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The Daily OrangeBig East Basketball | Experience helps Villanova adapt
By Zach Berman
Posted: 10/27/05, 12:17 AM EST Section: Sports
NEW YORK CITY - Villanova guard Allan Ray nodded.
A lone statement, "It's always something," triggered his approval. Not a question, not even anything substantial, just a simple statement.
But Ray knew what it meant.
At Villanova - the Big East preseason's top team - bad news isn't news. It's just another day for the suburban Philadelphia program.
So when Curtis Sumpter, one of Villanova's top players and a member of its vaunted 2002 recruiting class, injured his knee for the second time in eight months, the Wildcats shrugged and continued like they've been there before.
Because, well, they have.
"It's life. When things happen in life, you have to deal with it," Ray said. "(Villanova head coach Jay Wright) told us, 'You can be a better team without Curtis, or you can be a worse team without Curtis, and it depends how you handle it.' And we're handling it pretty well right now."
Villanova finished 24-8 last season and reached the Sweet 16, where it lost to the eventual national champion, North Carolina, in the Carrier Dome on a controversial last-minute traveling call.
The Wildcats return all five starters, though Sumpter's injury (the prognosis is indefinite) leaves Villanova without one. But the Wildcats bring back their entire bench, and key contributing seniors Ray, Randy Foye, Jason Fraser, juniors Will Sheridan and Mike Nardi and sophomore Kyle Lowry comprise one of the most talented rosters in the nation.
"I think (the preseason Big East ranking is) with an asterisk; it was pre-Curtis Sumpter injury," Wright said. "But right now, we're going to take pride in it. I'm proud of the seniors in the program."
When Sumpter, Ray, Foye and Fraser arrived at Villanova, their class was expected to be the cornerstone of Wright's rebuilding efforts. But for much of the past three seasons, injuries and controversy mired the program.
Fraser, the most hyped of the class, has been injured seemingly his entire career. Sumpter's been hurt, Lowry was sidelined for the first half of last season and other contributors spent significant time on the trainer's table. There were also five Wildcats suspended at the end of the 2003 season for misuse of a university's telephone access code.
A lone statement, "It's always something," triggered his approval. Not a question, not even anything substantial, just a simple statement.
But Ray knew what it meant.
At Villanova - the Big East preseason's top team - bad news isn't news. It's just another day for the suburban Philadelphia program.
So when Curtis Sumpter, one of Villanova's top players and a member of its vaunted 2002 recruiting class, injured his knee for the second time in eight months, the Wildcats shrugged and continued like they've been there before.
Because, well, they have.
"It's life. When things happen in life, you have to deal with it," Ray said. "(Villanova head coach Jay Wright) told us, 'You can be a better team without Curtis, or you can be a worse team without Curtis, and it depends how you handle it.' And we're handling it pretty well right now."
Villanova finished 24-8 last season and reached the Sweet 16, where it lost to the eventual national champion, North Carolina, in the Carrier Dome on a controversial last-minute traveling call.
The Wildcats return all five starters, though Sumpter's injury (the prognosis is indefinite) leaves Villanova without one. But the Wildcats bring back their entire bench, and key contributing seniors Ray, Randy Foye, Jason Fraser, juniors Will Sheridan and Mike Nardi and sophomore Kyle Lowry comprise one of the most talented rosters in the nation.
"I think (the preseason Big East ranking is) with an asterisk; it was pre-Curtis Sumpter injury," Wright said. "But right now, we're going to take pride in it. I'm proud of the seniors in the program."
When Sumpter, Ray, Foye and Fraser arrived at Villanova, their class was expected to be the cornerstone of Wright's rebuilding efforts. But for much of the past three seasons, injuries and controversy mired the program.
Fraser, the most hyped of the class, has been injured seemingly his entire career. Sumpter's been hurt, Lowry was sidelined for the first half of last season and other contributors spent significant time on the trainer's table. There were also five Wildcats suspended at the end of the 2003 season for misuse of a university's telephone access code.
