Dec. 14, 2002
Each week during the school year, VU director of media relations Mike Sheridan takes you inside the Villanova Men's Basketball program with notes, quotes and anecdotes from the Wildcats.
PHILADELPHIA - It is early on a Monday afternoon in the Pavilion basketball office. Activity is brisk. Managers scurry to and from the locker room towards a Krapf's Coach bus that will take the 2002-03 Wildcats to a practice session at the First Union Center.
For the next two days, one of America's best arenas belongs to the 'Cats. Villanova would host Pennsylvania here on Dec. 10 (it would ultimately suffer a 72-58 defeat to the Quakers) and will have three more appearances here before the 2002-03 campaign ends.
Today, the Center is unveiling Villanova's new logo at center court. In addition, the Wildcats locker room at the Center has been give a distinctly Villanova flavor. There is a permanent V logo painted on the wall. The interior of the spacious room is decorated with the same signature phrases that adorn the 'Cats Pavilion locker room.
The media is on hand to record the event.
Painted outside the locker room are the words "Villanova Basketball."
Prior to his arrival here, Jay Wright knew little about the locker room enhancement. But after viewing it, he was very impressed.
"This looks awesome," he said as he walked through locker room area.
Although the verdict on the floor last Tuesday evening was not what he would have preferred, Wright and the basketball staff were not in any way displeased with the accommodations.
"The people at Comcast-Spectacor have been tremendous," said Wright. "They have made us feel very welcome and gone out of their way to create the kind of environment we want for Villanova basketball."
Since returning to Villanova as head coach in March 2001, Jay Wright has been clear about his vision for his program's future. It features both the Pavilion and the First Union Center.
"I understand people are very attached to the Pavilion and we love it too," said Wright. "It's great to be able to be on our campus in front of our students and fans. We love coming down through the student section and the intimacy of the building.
"But we also feel that the First Union Center is an important part of our future too."
There are, in the head coach's view, a number of positives about the Center.
"One of the key items for us is to connect with the people of Philadelphia," he explained. "Because of the limited capacity and the scarcity of tickets at the Pavilion, that's difficult to do. We want to encourage youth groups and other residents of Philadelphia who might otherwise never get to one of our games to come out.
"The long-term benefits of that could be huge."
Another plus in Wright's view comes on the recruiting trail. The opportunity to play on the same stage Allen Iverson and his National Basketball Association contemporaries do is attractive to many potential student-athletes.
"It's a great plus in recruiting," said Wright. "You can show young men a truly first class facility that ranks with the best arenas in the world. It's a tremendous showpiece."
The coach also points to less noticeable benefits.
"When we're in the Center, we become more of a media story in Philly," says Wright. "Comcast SportsNet has it offices in the building and we see a number of prominent faces in the local media who don't always make it out to Villanova. It just places us in the center of the Philly media several times a year and that type of thing is invaluable."
Wright understands that there are those who don't like to surrender the homecourt advantage Villanova has established at the Pavilion (85-13 since 1994-95). But he is also convinced that a presence at a major venue like the Center is an essential part of the package too.
"In my mind, the Center had nothing to do with how we played against Penn," Wright said. "Penn did a great job and was better than us that night. We didn't execute as well as we would have like and I will take responsibility for that.
"If we are going to be the kind of program we want to be, we have to be able to win wherever we play - at the Pavilion, at the Center, at the Palestra and on the road."
It should also be noted that Villanova's numbers of late at the Center have been much better. In its first two years in the building, 1996-97 and 1997-98, Villanova was just 1-6. Since then, the Wildcats are 8-4. Of the 19 games played downtown, seven have been against teams ranked in the top 25.
"We are in the process of creating something at the Center," Wright stated. "These types of things don't happen overnight. We have a lot of talented people, both at Comcast-Spectacor and Villanova, working on this. I really believe we can reach a point where the Center rocks."
"I like it," says senior forward Ricky Wright. "It's the same kind of arena you see in the NCAA Tournament. Hopefully, the experience of playing here can help us down the road."...
The Derrick Snowden who took the floor on Tuesday night against Pennsylvania at the Center looked much different than the one seen three days earlier in a 74-71 win over La Salle.
A close crop haircut had replaced the dreadlocks that Snowden had sported for much of the past two years.
"Time for a change," Snowden said.
The new look should be far lower maintenance than his previous 'do. It typically takes 45 minutes a day to braid those rows that used to be atop his head...
Ricky Wright is closing in on the 1,000 point mark for his career. Entering next Sunday's game against Dayton, the senior from East Chicago, Ind., needs just 23 points to become the 45th player in school history to reach that number.
Gary Buchanan, meanwhile, now has 1,488 career points and stands in 20th place in school scoring history. He passed Lance Miller in the loss to Pennsylvania (1,468).
