2011-2012 Season Preview: Villanova

Filed under Season Preview on November 4th, 2011

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Villanova will play their first game of the 2011-2012 season in Villanova on November 11 against Monmouth. The Wildcats have assembled a squad that hopes to match last season's team. They lose 55% of last season's player minutes and hope to make that up with the efforts of a Top 100 recruit and three other incoming freshmen.
The largest gap to fill for Villanova will be on offense, as the team lost 68% of their three-point shooting. That's followed by assists, where they lost another massive 56.8% of last season's numbers.

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Villanova played to a final overall record of 20-10 last season and were 9th in the Big East with a conference record of 9-9. The Wildcats would go on to lose to South Florida 70-69 in the Big East tournament. They made it to the NCAA Tournament as a #9 seed and went home in the second round with a loss to George Mason, 61-57.

Villanova lost last year's seniors Corey Fisher (33 minutes per game), Corey Stokes (33 MPG), Antonio Pena (32 MPG), and Russell Wooten (1 MPG). The Wildcats will also miss Isaiah Armwood (transferred to George Washington).

The Wildcats bring back junior Maalik Wayns (13.8 points/game), junior Mouphtaou Yarou (8.4 points/game), junior Dominic Cheek (5.6 points/game), junior Maurice Sutton (1.0 blocked shots/game), and sophomore James Bell (2.4 points/game).

In order to address the losses, Villanova brings in a Top 100 Recruit. Tyrone Johnson is a 6-3 guard from Plainfield, NJ and is the #56 ranked recruit in the country.

The Wildcats also recruited other freshmen including 6-6 Darrun Hilliard, 6-9 Markus Kennedy, and 6-4 Achraf Yacoubou. The team also picks up 6-0 sophomore Nick McMahon.

The Wildcats will face nine AP preseason Top 25 opponents, including at #25 Missouri on December 6th, at #22 Marquette on January 1st, and #5 Syracuse on January 11th. The first Big East game for Villanova is at West Virginia on December 28th.

• Villanova has had 7 consecutive 20+ win seasons.
• Since 2001, Villanova has an overall winning percentage of 66.7%. The Wildcats have been improving over the last 5 years with an overall winning percentage of 69.6%.
• The Wildcats have an average conference finish of 6.0 over the last 5 seasons. Over the past 15 the team has an average finish of 4.9.
• In a 10 year period, Villanova has signed 9 Top 100 high school players. Over 10 seasons, the Wildcats have signed 18 Top 100 players.
• With last year's trip to the NCAA Tournament, that makes 7 straight years the Wildcats have made it to the Big Dance.
• The average final RPI (last year) of opponents on this year's schedule is 96.6.
• This year's opponent with the highest RPI from last year is Connecticut (#6).
• This year's opponent with the lowest RPI from last year is Monmouth (#297).
• Villanova has 9 Preseason AP Top 25 teams on the schedule.

Tags: Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes, Antonio Pena, Russell Wooten, Isaiah Armwood, Maalik Wayns, Mouphtaou Yarou, Dominic Cheek, Maurice Sutton, James Bell, Darrun Hilliard, Markus Kennedy, Achraf Yacoubou, Nick McMahon