Projo College Hoops

By KEVIN McNAMARA

Just got off the phone with Villanova coach Jay Wright. Not only is he one of the best interviews in the Big East, he just may be the best in the country.

The story in Wednesday's Journal will focus on how well Wright's teams have navigated the shark-filled waters of the Big East ever since the conference expanded in 2006. Now Villanova is winning again. The Wildcats own a marquee wins (beat Pittsburgh) and sit at 12 in the latest RPI.

PC coach Keno Davis has quickly learned about the baptism by fire coaches face when they enter this league. He's coming off a 33-point whipping at Connecticut and needs to get his team to bounce back and protect its home court. Davis says he appreciates how battle-tested teams will be that survive the Big East regular season.

``The teams that get out of the Big East and go to the NCAA, for teams five through eight or nine it will be more of a relief,'' said Davis. ``Then you can just play. You finish seven or eight but can upset some teams, for sure. I really believe any team from the Big East can go a long way.''

Davis said that he's more than pleased with his team's trip halfway through the Big East (6-3 record) but realizes that matching those results will not be easy. The Friars play four ranked teams ('Nova twice, Louisville, Pittsburgh) and as well as two games against Rutgers, one at South Florida, one at West Virginia and a home date against Notre Dame.

``It's a long way to go. No one knows where they'll be,'' said Davis. ``Obviously taking one game at a time is critical because they're all very tough. Villanova is very good. They're like Marquette. Very fast, strong and quick.''

By the way, Wright asked if it snows here all the time. He said it seems as if it is always snowing when he brings his team to town. I told him this is not Syracuse and then thanked him for bringing more snow to Rhode Island.

The early line, by the way, has Villanova favored by 2.5 points.

 Tags  Jay Wright Keno Davis PC Basketball

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