Nov. 16, 2007
The Nova Notebook, by Villanova director of media relations Mike Sheridan, appears weekly beginning in September through February with monthly updates in the off-season with features on the men's basketball program. This week we spend time with head coach Jay Wright and get an update on the health of freshman guard Corey Fisher.
On this early Thursday evening, the Pavilion Press Room looks nothing like a space designed for the media to ply its trade. The room is filled with a dozen tables, each fitted with cloth and a floral centerpiece. The occasion is a post-practice dinner for members of the Villanova faculty hosted by the men's basketball staff.
The impetus for the event is placed at every seat in the room. It is a copy of a letter addressed to head coach Jay Wright from NCAA president Myles Brand. In the note, Brand congratulates the Villanova staff for the results of the Academic Progress Rate (APR), an NCAA initiative created in recent years to shed light on the academic performance of athletic programs. The Wildcats APR is among the top 10 percent of all Division I men's basketball programs and that means the team is a recipient of an NCAA Public Recognition Award.
"It's always nice to have the faculty around our program," Wright tells the group of about 30 that includes professors, university staff and members of their families. "But we had a special reason for doing this today."
As he speaks, Wright is in the rotunda of the newly opened Davis Center for Athletics and Fitness. Before taking the group through the building, he makes note of the Public Recognition Award.
"As coaches, we get a lot of credit for something like this," Wright says. "But we understand that no matter who the coach at Villanova has been, the commitment to academics here has never wavered. We know how much time professors put in, not just with our players, but with all students and what that means to the university. This is just our way of saying thank you."
Wright also acknowledges Dr. Dan Regan,. Villanova's longtime academic advisor and associate director of Academic Support Amy Morgan.
"Dr. Dan started this long ago and the relationship between the Villanova faculty and the basketball program has remained strong over the years," Wright noted. "It's part of what makes this university so unique.
"When we first started discussing the concept of this building, it was very important to the university that we make this an inclusive facility. Most of these facilities that have been built across the country are designed to separate athletes from the student population. But we are in here together."
This week the men's and women's programs moved out of their existing offices in the Pavilion and Jake Nevin Field House respectively and into the new space. The women's offices now occupy the first floor and the men are on the second floor.
"When we were in the Pavilion, the only time we would see the students was when we walked on campus," Wright said. "But now we see them walking in and out of here every day. It's really a cool part of this."
With that, Wright leads the group on a tour of the Davis Center. Earlier in the day, the men's basketball players selected the location of their lockers in the new building. The four juniors - Dwayne Anderson, Shane Clark, Dante Cunningham, and Frank Tchuisi - picked a row of four lockers along the back wall that faces out into the large space. The rest of the team will have their lockers against either side wall, all of it with the view of a flat screen plasma television on the wall nearest the men's practice court.
After the visit to the locker room, the group moves through the first floor, checking out the strength and conditioning area as well as the Sports Medicine treatment rooms, which include three hydrotherapy pools. It is then on to the second level, where Wright points out a feature that offers great appeal to the coaching staff.
"It's been a Villanova tradition that coaches change for practice in their offices," he says with a laugh, noting how events on and off campus scheduled before or after practice usually require business wear for the coaching staff. "Now we have a coach's locker room and for us, that's one of the things we're most excited about in here."
Finally, the tour concludes on the third floor where students are working out on elliptical machines, treadmills and using the free weights. From there, the group walks back across to the Pavilion for a catered dinner featuring a wide range of appetizers, main course choices and beverages.
Among those popping in to say hello, is Villanova class of 2006 member Jason Fraser, with daughter Blessing in hand.
"We were happy to share this news from the NCAA with our faculty," Wright says. "We are very appreciative of their efforts."
NOVA NOTES
Freshman guard Corey Fisher understood why it made sense to hold back when tendonitis in his knee began to trouble him following a scrimmage on Nov. 3. It's just that sitting back and watching an occasion you have focused your aims on for some time is seldom done easily.
"It was real frustrating," Fisher stated of his view from the bench as he sat out last week's games against Bloomsburg and the season opener against Stony Brook. "I wanted to be out there. You see the crowd support we get and how excited they are about Villanova basketball and you want to be a part of it."
Fisher figures to get that chance on Sunday against Bucknell (5:00 p.m./Nova Nation All Access Webcast/Sportstalk 950). He returned to practice this week and reports all systems are go to begin his college career.
"I feel real good," he says. "I am still trying to get my wind all the way back but otherwise I am ready."
The product of St. Patrick's High School appreciates the support he has gotten during the last week.
"Everyone keeps coming up to me on campus asking, `Corey, when you are going to play?" he says. "I am real excited to get that chance"...
Villanova alumnus John Celestand will handle color commentary on the web cast with Scott Graham of ESPN and NFL Films doing the play-by-play.
