NEVER TAKES A DAY OFF
Obviously, the must-see game for the Main Line comes on Saturday when Villanova plays North Carolina in the Final Four.
But before the Wildcats take to the court against the Tar Heels, another group of student-athletes will represent Villanova in Detroit, competing for a national basketball championship.
Tomorrow morning, Villanova's club team will open pool play against the University of Texas-San Antonio at the 2009 NCCS Basketball Championships. The title game is Sunday.
The National Campus Championship Series is an intramural championship under the direction of the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association. There are national championships in flag football, soccer, volleyball and basketball.
Villanova is competing with Texas-San Antonio, Southern Illinois, Delaware, Georgia, Arizona, Missouri and Washington State to become the best college team at the club-sport level.
"It's pretty cool," said Villanova sophomore Nick DeLuca, who is from Langhorne and played high school basketball at Holy Ghost. "It's a step up from intramurals, because we travel a lot of places to play in tournaments."
OK, it's not the varsity, but about 60 players tried out for the three available spots on this year's squad.
Some of the players also practiced with the Villanova women's team, helping it prepare for a bid in the women's NCAA Tournament.
And while in the past, a team had only to pay an entrance fee to get to the national championships, this year, spots were earned by winning one of the eight regional championships.
Villanova beat American International College, 54-43, in the championship game last month in Boston to qualify.
"It was a big, 25-team tournament in Boston," DeLuca said. "When you win the regional, you get a $3,000 stipend to pay for expenses toward the national tournament."
Some of the players are flying to Detroit, but most will leave by van today for the ride to the Motor City. DeLuca said half the team even obtained tickets for the Final Four game between Villanova and North Carolina.
The NCCS tournament will be part of the Hoop City event during the Final Four.
"I knew about it," said Villanova forward Corey Stokes. "I became friends with some of the players who tried to walk on with us last year.
"I think it's great that they are representing Villanova and trying to win a national championship for us at their level of basketball. I hope they win."
Villanova coach Jay Wright has received a lot of advice since the Wildcats reached the Final Four. One piece he definitely plans to follow is a play former Penn and Detroit Pistons coach Chuck Daly drew up for him.
Daly is in the hospital with pancreatic cancer and asked former Villanova coach Rollie Massimino to pass the play on to Wright.
"They've already called me," Wright said. "[Massimino] has the play for me. Rollie does this all the time to me.
"But this one, he said Chuck's hand was shaking when he drew it up and he said, 'Give it to Jay. This will be great for him to get into the game.'
"I always listen to them. I use a lot of the stuff that they give me." *
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