Perseverence paying off for Villanova's Chennault

BUFFALO, N.Y. — It was 2009 and Tony Chennault was a star player for Neumann-Goretti. He'd regularly score 20 points, hand out a half-dozen assists and lead his team to victory. His basketball ability earned him a scholarship to Wake Forest.

The Saints were competing in the state playoffs one night when Chennault led the way again with 25. A reporter on the scene wanted to speak to the star of the game, but he politely declined. "Go talk to him," Chennault said, pointing toward John Brennan, one of the bench guys who had a modest career night because of the blowout.

Quite a selfless gesture for the 17-year-old Chennault.

Fast-forward to 2014 and Chennault is not the star of this Villanova team, but he is a contributor. He had four points and two assists in 10 minutes in Thursday night's win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

His college career began on Tobacco Road, but his ailing mother brought him back to the Philadelphia area with a transfer to Villanova in 2012. Tragedy soon followed as one of his brothers, Mike Jay, was shot and killed in May that year. His mom, Crystal Morton, passed away last summer after a lengthy illness.

Chennault, his head an understandable swirl of uncertainty, contemplated leaving Villanova before changing his mind and sticking it out.

"We all ask ourselves, 'What is our purpose? What does God have planned for us?' " said Chennault, a senior. "I just have to have faith and work hard and good things will happen."

While the rest of the team made its way up to Buffalo for the NCAA Tournament, Chennault stayed behind for a family gathering and gravesite vigil to mark his mother's birthday. Coach Jay Wright said when Chennault arrived with the team on Wednesday, he immediately buried his nose in the scouting report. Even if he plays less than 15 minutes per game, basketball gives Chennault an emotional release.

"Tony's an inspiration to our guys. They have so much respect for him as a man because they've watched him handle all this. Then he comes in and gives us energy in both halves," Wright said, shaking his head. "He's just great."
Chennault saw the irony as he recounted that 2009 story of him handing out the glory to a role player from his high school team.

"Guys like that don't get the press and the accolades, but they're just as big a part of the team," he said. "Everybody on the team can't be the leading scorer or the leading rebounder.

You need guys on the team that are willing to take other roles in order to be successful.

"I'm kind of in a similar situation," Chennault continued. "I don't get a lot of accolades for scoring, but as long as my teammates understand the sacrifice that I'm making and they see that I'm doing this [hard work] for my team, that's all that matters."

Brennan, the deep sub at Neumann, went on to have a good career for Division III Penn State Altoona. The two still keep in touch and Brennan has never forgotten the gesture.

"It was really special for a player of his caliber to do that for me," Brennan said. "It meant that the hard work that I was putting in during practice, that [fans] didn't get to see, helped him get ready and that it meant something to him."

His college career might not have gone the way he planned, but Chennault is still playing. Villanova will face Connecticut tonight for a chance to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 2009 Final Four run.

Thursday's game marked the first NCAA Tournament win for this group of Villanova players. The 10 minutes Chennault played and his four points might seem pretty pedestrian, but walk a mile in his sneakers and you can understand the broad smile that was on his face afterward.

"Success is not measured in individual awards and stuff like that," Chennault said. "Success is how you get through adversity and everything that you've been through. How you inspire other people, and what type of impact you have on other people is how success should be judged."