Villanova University

Nov. 6, 2009

The Nova Notebook, by director of media relations Mike Sheridan, this week takes us inside the Wildcats following the 110-84 exhibition victory over Kutztown at the Wachovia Center on No. 5.

Standing in a hallway outside his team's locker room, Villanova head coach Jay Wright was asked how much the experience of 2008-09, when the Wildcats advanced to the NCAA Final Four in Detroit after spending every week of the campaign in the top 25, would benefit his '09-10 squad.

"It's not looking like it's helping us a lot right now," stated Wright with a chuckle.

Villanova graduated frontcourt starters Dwayne Anderson, Shane Clark and Dante Cunningham last May. Senior Reggie Redding will sit out the first 10 games of the regular season as he regains his status as a "student in good standing" with the university. And in their place, are four decorated freshmen, one redshirt frosh (Maurice Sutton) and a now eligible transfer (Taylor King).

Although Villanova never trailed by less than 20 points after building a 27-point cushion at halftime against Kutztown, Wright saw enough that gave him pause, especially at the defensive end.

"Not having Reggie out there means we're missing a piece, a big piece," stated Wright. "But with Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes and Scottie (Reynolds) there is a confidence level (in place). There is a calm there because they've been there and done it before. So I'm hoping that is an advantage for us."

On the whole, Wright saw room for improvement with a squad that will take a top five national ranking with it into next Friday's opener against Fairleigh Dickinson at the Pavilion (7:00 p.m./Nova Nation All-Access).

"We have a lot of work to do as a team, obviously," said Wright. "We need our young guys. They're not as far along as I'd like them to be right now. I thought Mouph (Mouphtaou Yarou) started off well but I think he tired. The intensity and the speed of the game tired him. I think the other guys are just too excited.

"They're going to get there and we need them to get there."

Specifically, the defensive end of the court is the area that drew most of the coaching staff's attention. Kutztown connected on .492 of its field goal attempts for the evening, including .577 in the second half. The Golden Bears sank 10-point 3-point field goals, a stat offset by the Wildcats' own startling accuracy from deep (12-of-19, .632). Kutztown outscored VU 44-43 in the second half.

"That's the sign of a young team," said Wright. "A young team looks at the scoreboard and it only has to change your intensity a little bit for there to be a drop off. You have to give (Kutztown) credit - they made shots and they pushed the ball at us. It's just the little things with young guys. You score and they're jogging back remembering their score and Kutztown was pushing it right at us. We need to learn that lesson."

In his first action as a Wildcat, King had a productive night, contributing 17 points in 21 minutes to go with four rebounds. The 6-6 forward from California was perfect from the field, including converting all four of his attempts from beyond the 3-point arc.

"Taylor can be a calming influence for us," Wright stated. "We have him playing the four spot some and he can handle the ball a little bit. He moves the ball in our offense and we can go through him as a forward, rather than always having our guards handling the ball. He also can rebound the ball. He's got to keep getting better with that."

Villanova called on ten players against Kutztown with Reynolds logging the most minutes (29). Wright still sees the rotation as a work in progress as the coaching staff attempts to determine which combinations produce the best results.

"I'd like to have nine (in the rotation)," stated Wright. "That's what I'm comfortable with. But you have to have nine that are ready to play and I think that that's going to be our challenge all year is how quickly we can get nine guys ready to play."

Reynolds knows it's a matter of investing the time and effort to close the gaps defensively.

"We have to continue to stay to our principles and stay with what Coach (Wright) preaches," said the senior guard, who'll enter the regular season with 1,620 career points. "We can't just get lackadaisical. We have to stay focused and that's going to take time. We have to just keep pounding, keep pounding and never let up. When you let up a team can get hot like that - just look at the score.

"We, as upperclassmen, have to preach what Coach is saying. We have to do it ourselves and let the younger guys watch that happening on the floor so that when they come in, they can pick up where we left off."

REYNOLDS NAMED

This week the Lowe's Senior Class Award announced its 30 finalists and the Wildcat senior from Herndon, Va., was on the list. From the list of 30 candidates, a national media committee will select 10 finalists for the 2009-10 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in late January. Those 10 names will then be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote beginning February 3 and concluding March 17. Fan balloting will then be coupled with votes from coaches and media to determine the recipient of the award. The winner will be announced in early April.