Dec. 30, 2003
The Nova Notebook by Villanova director of media relations Mike Sheridan offers a holiday week edition featuring senior guard Derrick Snowden. We return to the regular weekly Friday format on Jan. 9.
Perhaps more than any of his young teammates, Derrick Snowden believes he has a grasp on what Villanova will face when it steps on to the floor at the University of Kansas on Jan. 2.
There is talent, of course. Kansas brings a No. 13 national ranking into the meeting and reached the Final Four in 2002-03.
There is history too. Wilt Chamberlain, James Naismith and Danny Manning are some of the names that have helped Allen Field House earn recognition as one of the most imposing home venues in college basketball.
How imposing?
Well, the Jayhawks have won their last 50 games at home against teams not ranked in the national polls. Villanova will no doubt be greeted by another sellout throng of better than 15,000 as Kansas plays its final opponent before venturing into the Big 12 portion of its schedule.
Snowden, a native of Baltimore, has never been to Allen Field House. But he knows from first hand experience how tough it can be as a freshman to walk into one of the sport's most imposing arenas.
"If you've survived Duke," he says, "you feel like you can handle anything."
As a rookie in 2000-01, Snowden traveled with the Wildcats to Cameron Indoor Stadium in preseason National Invitation Tournament action. Villanova hung tough for most of that night but in the end the Blue Devils prevailed 98-85.
"That was crazy," states Snowden of the experience. "People were yelling at Andreas (Bloch) in German. They were getting on Brooks (Sales) about his sister. They were into it.
"I'm excited about going to Kansas. I'm just disappointed that I probably won't be able to play as much as I would have without the injury."
Of course, that Snowden is a candidate for any playing time against the Jayhawks is rather remarkable on its own. When the senior was diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in August that would require surgery, the consensus - even among the experts - was that Snowden would not be seen in a Villanova jersey again until 2004-05.
"In the beginning, we were all pretty much thinking about a redshirt year," says Snowden. "Even the coaches seemed to think that would be the way it went.
"But I wanted to try to make it back this year. If it didn't work out, then fine. I'd just concentrate on coming back next year. But I had to try."
The surgery was performed by Dr. Rob Good at Bryn Mawr Hospital and the tear was described as clean. Snowden quickly immersed himself in the rehabilitative process and after a few weeks began to suspect that there was hope for a quicker recovery than originally anticipated.
"It was probably 2-3 weeks into the recuperation when I started to think it was possible," he says.
Yet Snowden wasn't completely convinced until November.
"It wasn't until I was able to run up and down the court that I really began to believe it," he states. "I didn't feel any pain. The knee was just stiff."
Snowden did not accompany his teammates on the journey to Los Angeles and Maui in November. Instead, he remained at Villanova with director of basketball operations Billy Lange and teammate Jason Fraser to continue rehabilitation. Soon thereafter, he began practicing on a limited basis and was finally given the go-ahead by Good to participate in all practice activities on Dec. 5.
Over the course of the next three games (vs. La Salle, Pennsylvania and Northeastern), Snowden served his suspension for his role in the misuse of a university telephone access code. He was available for duty against Columbia on Dec. 22 but head coach Jay Wright elected to hold him out for one more game.
Finally, on Dec. 28, Snowden made his return official against UNC-Greensboro at the Pavilion. As he shed his warm-up top and made his way to the scorer's table, the home crowd made note of his appearance and gave him a warm ovation as he walked out on to the court.
"It was nice," says Snowden of the crowd's reaction. "I wasn't used to that."
Wright and the coaches planned to limit Snowden's minutes. He played stretches in the first and second halves for a total of 10 minutes. He connected on one 3-point field goal and pulled down three rebounds.
"Coach told me he wanted to play me in spurts of four minutes," he says. "He kept me out there a little longer than that in the first half so he must have liked what I was doing."
Snowden says he felt no ill effects from the knee.
"I felt good," he states. "It took me a little bit of time to get used to the game speed but I wasn't thinking about the knee. The only thing was that I was a little out of breath a couple of times."
It is accepted basketball wisdom that nothing duplicates game speed or endurance. All of that work on the stationary bicycle Snowden did was helpful but it couldn't duplicate the exertion level of a regular season game. Now it's less about the condition of the surgical repair than it is the strength of the knee and leg.
"Right now, it's a matter of confidence and building muscle," he states.
The goal is to make strides so that when the Big East season begins against Notre Dame on Jan. 10 at the Wachovia Center, Snowden will be near 100 percent. For now, Snowden is just happy to be able to practice and help lead a group that could benefit from his experience.
"It is hard to lead when you're not playing," he says. "You're not out there going through what the rest of the team does. Being back out there, I feel like I can help.
"I think we're in a real good situation. For a young team to have come out in some tough circumstances and hang in the way it has is a great sign. I just want to contribute."
As for any resolutions for 2004, Snowden plans to keep it simple.
"I just want to get completely healthy and stay healthy," he says. "That's it."
Given the course his career has taken over the last five months, that's understandable. Snowden has learned much since that November night and Cameron Indoor Stadium and he hopes to lend a hand as his young friends venture into another imposing venue on Friday.
NOTES
The next "Villanova Sports Page with Jay Wright" radio show is scheduled for Monday night, Jan. 5 at Gullifty's Restaurant. The show runs from 7-8:00 p.m.
