Inside The Big East: Villanova

Now a junior, Mouphtaou Yarou should become a household name for Villanova this season. (Photo courtesy of New York Times)

Mike Rice and his seven-member recruiting class at Rutgers were profiled in depth yesterday, and next up on the list is the program that fell victim to the Scarlet Knights on a four-point play in the final seconds.

Villanova Wildcats (2010-11 Record: 21-12, 9-9 Big East)

Head Coach: Jay Wright (11th season at VU, 224-101; 346-196 overall)

Returning Starters: G Maalik Wayns (6-2 Jr., 13.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 40% FG, 82% FT, 4.5 APG, 1.2 SPG)
F Mouphtaou Yarou (6-10 Jr., 8.4 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 50% FG, 66% FT, 1.0 BPG)
Other Key Returning Players: G Dominic Cheek (6-6 Jr., 5.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 36% FG, 76% FT)
Key Losses: G Corey Fisher (15.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 42% FG, 33% 3pt, 79% FT, 4.8 APG, 1.5 SPG)
G Corey Stokes (14.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 43% FG, 43% 3pt, 89% FT, 1.3 APG)
F Antonio Pena (9.8 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 50% FG, 68% FT, 1.5 APG, 1.0 BPG)

Through the last decade, Villanova has always managed to find their way to the top half of the Big East standings, thanks in large part to a roster filled with talented players at each position and enough depth to last coach Jay Wright several seasons. After reaching the Sweet 16 in 2008 as a No. 12 seed with a roster comprised entirely of underclassmen, Wright brought the whole team back the following season and brought the Wildcats to the first Final Four in program history since their magical national championship in 1985. The honeymoon period ended abruptly, however, with two consecutive exits on the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, the most recent of which being a round of 64 loss to George Mason a year after Villanova was ousted in the round of 32 by St. Mary's.

With the exception of reserve guard Dallas Ouano, Wright has essentially a similar situation to 2007-08 in front of him as he begins his eleventh season on the Main Line. Every other player will be back next year, barring any transfers from one of the most stable and successful Big East programs in recent memory. The stability experienced by the fans of 'Nova Nation will take a significant hit this year, though, with the graduation of three mainstays that etched their names into the illustrious history of Villanova basketball: Forward Antonio Pena and the Coreys, guards Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher.

Fisher's replacement in the starting lineup will be junior guard Maalik Wayns, who will now run the point exclusively after serving as more of a combo guard when he was part of Wright's starting five last year. The 6-2 junior homegrown talent has had the benefit of learning from Fisher and Scottie Reynolds in his first two seasons; and after a sophomore campaign in which he averaged nearly fourteen points and over four assists per contest, Wayns will be the man everyone looks to on the Main Line this season, and his biggest test will be whether or not he will be able to handle the pressure of being a team leader for a full season after serving a piece of the supporting cast as a freshman and sophomore. Villanova's only other incumbent in the starting five is one who should defy expectations and have a year to remember. After a freshman season in which he was plagued by an early-season bout with hepatitis, 6-10 Mouphtaou Yarou blossomed as a sophomore, averaging eight points and seven rebounds per contest a year ago. With Pena having departed, Yarou should be the go-to guy in the paint for the Wildcats; and a double-double per night is definitely not out of the question for the junior from the African nation of Benin.

Jay Wright may not have the depth he has enjoyed in years past, but will still be able to play his trademark four-guard sets on the Main Line this season, as reserve guards Dominic Cheek and James Bell will return for their junior and sophomore seasons, respectively. Cheek and Bell should start alongside Wayns, with freshman guard Tyrone Johnson seeing a great deal of minutes at the point while Wayns moves off the ball in situations where Wright chooses to play "four quick." Johnson, a product of Stu Vetter's Montrose Christian program, and 6-9 power forward Markus Kennedy make up the centerpieces of Wright's recruiting class, which also includes the returning JayVaughn Pinkston, the forward from Brooklyn who was dismissed from the team for an off-court incident before last season began. Maurice Sutton returns as well to give the Wildcats a boost in the middle with his 6-11 frame.

Villanova opens the 2011-12 season with three on-campus home games at the Pavilion, first welcoming Monmouth on November 11th before playing host to Big 5 rival LaSalle and Delaware. After the homestand, the Wildcats head to Anaheim for three games in the 76 Classic, with a Big 5 game at the Pavilion against Penn serving as their homecoming from the West Coast on December 3rd. For the second year in a row, Villanova gets to play a game at Madison Square Garden prior to the Big East tournament, when Missouri and the Wildcats square off on December 6th in the Jimmy V Classic. Last season, Villanova played two games at the Garden against UCLA and Tennessee at the end of November in the Preseason NIT.

Villanova's first game at the Wells Fargo Center comes against Boston University on December 13th, and sandwiches Big 5 road meetings with Temple and Saint Joseph's. American University, who almost upset the Wildcats as a No. 14 seed in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, serves as Villanova's final nonconference opponent in their December 22nd matchup at the Pavilion, with the Wildcats opening Big East play six days later against West Virginia in Morgantown.

Next up for the Wildcats will be the front ends of two home-and-home series, first at Marquette on New Year's Day before USF comes into the Pavilion on January 5th. The Wildcats stay on campus three days later to host DePaul before welcoming Syracuse into the Wells Fargo Center for their third consecutive home game on January 11th. Villanova starts their final home-and-home series at Cincinnati on January 14th; with Seton Hall invading the Pavilion before the Wildcats make their second trip to Madison Square Garden on January 21st, when they look to avenge a 13-point loss at the hands of St. John's this past February at the Wells Fargo Center.

Speaking of the Wells Fargo Center, the back end of a home-and-home series with Marquette sandwiches two road games at Louisville and Pittsburgh in a stretch of games that take the Wildcats through the first weekend of February. Villanova next hosts Providence at the Pavilion on February 7th prior to flying to Florida to face USF in St. Petersburg on February 15th. Two games against Notre Dame and Connecticut at the Wells Fargo Center serve as the final two that the Wildcats will play in Philadelphia, as Georgetown and Rutgers welcome Villanova into the Verizon Center and RAC, respectively. The March 1st meeting between the Wildcats and Scarlet Knights in Piscataway will be the first since Rutgers upset Villanova on Jonathan Mitchell's aforementioned four-point play. Villanova's last regular season contest comes on March 3rd against Mick Cronin's Cincinnati Bearcats at the Pavilion.