As part of the 100^th season of Villanova Basketball (#NovaMBB100), the Nova Notebook will appear in 2019-20 with features focused on the Wildcats. Today a look at freshman guard Bryan Antoine after the completion of his first full practice following spring shoulder surgery.
 
Moments after his first complete college practice, Bryan Antoine stood facing a pair of journalists. He appeared as fresh as he had two hours earlier when the full practice began on the court at Finneran Pavilion.
 
 "The first day was kind of unexpected," stated Antoine, sidelined since May 31 by recovery from right shoulder surgery. "I kind of anticipated that the first five minutes I'd be out of breath.
 
 "But just playing with the guys and having them pushing me felt good. It was just great to be out there."
 
Antoine had made a steady progression in his recovery from a procedure that corrected an injury he had played through as a senior at The Ranney School. The injury wasn't enough to prevent him from being listed among the nation's Top 20 recruits by 247sports and ESPN.com or from earning a spot on the 2019 McDonald's All-American team.
 
Throughout the process he had worked alongside Head Athletic Trainer Jeff Pierce and Strength Coach John Shackleton to rehabilitate the shoulder. By September he was cleared to begin individual shooting drills. The hope was that he would be cleared this week to resume full basketball activities and the OK from the doctors came on Thursday morning.
 
 "I was kind of nervous and happy to be out there with the guys," he stated. "I was nervous just because I was out there playing college basketball. I was sidelined for five months and hadn't played basketball for a while. It's kind of crazy that I'm playing at the beginning of the college basketball season."
 
Villanova opened its 2019-20 regular season with a 97-54 victory over Army West Point on Tuesday night. It is idle until a matchup on Wednesday night in the Gavitt Games against Ohio State.
 
Antoine watched from the bench in street clothes on Tuesday night. The expectation is that it will still take time before Antoine makes his college debut in a game.
 
 "I thought Bryan looked surprisingly good today," stated head coach Jay Wright. "He doesn't know a lot of what we are doing. But to be out that long and be able to come in and play with that level of intensity is a tribute to how hard he worked in his rehab. It's a real tribute to Jeff Pierce and John Shackleton for getting him into shape.
 
 "Bryan went up and down (the court) and he didn't look spent. I was pleasantly surprised."
 
Added Antoine of Pierce and Shackleton: "Those are my guys. I felt like I spent my first three months at Nova in Jeff's office doing rehab. Jeff's an amazing person. Shack pushes me hard. He's energetic and really helps get you into the workout. They're great guys."
 
Wright was in communication with the Villanova Sports Medicine staff throughout Antoine's recovery and understood Antoine's practice debut would come soon. An update he received following Tuesday night's game, indicated that the day was nearly at hand (the Wildcats had an off day Wednesday).
 
 "We're all excited to have him back," stated Wright.
 
 The challenge now is to get a newcomer who has missed five months of workouts and team practices up to speed with the myriad details that go into playing BIG EAST basketball.
 
 "Physically and in terms of conditioning, Bryan was better than I thought he would be today," Wright said. "So that's not a hurdle. The hurdle is that he has so much to learn because he hasn't done any of it. We just have to spend extra time with him, watching film, and getting him acclimated as soon as we can."
 
 Wright conceded that at one point during the practice, he asked an assistant coach why Antoine had been subbed out.
 
 "I was like, 'what happened?'," recalled Wright. "They told me it was just a normal sub."
 
That said, Wright was pleased to have the New Jersey product on the court available for all activities.
 
"He looked like he fit in," Wright noted. "It was pretty impressive."
 
This length of recovery time has been an entirely new experience for Antoine.
 
"In my mind, I always felt I was going to be playing sooner, just because of my competitive nature," Antoine stated. "I always thought I'd have the surgery and the next day I'd be playing. That's just not how it happens. I knew it would take time and the time has come."
 
 Antoine credited his teammates for helping carry him through the kinds of low or frustrating moments that often accompany recovery from an injury of this magnitude. The team's elder statesmen – juniors Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels - were particularly attentive.
 
 "Being here, it wasn't that bad because of the team," he stated. "Jermaine, Collin, Dhamir were always texting me to see if I needed anything. The coaches were all supportive. It wasn't that bad being hurt."
 
Antoine did all he could to be a sponge while observing practices and the early games thus far.
 
 "I did pick up a lot," stated Antoine. "Coach Wright emphasizes small things and the guys who have graduated in the past have told me to key in on those things. I wasn't able to play so that's all I did was pay attention to Coach for three or four months. Now, I'm able to play and it's going to help me out."
 
That said, Antoine is fully cognizant that his was a significant injury and that he cannot simply ignore that fact.
 
 "Everyone knows I'm eager to go out there and play," he stated. "This is an injury that could happen again if I'm not careful with it. I played my whole senior season with it and it's not a good feeling. I don't want to go into college basketball with the same injury happening again after I had surgery. From now on, I'm taking it day by day."
 
 Day one was a good start.