Sept. 10, 2004
The Nova Notebook, by Villanova director of media relations Mike Sheridan, appears each Friday through the fall and the basketball season. This week we check in with junior guard Allan Ray.
Outside the air is warm and thick, even at this early hour. A clock on the wall inside the Pavilion on this July morning puts the hour at just past 7 a.m.
Inside the building there is only silence, save for the pounding of a basketball. Jump shots and free throws are mixed in with sprints and laps around the track by the sole occupant of the building.
For most of the summer of 2004, this was Allan Ray's sunrise workout station.
"During the summer I worked out a lot, especially early in the morning," says the guard who paced the Wildcats in scoring at 17.3 ppg and was named third team All-Big East for his efforts. "I did extra running in the morning and extra shooting. It's things like that that can help me put my team over the edge.
"This is a real important season for us. We've got everyone coming back and we've been so close in games, especially last year. Now we've got to get it done."
The extra work in the morning was only part of Ray's summer regimen. In August he traveled to Santiago, Chile with a Sports Tour International all-star squad. The club played six games against professional and amateur teams.
"It was the first time I had traveled out of the country," Ray says. "It was a pretty good experience. We played the national teams of Chile and Argentina and you learn a lot. Just the idea of going out and competing in different settings and a different style was helpful.
"At the beginning of the trip we were still adjusting to playing together. By the end, though, we had started to get a feel for how we liked to play and were more of a team."
No matter how distant his travels, though, Ray's mind was never very far from the Main Line memories of 2003-04. It was an odd season begun dealing with a depleted roster owed to injury and leftover suspension time for some Wildcats. There were a few peaks but also some disheartening losses en route to an 18-17 finish.
"I've probably watched the UConn game seven times," he says with a shake of his head. "You just look at how close we came to beating them. It was tough to go through, but I think those experiences will help us this year."
In that contest, played on Feb. 28 at the Wachovia Center, Villanova held a three point lead into the final seconds before the Huskies tied it. At the end of regulation and in overtime, Randy Foye's bid for the winning basket was thwarted by national player of the year Emeka Okafor. Connecticut prevailed that day 75-74.
Ray does take solace in the fact that the Wildcats rallied to conclude the season on an upbeat note, with Big East Conference Tournament victories over Seton Hall and Providence before reaching the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals.
"At the end," he says, "we were playing well. We learned from those close losses and now we want to try to carry that over to this year."
Of course, the challenge grew tougher last month, when it was learned that freshman guard Kyle Lowry suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and is destined for knee surgery that could sideline him for all of 2004-05. What appeared to be a very solid backcourt setup, with Ray and fellow returnees Randy Foye and Mike Nardi, now appears less imposing.
"It would have been nice to add Kyle to the lineup," Ray says. "It would have given us another extra guard in there. But now we just have to cope with the situation.
"We've had a lot of setbacks through our time here. We're used to situations like this with things not going our way."
The dilemma for the coaching staff with Lowry's injury is that the Wildcats favored a three guard lineup in 2003-04. Without Lowry, the margin for error shrinks and that puts some of the onus on the holdovers to be shrewd as well as productive.
"You can prepare for that in practices and working out," Ray states. "You have to try to avoid little mistakes that can really affect the outcome of a game. If you do that, it helps you become a smarter basketball player with a better basketball IQ. By doing things the right way when you practice, that can cut down on those little mistakes in a game."
One area of emphasis figures to be protecting Villanova's home court, especially when Big East Conference action opens in January. The Wildcats dropped tight duels to Rutgers and Miami at the Pavilion and two more to Notre Dame and Connecticut at the Wachovia Center.
"I think that's one of the things we learned as a team: you can't relax even a little in the Big East because it's such a tough conference," Ray states. "We lost to Miami at home. Rutgers came in here and beat us. With Curtis (Sumpter), Randy and me being team leaders, we really understand how important it is to focus on each game.
"That's especially true at home. This is supposed to be our court. You can't let teams take advantage of us and beat us. We have to have real pride when we step out on the court."
For Ray and his fellow members of the class of 2006, their journey through Villanova has offered its share of twists and turns. Greeted by lofty expectations as freshmen, the group finds itself largely outside the glare as it looks forward to 2004-05. That's perfectly fine with this product of St. Raymond's High School in the Bronx, N.Y.
"Personally, I like being in the role of the underdog," he says. "I feel like I've been an underdog all of my life. Coming in to this season without much hype I think is a good thing for our team."
While Ray is appreciative of the recognition he received from the Big East last year, there is hollowness to it because his team did not achieve as he had hoped it would. The aim this year is simple: to help this club succeed as a unit. If that occurs, the individual acclaim figures to take care of itself.
"It's a challenge for me to become a leader on this team," Ray says. "I like taking on challenges and I'm ready for this one."
