Minneapolis – The gap between the glory years of Villanova basketball old and the glory days of Villanova basketball new stood Saturday at opposite ends of a gray corridor in the Metrodome. At one end, coach Jay Wright was explaining how he got a glamorous but underachieving program over the hump.
At the other end of the Wildcats locker room, Doug West was warning behemoth fellow ex-player Ed Pinckney not to sit on a training table.
“Don’t break it, Ed,” West joked.
Yes, the weight of 1985 has been a heavy yoke upon this program the past 21 years. However, thanks to a charismatic young coach in Wright, a superstar guard in Randy Foye and a cast of tough and fast – but small – seniors, top-seeded Villanova (28-4) is a win over third-seeded Florida (30-6) today from returning to the Final Four.
“It started with Randy and the seniors four years ago,” West said, “but no one envisioned what it would be right now four years later.”
Then again, no one envisioned on that magical night in 1985, when a similar undersized Wildcats team under Rollie Massimino stunned Georgetown for the national title, that it would be 21 years before Villanova returned to a Final Four.
Where have you been Villanova, and what took you so long?
Keep in mind that ’85 title team wasn’t great. It was only 19-10 entering the tournament but got hot in March, and Massimino coached spirals around Georgetown’s John Thompson. The next year, Pinckney led an exodus of seniors out and the shot clock came in.
Except for one Elite Eight appearance in 1988, Villanova slipped into mediocrity and Massimino left for Nevada-Las Vegas’ riches in 1992.
In came Manhattan’s Steve Lappas, a 1985 Massimino assistant, and Villanova became the biggest office NCAA Tournament bracket-buster in the country. Six times Lappas, a New York native, won 20 games, but his teams were dumped by the likes of Old Dominion, California and Mississippi in the NCAA and Kent and Minnesota in the NIT.
“It’s all about winning,” Pinckney said. “He won, but after replacing Massimino – who always won during the tournament – that’s what he was always measured on.”
After nine years and countless critical columns, a tired Lappas bolted in 2001 for Massachusetts. In came Wright, another former Massimino assistant, but one raised in the Philadelphia suburb of Churchville who worshipped Villanova’s great players as a kid. He also wowed East Coast basketball with five straight improved records at Hofstra, topped with 26-5 in 2000-01.
“There are a lot of good X and O coaches,” said Vince Nicastro, the Villanova athletic director who hired him. “But to succeed at a place like Villanova, you have to understand the unique culture, and Jay does.”
Wright, 44, knew Villanova didn’t like being known around Philadelphia as a snooty, arrogant Catholic school in an idyllic setting on Philadelphia’s affluent Main Line. But it’s a school that ties some of its identity to basketball fame dating to Paul Arizin in the 1940s.
Wright did a few things. First, he junked Lappas’ structured, controlled offense for a more wide-open style, taking advantage of players’ athletic ability and creativity. Second, he went into the worst section of Newark, N.J., for Foye, a New Jersey player of the year who lost his dad to a motorcycle accident at 3 and whose mom disappeared after he finished kindergarten and hasn’t been seen since.
Then Wright went into another garden spot, the Bronx, for Allan Ray, who led St. Raymond’s High to the New York state title. The guards gave Villanova the toughness Wright needed to play a four-guard offense that helped turn Foye into the Big East player of the year and Wright into an innovative genius.
The alumni have noticed. Similar to how Mack Brown corralled former Texas football players into one family again, Wright did the same at Villanova. He invited players from all eras for a summer golf tournament and had a Fan Jam for season-ticket holders and players.
In the slow summer months, the media were all over it. Suddenly, Villanova was big news again. It’s a family again. Attending Friday’s 60-59 Sweet 16 overtime win over Boston College were Dwayne McClain (1981-85), Harold Pressley (1982-86), Harold Jensen (1983-87), Bill Melchionni (1966-69), Howard Porter (1968-71) and West (1985-89).
“The only thing we wanted to do is make sure we explain to those guys who Howard Porter is, Wali Jones, Paul Arizin,” Wright said. “High school kids, they look two or three years back, it’s not too many they don’t know. We explain to them, and they have a great respect for the history of basketball and Villanova basketball.”
John Henderson can be reached at 303-820-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
