Villanova's Jay Wright calls his freshmen 'impressive'

When asked for a general assessment of what he has seen so far in fall workouts, Villanova coach Jay Wright didn't specifically name his most heralded freshman.

Asked after Friday's practice about what has stuck out to him, Wright did say, "Our freshmen are very competitive. They've got good basketball IQs so they've come in and fit in right away, which is impressive."

Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and Tim Delaney are the newcomers. Brunson is the one who will get the most attention, and have the ball in his hands the most. With Darrun Hilliard and JayVaughn Pinkston graduated, and Dylan Ennis transferred to Oregon, there are new roles still in the feeling-out stage. Friday was the official first day of practice although teams have been allowed to work out for fewer hours all fall. For players and coaches, there's not much difference.

Talking about his returners, Wright said, "I think everyone's gotten gradually a little bit better. Like nobody . . . I wouldn't say one person has" made a big leap.

Wright noted that one of his top returners, junior Josh Hart, had a serious ankle sprain three weeks ago and is just now getting back on the court. "He hasn't been able to do anything for three weeks," Wright said.

Wright said he thought his junior class "will be probably the most pivotal for us. Darryl Reynolds, Josh and Kris Jenkins - if they can really step up and be big-time players, for us to be a good team. The freshmen are going to be freshmen. Those three have to really step up. So far, they've looked pretty good."

- Mike Jensen