# 2017–18 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by head coach Jay Wright in his 17th year, the Wildcats played their home games at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as members of the Big East Conference.
The Wildcats finished the season 36–4, 14–4 in Big East play to finish in second place. They defeated Marquette, Butler, and Providence to win the Big East tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the East region, their third No.1 seed in four years. They defeated Radford, Alabama, West Virginia, and Texas Tech to advance to the Final Four for the second time in three years. In the National Semifinal, they defeated Kansas before defeating Michigan in the National Championship game to win their second national championship in three years. They won every game of the tournament by a double-digit margin and the team's tournament run is widely considered the most dominant ever along with being called among the best seasons of all time.
The Wildcats' home court, The Pavilion, underwent a temporary closure for a $60 million renovation project during the season. It reopened for the 2018–19 season with the new name of Finneran Pavilion after a Villanova alum who donated $22.6 million to Villanova. Accordingly, all home games for the 2017–18 season but one were played at the Wells Fargo Center. The exception was the November 29, 2017 game with Big 5 rival Penn; it was instead held at Jake Nevin Field House, which had been home to the team before the Pavilion's initial 1986 opening.

## Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2016–17 season 32–4, 15–3 in Big East play to win the regular season championship. In the Big East tournament, they defeated St. John's, Seton Hall, and Creighton to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats were given the Tournament's overall No. 1 seed as a No. 1 seed in the East region. In the First Round they defeated Mount St. Mary's before being upset by No. 8-seeded Wisconsin in the Second Round. The loss marked the second time in the previous three tournaments that Villanova was upset by an eighth-seeded team.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Kris Jenkins | 2 | F | 6'6" | 235 | SR | Upper Marlboro, Maryland | Graduated |
| Josh Hart | 3 | G | 6'5" | 215 | SR | Silver Spring, Maryland | Graduated |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree PF | Philadelphia, PA | Neumann-Goretti High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Apr 5, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 81 ||||||
| Jermaine Samuels SF | Franklin, MA | The Rivers School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Aug 27, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 86 ||||||
| Collin Gillespie PG | Warminster, PA | Archbishop Wood Catholic High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jan 14, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 64 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 1, 2015. ||||||

### Future recruits
#### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Brandon Slater SG | Fairfax, Virginia | Paul VI Catholic High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | May 24, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Cole Swider SF | Barrington, RI | St. Andrew's School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | May 24, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Jahvon Quinerly PG | Jersey City, NJ | Hudson Catholic High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Feb 14, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Villanova Commits". Rivals.com. "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Preseason

