While Campbell will likely take the bulk of the Gillespie assignment Friday, the possibility remains that coach Mick Cronin will stick lengthier freshman guard/forward Peyton Watson or junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. Gillespie is by far the most important piece of this lethal Villanova offense, a unit that averaged 77 points per game a year ago with the guard at the helm but only 66.2 in five games without him.Ī torn MCL kept him out of those final five games a year ago – a stretch in which Villanova finished 2-3 – but Gillespie is fully recovered from his injury and is back in the Wildcats’ starting five, playing 31 minutes and posting 13 points and five assists in Villanova’s season-opening win over Mount St. After turning the ball over 100 times between his sophomore and junior seasons, Gillespie bounced back with a 2.9 assist-to-turnover ratio in 2020-2021, good for 17th in the country – two spots below UCLA redshirt junior guard Tyger Campbell.
In his first three years as a starter, Gillespie averaged 13.1 points per game while dishing out nearly four assists across 32.1 minutes per contest. After starting just one game in his freshman campaign in 2017-2018, Gillespie has started every game he has played since then, totaling 86 in that time period. Guard Collin Gillespie has been with the Wildcats for four years already, opting to return for a fifth season this year with his extra year of eligibility granted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting Lineup: G Collin Gillespie, G Justin Moore, F Jermaine Samuels, F Brandon Slater, F Eric Dixonįrom Kyle Lowry to Ryan Arcidiacono to Jalen Brunson, Villanova coach Jay Wright has always had an experienced point guard that runs the show. Here is the first men’s basketball scouting report of the season from Sports editor Jon Christon – who is tired after writing nearly 5,000 words about basketball in the past 24 hours and change. While the Wildcats have three all-time national championships compared to the Bruins’ 11, Villanova has been one of the most prestigious NCAA programs of the past decade, picking up two of its three titles in the last six seasons. 4 Villanova (1-0) in one of the premier college basketball matchups this season.
2 UCLA men’s basketball (1-0) will take on No.