Aug. 23, 2001
Villanova Director of Publications Mike Sheridan has accompanied the men basketball team to Italy. Here is the third in a series of updates on the sites and sounds the squad has encountered.
Sunday, Aug. 19
Porto San Giorgio, 11:00 a.m.
They are called "lifts" in Europe and the only thing distinguishing them from elevators in North America is their size - or more specifically, the lack thereof. The lifts in our seaside hotel here are not much larger than your average restroom stall. In fact upon arrival the proprietor of the establishment, Luciano (who also doubles as the lead singer of a heavy metal band, but that is another story), instructs the guests to avoid having more than one person with their luggage in the lift at a time.
Today the point is brought home forcefully to several members of the traveling party. On their way to a team meeting following breakfast, head coach Jay Wright is joined by assistant coach Fred Hill, coordinator of basketball operations Billy Lange and sophomore center Jair Veldhuis are on the lift. They are only traveling up one floor but become stuck between the floors.
"I was trying to keep everybody calm," reported Jay Wright afterward, "but Jair was saying everything you do not want to hear at that point."
"I totally panicked," Veldhuis said with a shrug and a smile. First, Veldhuis noted the lack of air vents. "We are going to run out of air," he told the others. Then came this analysis. "We," he said, "are going to die."
It was left to Lange to take matters into his own hands. He managed to pry the lift doors open to solve the issue of no air and inform the hotel that there was a problem. Soon the matter was solved and the four captives were released.But not before sharing a few laughs over their adventure.
If Veldhuis was not the calm in that relative storm, he has enjoyed a fruitful trip. In game one of this excursion in Livorno he scored 13 points and collected nine rebounds. It was his first extended action as a Wildcat and he demonstrated the raw talent coaches have described during the past two years.
"Jair has done some good things on this trip and he can help us," explains Wright. "We just need to help him gain a better understanding of what we are trying to accomplish."
Off the court Veldhuis has a more demonstrative personality in his second year than he was during his freshman campaign. It is for young players such as the native of Amsterdam that trips like this are made.
Porto San Giorgio, 6:35 p.m.
Tonight the Wildcats meet a much older squad than the Sanpio X club they downed in the opener. Most players are between the ages of 25-31 and include Americans like Nate Erdmann (Oklahoma) and Derrell Washington.
Pallacanestro Trieste uses that experience to its advantage. Erdmann (16 points) and Washington (17 points) use their skills to make shots that most collegians will not. Villanova also struggles to put points on the board at times and is defeated convincingly.
"They played very well," noted Jay Wright, "and we are really still trying to find ourselves offensively."
After the game, the Wildcats stop at a pizza joint where the meal is eaten in relatively quiet conditions. Meanwhile, Wright and assistant coach Brett Gunning remain behind to scout the Italian National Club in its game against Cleveland State. The National team prevails and locals inform us the National team is probably more skilled than Pallacanestro Trieste.
The Wildcats are 1-1 and staring at a major challenge on Monday.
Monday, Aug. 20
Porto San Giorgio, Noon
There is nothing like the calm waters of the Adriatic Sea to heal what ails you. Many of the student-athletes rest in their rooms or take in the sunshine on the beach. A highlight comes on a small asphalt basketball court alongside the beach. Call it Coaches vs. Coaches.
Jay Wright, assistant Joe Jones and graduate assistant coach Jimmy Haggerty square off against Lange, Gunning, and assistant coach Fred Hill. Wright and Jones are the standouts and lead their team to a pair of convincing wins in front of about 25 intrigued locals. Immediately their are calls for a rematch, recount or anything else that might cease the considerable trash talk being exchanged in the aftermath.And you thought recounts only happened in Florida.
Alas, it is Haggerty who may suffer the longest lasting impact. After a game of being hounded by Haggerty at the defensive end, Hill dubs him "Coach Hackerty."
"Coming from Freddie," quips Haggerty, "that has to be considered a compliment."
Porto San Giorgio, 8:45 p.m.
There is no Dick Vitale but the game against the National Team is aired on local television on tape delay. The Wildcats give the natives a great show. Superb defense lifts Villanova to a 67-46 win as Derrick Snowden (17 points) excels at both ends.
"Since that win a lot of people in this area have told me how much that has impressed them," Jay Wright says. "We defeated a very good team."
Senior Brooks Sales noted that the loss to Pallacanestro Trieste left a bad taste for everyone involved. "You never want to say it is a good thing to lose but I think we really respected that loss," the native of Bloomfield, Conn. said. "We knew we had to be more solid defensively and play harder. I thought we did that."
As the crowd lingers following the game it is clear that the Cats have developed a kind of cult following. Teenage boys ask for autographs and any other Villanova trinket they can acquire. And teenage girls are taken by the players too. One teen girl catches the eye of your correspondent who is standing behind Snowden. She motions to the Villanova sophomore and then mimes that he is her favorite by making the gesture that he is, to borrow a phrase from the 1950s, "dreamy." With autographs signed and the hearts of young girls aflutter, the Cats board their bus and return to the hotel.
Up next: the coastal town of Rimini and on to Rome.