In its annual preseason preview, Blue Ribbon Yearbook ranked the Wildcats No. 12 in the country. Jalen Brunson was named a third team preseason All-American.
Villanova was picked to win the Big East in the conference's preseason Coaches' Poll for the fourth consecutive year. Jalen Brunson was named the unanimous preseason All-Big East player of the year.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 1, 2017* 9:00 pm | No. 6 | Drexel Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief Exhibition | W 87–68 | | 16 – Brunson | 12 – Spellman | 6 – Brunson | Jake Nevin Field House Villanova, PA |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 10, 2017* 8:30 pm, FS2 | No. 6 | Columbia | W 75–60 | 1–0 | 15 – Paschall | 11 – Spellman | 3 – Tied | Wells Fargo Center (10,504) Philadelphia, PA |
| November 14, 2017* 6:30 pm, FS1 | No. 5 | Nicholls State Battle 4 Atlantis Mainland game | W 113–77 | 2–0 | 23 – Bridges | 6 – 4 tied | 5 – Tied | Wells Fargo Center (8,517) Philadelphia, PA |
| November 17, 2017* 8:00 pm, FS2 | No. 5 | vs. Lafayette Allentown Showcase | W 104–57 | 3–0 | 24 – Bridges | 9 – Spellman | 6 – Brunson | PPL Center (6,652) Allentown, PA |
| November 22, 2017* 2:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 4 | vs. Western Kentucky Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals | W 66–58 | 4–0 | 18 – Brunson | 8 – 2 Tied | 3 – 3 Tied | Imperial Arena (1,199) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 23, 2017* 12:30 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | vs. Tennessee Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals | W 85–76 | 5–0 | 25 – Brunson | 6 – Paschall | 6 – Brunson | Imperial Arena (2,102) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 24, 2017* 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 5 | vs. Northern Iowa Battle 4 Atlantis championship | W 64–50 | 6–0 | 18 – Bridges | 7 – Bridges | 4 – Brunson | Imperial Arena (2,831) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, FS2 | No. 4 | Penn Big 5 | W 90–62 | 7–0 | 17 – Brunson | 7 – 2 Tied | 4 – 2 Tied | Jake Nevin Field House (2,200) Villanova, PA |
| December 2, 2017* 5:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 4 | at Saint Joseph's Big 5/Holy War | W 94–53 | 8–0 | 18 – Bridges | 11 – Spellman | 6 – Tied | Hagan Arena (4,200) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 5, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 3 | vs. No. 10 Gonzaga Jimmy V Classic | W 88–72 | 9–0 | 28 – Bridges | 8 – Spellman | 3 – Tied | Madison Square Garden (17,532) New York, NY |
| December 10, 2017* 1:00 pm, FS1 | No. 1 | La Salle Big 5 | W 77–68 | 10–0 | 18 – Tied | 10 – DiVincenzo | 7 – Brunson | Wells Fargo Center (10,611) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 13, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 1 | at Temple Big 5 | W 87–67 | 11–0 | 31 – Brunson | 8 – Spellman | 5 – Brunson | Liacouras Center (10,206) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 22, 2017* 8:30 pm, FS1 | No. 1 | vs. Hofstra Long Island Showcase | W 95–71 | 12–0 | 20 – Bridges | 10 – Spellman | 7 – Brunson | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (7,892) Uniondale, NY |
| December 27, 2017 7:30 pm, CBSSN | No. 1 | at DePaul | W 103–85 | 13–0 (1–0) | 20 – Bridges | 12 – Spellman | 6 – Booth | Wintrust Arena (8,323) Chicago, IL |
| December 30, 2017 4:00 pm, CBS | No. 1 | at Butler | L 93–101 | 13–1 (1–1) | 31 – Brunson | 9 – Spellman | 5 – Brunson | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,244) Indianapolis, IN |
| January 6, 2018 8:00 pm, FS1 | No. 3 | Marquette | W 88–80 | 14–1 (2–1) | 27 – Brunson | 7 – Bridges | 8 – Brunson | Wells Fargo Center (14,210) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 10, 2018 8:00 pm, FS1 | No. 1 | No. 10 Xavier | W 89–65 | 15–1 (3–1) | 21 – Booth | 9 – Bridges | 5 – Brunson | Wells Fargo Center (12,765) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 13, 2018 8:00 pm, FBN | No. 1 | at St. John's | W 78–71 | 16–1 (4–1) | 25 – DiVincenzo | 11 – Bridges | 5 – Brunson | Madison Square Garden (17,123) New York, NY |
| January 17, 2018 6:30 pm, FS1 | No. 1 | at Georgetown | W 88–56 | 17–1 (5–1) | 18 – Brunson | 7 – DiVincenzo | 7 – Brunson | Capital One Arena (11,905) Washington, DC |
| January 20, 2018* 12:00 pm, CBS | No. 1 | at UConn | W 81–61 | 18–1 | 23 – Brunson | 12 – Spellman | 6 – Booth | XL Center (15,564) Hartford, CT |
| January 23, 2018 6:30 pm, FS1 | No. 1 | Providence | W 89–69 | 19–1 (6–1) | 17 – Paschall | 9 – Bridges | 5 – Paschall | Wells Fargo Center (8,595) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 28, 2018 1:00 pm, FOX | No. 1 | at Marquette | W 85–82 | 20–1 (7–1) | 31 – Brunson | 9 – Paschall | 2 – Tied | BMO Harris Bradley Center (17,120) Milwaukee, WI |
