'Nova's DiVincenzo: A shooter who looks ready to contribute

Early arrivals for Villanova's homecoming Saturday morning pretty much filled the lower seats at the Pavilion, getting a first look at a hoops team last seen in an indoor football stadium in Houston.

Wildcats coach Jay Wright grabbed the microphone and explained that blue would scrimmage white for 15 minutes, starters and subs scrambled together, then they'd scramble things a little more and play 15 more.

In either configuration, the same thing happened. Sophomore guard Donte DiVincenzo got open and buried jumpers.

A scrimmage is just a snapshot. Has that been his practice rhythm?

"Yeah," Wright said Tuesday at Villanova's media day. "It's kind of the way he was at the end of last season."

DiVincenzo was out after breaking his foot last December, but he was practicing by February.

"You know, we all joke about how in practice he was harder to guard than Buddy Hield in the game," Wright said of the Oklahoma star whom DiVincenzo had been asked to mimic last March. "Which isn't really true, but we joke about that, because it was close."

Maybe it was a joke only because Wright doesn't want to disrespect the national player of the year who was shut down by 'Nova in the national semifinals.

Here's the reason to think about DiVincenzo right now - the same reason to think about Fordham transfer Eric Paschall, who also looked terrific Saturday. Villanova is going to have one of the top bench groups in D-I hoops again this season. You're going to see a lot of moving parts again. The 6-foot-5 wing player from Delaware will get his time. On paper, that seemed right, that DiVincenzo would move up a spot in the rotation after Ryan Arcidiacono graduated.

In person, DiVincenzo just seems more like a guy ready to contribute, not simply grab minutes.

"Again, he and Eric have not played in a Big East game," Wright said. "We're going to be patient with them, but we're really excited about their future. When I say future, I mean this year, deep into the season. A guy who is playing in his first year can become a lot different player. Look at Mikal Bridges at the end of last year as compared to where he was at the beginning of the year."

What were the range of emotions last season as DiVincenzo was part of the team but not able to get on the court?

"There was no part of the year - myself and Eric - that we were not part of it, because every single day in practice, we brought it," DiVincenzo said. "We knew that was our game day."

It's not unusual for bench groups to take it to starters in practices. What made Villanova's bench special last season was how it played in games.

"Whoever comes off the bench is just going to bring energy," DiVincenzo said. "There's going to be no let-off."

If this is overhyping a guy who has played 74 minutes in his college career, so be it. You wouldn't have picked DiVincenzo as the guy a step behind the Final Four heroes on Saturday. The rotation on his shots looked pure.

"The great thing about Donte - he's very versatile," said Villanova assistant coach Ashley Howard. "He's a lot like our other guys. He can handle the ball. He can create shots for his teammates. He's also a really good defender and rebounder from the guard position. I know he's excited to get out there and get his opportunity."

"It's just the beginning," DiVincenzo said, which can be read a couple of ways.

Either: Don't read too much into a scrimmage. Or: There's more where that came from.

"It's just the start of our journey," DiVincenzo said.

mjensen@phillynews.com

@jensenoffcampus