LOS ANGELES, Cal. – The Villanova Wildcats enjoyed a busy day of activities Thursday ahead of Friday night's charity exhibition game vs. USC. The proceeds of this contest go to support relief efforts of the victims of the California wildfires.
After a team breakfast at the hotel not far from Staples Center and L.A. Live, Villanova conducted a two-hour practice on the Trojans' homecourt at Galen Center on the USC campus. The Wildcats were without junior guard
Collin Gillespie, who remained in the Philadelphia area recovering from a broken nose suffered in practice on Oct. 6.
The team enjoyed lunch together at a downtown Los Angeles restaurant before traveling to the studio headquarters of the Fox Television Network. The Wildcats were given a tour of the network's sports operation, including a visit to the studio set of the network's shows.
"This was an awesome experience," stated Villanova head coach
Jay Wright. "Fox Sports talks about being a family and the importance of the relationship with the Big East and Villanova. We saw that today.
"Everyone from Fox Sports was here – on air people, executives. We got an awesome tour and a feel for how these shows get on the air. We'll talk more about this as a team. It's been a great educational experience for our guys."
The Wildcats will be down two guards for this one. In addition to Gillespie – Villanova's leading returning scorer at 10.9 points per game – the Wildcats are also without standout freshman guard
Bryan Antoine as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery conducted on May 31.
"It definitely makes it harder without Collin," said Wright. "I think it's forcing everyone else to step up as a leader. That experience will be invaluable to us later this season."
The plusses on this trip far outweigh the negatives in the mind of the head coach.
"For this young team to go on the road across the country for a game and go through all the preparation – a scouting report, a walk-through, watching video of the opponent, all of that – is going to be really valuable to us," noted Wright. "We're going to make some mistakes, but we'll learn from them."
Friday night's contest can be heard via 610 ESPN radio in the Delaware Valley and the TuneIn app.
Whitey Rigsby will handle play-by-play for this one with
Steve Pinone as color analyst. The game will also be televised by the Pac 12 Network with J.B. Long and Don MacLean calling the action. Check local listings to see if your cable or satellite operator carries the channel.
There are a series of fan and alumni events surrounding tonight's contest. A team sendoff will be part of a Nova Nation meetup from 4:30-7 p.m. at the JW Marriott Hotel on West Olympic Boulevard. Following the game, there will be a reception with an appearance by the team at The Lab Gastropub, 3500 Figueroa Street, in Los Angeles.
Villanova will open its centennial season of basketball on Tuesday, Nov. 5 when it hosts Army at Finneran Pavilion. That contest will get underway at 8:30 p.m. and air nationally on FS1.
Hartford Funds and Coca-Cola are presenting sponsors of the 2019-20 Villanova Men's Basketball campaign, the Wildcats 100
th as a program.