| February 1, 2018 12:00 pm, FS1 | No. 1 | Creighton | W 98–78 | 21–1 (8–1) | 21 – Bridges | 8 – Paschall | 5 – Tied | Wells Fargo Center (10,225) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 4, 2018 12:00 pm, FOX | No. 1 | Seton Hall | W 92–76 | 22–1 (9–1) | 26 – Spellman | 11 – Spellman | 7 – DiVincenzo | Wells Fargo Center (16,115) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 7, 2018 7:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 1 | St. John's | L 75–79 | 22–2 (9–2) | 28 – Brunson | 12 – Spellman | 3 – Tied | Wells Fargo Center (10,900) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 10, 2018 12:00 pm, FOX | No. 1 | Butler | W 86–75 | 23–2 (10–2) | 30 – DiVincenzo | 11 – Spellman | 5 – Bridges | Wells Fargo Center (20,603) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 14, 2018 7:00 pm, FS1 | No. 3 | at Providence | L 71–76 | 23–3 (10–3) | 19 – Bridges | 9 – Spellman | 5 – Brunson | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,887) Providence, RI |
| February 17, 2018 4:30 pm, FOX | No. 3 | at No. 4 Xavier | W 95–79 | 24–3 (11–3) | 25 – Bridges | 9 – DiVincenzo | 9 – DiVincenzo | Cintas Center (10,777) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 21, 2018 8:30 pm, FS1 | No. 3 | DePaul | W 93–62 | 25–3 (12–3) | 27 – Bridges | 7 – Spellman | 7 – Brunson | Wells Fargo Center (10,007) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 24, 2018 2:30 pm, FOX | No. 3 | at Creighton | L 83–89 $^{OT}$ | 25–4 (12–4) | 22 – Brunson | 10 – Spellman | 5 – Brunson | CenturyLink Center (18,321) Omaha, NE |
| February 28, 2018 8:30 pm, FS1 | No. 4 | at Seton Hall | W 69–68 $^{OT}$ | 26–4 (13–4) | 23 – Bridges | 14 – Spellman | 5 – DiVincenzo | Prudential Center (13,711) Newark, NJ |
| March 3, 2018 5:00 pm, FOX | No. 4 | Georgetown | W 97–73 | 27–4 (14–4) | 24 – Bridges | 6 – Tied | 7 – Brunson | Wells Fargo Center (18,523) Philadelphia, PA |
| Big East tournament |||||||||
| March 8, 2018 7:00 pm, FS1 | (2) No. 2 | vs. (7) Marquette Quarterfinals | W 94–70 | 28–4 | 25 – Bridges | 8 – Bridges | 4 – Bridges | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York, NY |
| March 9, 2018 10:00 pm, FS1 | (2) No. 2 | vs. (6) Butler Semifinals | W 87–68 | 29–4 | 18 – Bridges | 12 – Spellman | 6 – DiVincenzo | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York, NY |
| March 10, 2018 6:30 pm, FOX | (2) No. 2 | vs. (5) Providence Championship | W 76–66 $^{OT}$ | 30–4 | 31 – Brunson | 13 – Paschall | 4 – Brunson | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York, NY |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 15, 2018* 6:50 pm, TNT | (1 E) No. 2 | vs. (16 E) Radford First Round | W 87–61 | 31–4 | 16 – Brunson | 7 – Spellman | 8 – DiVincenzo | PPG Paints Arena (18,715) Pittsburgh, PA |
| March 17, 2018* 12:10 pm, CBS | (1 E) No. 2 | vs. (9 E) Alabama Second Round | W 81–58 | 32–4 | 23 – Bridges | 8 – Spellman | 5 – DiVincenzo | PPG Paints Arena (19,015) Pittsburgh, PA |
| March 23, 2018* 7:27 pm, TBS | (1 E) No. 2 | vs. (5 E) No. 15 West Virginia Sweet Sixteen | W 90–78 | 33–4 | 27 – Brunson | 8 – Spellman | 4 – Tied | TD Garden (19,055) Boston, MA |
| March 25, 2018* 2:20 pm, CBS | (1 E) No. 2 | vs. (3 E) No. 14 Texas Tech Elite Eight | W 71–59 | 34–4 | 15 – Brunson | 14 – Paschall | 4 – Brunson | TD Garden (19,169) Boston, MA |
| March 31, 2018* 7:49 pm, TBS | (1 E) No. 2 | vs. (1 MW) No. 4 Kansas Final Four | W 95–79 | 35–4 | 24 – Paschall | 13 – Spellman | 6 – Tied | Alamodome (68,257) San Antonio, TX |
| April 2, 2018* 9:20 pm, TBS | (1 E) No. 2 | vs. (3 W) No. 8 Michigan National Championship | W 79–62 | 36–4 | 31 – DiVincenzo | 11 – Spellman | 3 – DiVincenzo | Alamodome (67,831) San Antonio, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East MW=Midwest. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 (41) | 1 (45) | 1 (43) | 3 (1) | 1 (25) | 1 (63) | 1 (63) | 1 (47) | 1 (48) | 3 (9) | 3 (4) | 4 | 2 | 2 | Not released |
| Coaches | 6 | 6^ | 3 (1) | 4 | 4 | 1 (22) | 1 (26) | 1 (27) | 3 (1) | 1 (27) | 1 (31) | 1 (31) | 1 (22) | 1 (22) | 2 (8) | 3 (4) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 (32) |
^Coaches Poll did not release a Week 2 poll at the same time AP did. *AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings

## Gallery

* Crowd at parade
* Bus with Championship Trophy
* Players with trophy
* Players on bus
* Eric Paschall, Donte DiVincenzo, Omari Spellman, Collin Gillespie, and Jalen Brunson