Arcidiacono: Florida's loss, 'Nova's gain

IT'S ALMOST assumed that Ryan Arcidiacono committed to Villanova when he was still in grade school.

The reality is, the player who has come to represent everything coach Jay Wright wants his basketball program to be almost didn't commit at all.

In October 2010, just before his junior season at Neshaminy High, the 6-3 guard thought he was headed to Florida. A visit to Gainesville can have that kind of impact on a teenager's thought process, even if both his parents happen to be Villanova grads.

"I loved it (down there)," recalled Arcidiacono, now the senior leader of a 31-5 Sweet 16 team who has played in more games (140) and made more starts (139) than any Wildcat. "Any time you're on a visit, you know everything's going to be perfect. They make it 10 times better than it is. But I went to an SEC football game, just chilled and hung out with the guys. My parents wanted me to keep an open mind. They didn't want me to commit on the spot.

"Little did I know I would commit on the spot the next week after visiting Villanova . . .

"(Gators coach) Billy Donovan was coming to my morning workouts. That whole week, I had Florida on my mind. To be honest, coach Wright wasn't there. (Later) he explained to me that he needed to know if I could play at this level, and be a contributor. When he was fully sold on me, he recruited me the hardest."

The following week Arch went to Hoops Mania, the midnight start to Villanova's preseason practice.

"My mom got all my family members and whoever she could that was in the area to go," he said. "It was like, 'This is what you could have.' I just saw it and went, 'How can I pass it up?' "

So he didn't. And he's been part of a program that has won 93 of the last 106 games. Not a bad legacy. And now the Wildcats - who play third-seeded Miami (27-7) in the South Region on Thursday night in Louisville, Ky. - have a chance to send him and fellow senior Daniel Ochefu out in a befitting way.

"I'd have a better tan, maybe a Southern accent," Arcidiacono said of the Florida option. "When we talk about what could have been, it's always a funny conversation. When I told my sister I was going to commit to Florida, she started crying. She has two kids now. She was upset that I wasn't going to be around for them. I'm like, 'Sorry.' But I needed my siblings (he's one of six children, three of whom are older).

"I grew up a mama's boy. When I told her I was going to Villanova, she flipped out. She said, 'You've got to call coach Wright.' And I was like, 'Now you're all over me.' "

Wright can recite the details as if it had gone down yesterday.

"If I'd (pursued him) a year earlier, Billy would have never seen him," Wright said. "I remember his mom standing in my driveway, crying, 'Please don't let him go to Florida. Please, I don't want my baby that far away.' And I'm saying to her, 'I'm begging you, please help me get this done.' "

Right after Hoops Mania, he got a call from Arcidiacono. But he didn't have his phone. So Arch left a message. He didn't tell Wright he was committing. Not until the following day, when Wright was driving to pick up his daughter Riley, who was in sixth grade at the time, from basketball practice.

"I pulled over to the side of the road, because I lose the signal there. I was so excited. I get (to Riley) 45 minutes late. She's sitting in the parking lot in her coach's car. And (his wife) Patty is messaging me: 'Where are you?' I apologize to the coach. I told him Ryan Arcidiacono committed. He's really a Villanova guy. So he said, 'Don't worry about it. I'm glad I helped.'

"I got heat (at home). Patty was like, 'You have to get your priorities straight. If anyone will understand, it's the Arcidiaconos. You're a father picking up your daughter. What if the coach wasn't there? All you had to say was you'll call in 10 minutes.' She's probably right. But I was so excited. In my mind I didn't want them to think it wasn't important to me."

Welcome to Recruiting 101. And the near-miss has influenced Wright's approach ever since.

"I remind myself all the time to make quicker decisions," he acknowledged. "We almost lost one of the best ever. My staff was all-in (on him). It was me. I was concerned that if you take a local kid, you have to make sure he's going to be a really good player.

"You'd rather take the hit in the shorter term for not recruiting him than the long-term hit of being in a program and not being happy. That's awful."

Suntan aside, compatibility has never come close to being an issue. Not for someone who became a tri-captain midway through his freshman season. Score one for the power of tears.

@mikekerndn