Aug. 30, 2002

This marks the debut of "Nova Notebook: Inside Villanova Basketball", a new regular feature of villanova.com. Each Friday 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.

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Over the course of his three years at Villanova, senior guard Gary Buchanan has carved a reputation for himself as a pretty good marksman. He will enter the 2002-03 campaign with a total of 1,399 career points and a strong season could lift him into the exclusive company of the 2,000 point club.

But for one brief moment this summer, the St. Louis native found himself matched against the greatest hoops gunslinger of them all.

The setting was the Michael Jordan camp held in August at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Buchanan was part of an impressive array of young talent that included Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich of Kansas along with Ohio high school sensation and Sports Illustrated cover subject LeBron James.

One day Buchanan, 6-3, found himself checking none other than Mr. Jordan.

"There's a mouse in the house," Jordan exclaimed in assessing his newest potential victim.

Jordan immediately exploited his three inch height advantage over the product of St. Thomas More School in Connecticut by posting Buchanan up.

"He talked a lot of trash," said Buchanan. "He just kept repeating, 'I've got me a mouse in the house.'"

This mouse joined a long list of players to have their hands full with Jordan. In their short encounter, Buchanan watched Jordan score over him twice on post moves before fouling him on a third attempt.

"Fouled me, huh?" Jordan asked Buchanan with a smile.

"I wasn't going to let you get me a third time," Buchanan chuckled.

"I like that," Jordan said.

There was more to Buchanan's summer vacation than just the brief interlude with perhaps the greatest player in hoops history. Buchanan gained valuable experience playing with and against some of the nation's top collegians at UCSB.

"It was an unbelievable experience," Buchanan explained. "I have to admit when I got out there and saw all these top players from places like Kansas and Oklahoma, I had some butterflies. When I was in high school I never saw myself as a top player. But once I stepped on the floor, it was great. I could see that these guys were all human and that I could compete."

In the estimation of Wildcats head coach Jay Wright, this has been a most productive off-season for Buchanan.

"I'm very proud of Gary," said Wright. "He stayed in the area this summer and really dedicated himself to getting better."

Buchanan lifted weights, worked out and thrived in the Sonny Hill Summer League. In fact, he was voted most valuable player after helping his team to a 9-1 record and the championship. He was clearly the leader of a club that featured only one other Division I player in Pennsylvania's Ugonna Onyekwe.

"Coach (Wright) would talk to me before every Sonny Hill game and told me to be assertive," Buchanan said. "I played a lot of point guard and as we went through the season it seemed like my teammates were figuring that if we got in trouble, I could bail them out.

"I was a little surprised to get the MVP award. But it was definitely a nice thing for me."

Buchanan's work has paid off in Wright's view.

"Gary has had a terrific summer," Wright said.

Not to mention a memorable one...

One of the constants during the summer months at Villanova is the return to campus of recent graduates of the men's basketball team. This week two former teammates were on the Main Line preparing for the 2002-03 professional season.

Malik Allen, a member of the Class of 2000, is in town visiting his mother in Philadelphia. Assistant coach Joe Jones worked him out in the Jake Nevin Field House throughout the week.

Allen spent the 2001-02 season on the Miami Heat roster. In April, he received a chance to see extensive action and prospered, scoring a career high 16 points in one outing.

During August Allen spent most of his time in Miami, working out with teammates at the Heat practice facility. In early September he will return to Florida to begin preparation in earnest for training camp, which gets underway in October. Allen has one year left on a free agent contract he signed with Miami last fall and appears to be positioned to serve as key reserve at power forward.

"Things are going well," Allen stated. "I feel like I played well in the summer league last month and can't wait to get started this year."

One of Allen's workout partners this week was Jermaine Medley. Medley, who graduated in 2001, is spending the summer in his hometown of Wilmington, Del. Last season, in his first professional action, Medley averaged 22 points and eight assists per game for the Reuss Rebels, a team based in Luzern, Switerland. (Luzern is a one-our drive from Zurich.)

"I loved it," Medley said. "There was pretty good competition and it was great to be in Europe."

While some athletes struggle to adapt to a different culture, Medley suffered no such pangs of homesickness.

"You learn pretty quickly that it's a business," he said. "But if you keep an open mind about living overseas, it can be fun. I wasn't one of those guys who lived on the telephone - that can get expensive. But I was on the internet all the time."

Medley is unsure of his next professional stop. His agent is currently exploring what options may exist for this season in Europe or elsewhere overseas ...

The date for the 2002-03 version of Midnight Mania has tentatively been set for Oct. 25. Further details on the event will be available in the coming weeks...

On Sunday evening Wright addressed the entire Villanova incoming class of 2006. As he exited the stage after a short talk, the students clapped along to music from the old Sister Sledge tune, "We Are Family" that accompanied a highlight video of Wildcat athletic clips on the big screen ...

During a summer weightlifting session, freshman center Jason Fraser felt the burn after one particularly strenuous session. As he slumped to one knee in an attempt to regain his bearings, Shawn Cooley of the weight room staff, couldn't resist an observation.

"Down goes Fraser," Cooley shouted, "down goes Fraser."

The room erupted in laughter.

Somewhere Howard Cosell was probably smiling too.