The Villanova Wildcats had some big news yesterday. Jay Wright will be back with another great team next season. The Villanova duo of Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels Jr. is set to return for another season. Gillespie’s season was cut short due to injury and with the NCAA granting an extra year to virtually all players, he will be able to take the 5th year for Nova next season. The same goes for Samuels.
They both made announcements via their Twitter profiles.
One more time ?? pic.twitter.com/Ma34lQYmOg
— Collin Gillespie (@Colling1021) April 12, 2021
One last rodeo?? pic.twitter.com/VGupnyf0s3
— Jermaine Samuels Jr. (@J_Swizz23) April 12, 2021
The return of these players means that Villanova will have some of the best veteran leadership in the country on the court. In 20 games, Gillespie averaged 14.0 points and 4.6 assists a game. He made 37.6% of his three-point shots. Samuels played in all 25 games for the Wildcats and had averages of 12.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, and was also a 37% shooter from deep.
With the loss of a star, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl to the NBA, these two players should guide Nova into the next season. Coach Wright likes experienced teams and always finds a way to put out the best product come March. Next season’s team retains three starters from this year as well as five rotation players. Two top-100 recruits in Jordon Longino and Nnanna Njoku should be great additions to the program.
Jeff Goodman laid out the roster on Twitter.
2021-22 VILLANOVA:
Starters back: Collin Gillespie, Jermaine Samuels, Justin Moore Caleb Daniels
Others back: Brandon Slater, Eric Dixon, Bryan Antoine, Chris Arcidiacono, Trey Patterson
Add: SF Jordan Longino (No. 50), C Nnanna Njoku (No. 84), PG Angelo Brizzi
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 12, 2021
The Big East should be the Wildcats’ to lose. They lost in the Sweet 16 this season to eventual champions, the Baylor Bears. This next season, the sky is the limit and Villanova should be on just about everyone’s radars as tournament favorites.
