more than anything back when you used to play the kickoff classic games and things like that, but with eight conference games it was different.”

“So, I think at the end of the day, you’re trying to do what you think is right for your university and your program,” Franklin said. “That’s myself and the athletic director, but you’re also doing studies and studying the data and seeing what the data says. So, this could be a long discussion.”

Penn State’s last non-conference game in the 2023 schedule will not be played until Oct. 14, against UMass. The Nittany Lions will host Villanova in 2025 after hosting the Wildcats in 2022. Delaware will return to Penn State’s schedule again in 2027.

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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Recruiting Profile: Sooners target 4-star small forward V.J. Edgecombe

Oklahoma offers four-star small forward V.J. Edgecombe out of New York.

With its class of 2023 set to touch campus this summer, Oklahoma can finally turn the page and prepare for the class of 2024. [autotag]Kaden Cooper[/autotag] and [autotag]Jacolb Cole[/autotag] make up the two-man class, and both should be able to compete for minutes immediately, considering how wide open the depth chart is in the aftermath of eight departures from the program this spring.

One target that Porter Moser and his staff have locked in on is V.J. Edgecombe, a four-star small forward from the state of New York. Edgecombe plays with the edge many have come to expect and love about hoopers from the Empire State.

The 6-foot-5 Edgecombe can guard positions 1-3, is extremely tough from his background playing football until sixth grade, and doesn’t shy away from contact while attacking the basket and using some high-level athleticism to finish at or above the rim. He mixes that in with a decent midrange game and an evergrowing three-point shot for some nice offensive results.

While Oklahoma has entered the mix, Michigan has done some nice early lifting and looks to continue building on that.

VJ Edgecombe’s Recruiting Profile

Highlights

High scoring guard T.J. Bamba commits to Villanova

Villanova in an offseason that has seen multiple major departures received good news on Friday.

Looking to bounce back from the program’s worst season since 2011-2012, the Villanova Wildcats landed a big-time transfer commitment on Friday in the form of Washington State guard T.J. Bamba. Joe Tipton of On3 was the first to report the decision.

The 6-foot-5-inch Bamba, who originally hails from the Bronx, New York, will return to the East Coast after three years with Washington State. After being a quality role player for the Cougars in his first two seasons, Bamba broke out this past season to the tune of 15.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists. He shot 42.6% from the floor this season including 37.2% from deep range.

Thanks to those numbers, he earned an All-Pac-12 honorable mention this season.

On top of his scoring abilities, Bamba is also a quality defender with a career defensive rating of 101 and posting a career defensive win share of 2.9 over his three seasons.

During the transfer portal era, Villanova has not been a school that tends to take players out of the transfer portal. However, with the Wildcats winning just 17 games this past season, second-year head coach Kyle Neptune is looking into the portal hoping to find immediate help for the Wildcats.

The addition is also a much-needed one for the Wildcats as they are expected to lose key players in F Eric Dixon, G Caleb Daniels, G Justin Moore, and F Cam Whitmore.

The addition will help offset some of the loss of guard Justin Moore who averaged 13.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assist this past season. The Wildcats are also losing senior forward Eric Dixon, senior guard Caleb Daniels, and freshman forward Cam Whitmore, those four making up the program’s top four scorers from this past season.

That being said, if the Wildcats hope to put their poor season behind them and return to the national spotlight in 2023-2024, they’ll need much more than just the addition of Bamba. The program currently holds just one signee in their 2023 recruiting class in the form of three-star strong forward Jordann Dumont.

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Projected lottery pick Cam Whitmore declares for 2023 NBA draft

Whitmore, who was named the Big East Freshman of the Year, averaged 12.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals with the Wildcats.

On Tuesday, Villanova freshman Cam Whitmore told Shams Charania of The Athletic that he will forgo his remaining college eligibility and enter the 2023 NBA draft.

Whitmore, who was named the Big East Freshman of the Year, averaged 12.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals on 34.3% shooting from 3-point range. He finished sixth in the conference in defensive rebound percentage (20.3) and eighth in steal percentage (3.2).

The 6-foot-7 forward established himself as one of the top college prospects with his athleticism and ability to penetrate into the paint and finish with power. He can score from seemingly all over the court and is projected to be a lottery pick, as a result.

Whitmore entered the season with high expectations and lived up to some of them after a productive year with the Wildcats. He will enter the pre-draft process highly touted for his offensive ability and will have the opportunity to improve his stock in workouts and the combine.

Underclassmen have until April 23 to declare for the draft.

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Collin Gillespie reunited with Jay Wright at national title game

Gillespie reunited with his former head coach at the NCAA men’s national championship game in Houston.

Denver Nuggets rookie Collin Gillespie on Monday reunited with former head coach Jay Wright at the NCAA men’s national championship game at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

Of course, Gillespie played five years at Villanova under Wright and finished as the all-time program leader in games played (156) and the No. 12 scorer with 1,858 points. Wright retired at the conclusion of last season and serves as an analyst for CBS Sports.

Gillespie and the Nuggets are in Houston ahead of their matchup against the Rockets on Tuesday. He and several other players were on hand at the game and the 23-year-old had the opportunity to catch up with Wright in the first half between No. 4 UConn and No. 5 San Diego State.

Gillespie hasn’t played this season with the Nuggets due to a leg fracture sustained last summer while helping out at a Villanova team practice. He has has progressed in his recovery and has been seen putting up shots with the team.

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