In this Nova Notebook, we continue the celebration of Villanova's 100^th Season of Basketball with a look at the career of Allan Ray. The former Wildcats' All-American will have his jersey retired at halftime of Saturday's meeting with No. 1 Kansas at the Wells Fargo Center.
 
When he earned his Villanova degree in 2006 following a four-year playing career that saw him score 2,025 points, Allan Ray couldn't know where his basketball journey would take him. It began in the National Basketball Association with the Boston Celtics in 2006-07 and then morphed into a long professional career overseas that included stops in Italy, France, Turkey, Germany, Argentina and Croatia, where he earned a championship.
 
On Saturday, the hoops journey for this native of the Bronx, N.Y., comes full circle. One of Villanova's most accomplished long-range marksmen will be joined by family, friends and former teammates as his No. 14 is retired by his alma mater, joining classmate Randy Foye among the legends of Villanova Basketball. (Another Wildcats' legend, Jim Washington, will also have his No. 50 jersey retired that day.)
 
"This definitely means a lot," stated Ray. "It's always nice to be recognized because it means your hard work didn't go unnoticed. Villanova was my dream school and this kind of caps it all off."
 
In many ways, the foundation for the current era of Villanova Basketball success under Jay Wright was laid in the early 2000s by men like Chris Charles, Tommy Grace, Foye, Curtis Sumpter, Jason Fraser, Mike Claxton, Baker Dunleavy, Mike Nardi, Will Sheridan and Kyle Lowry. But Ray holds a special distinction among that group.
 
Though the members of Villanova's class of 2006 were primarily from the New York metropolitan region and thus acquainted with Wright from his successful run at Hofstra the notion of playing for him didn't take root until after Wright was named head coach at Villanova on March 27, 2001. Ray was a junior standout at St. Raymond's High School at the time, a coveted wing guard with an array of college options in front of him.
 
When he picked Villanova in the summer before his senior season, it was big news in eastern recruiting circles. It also piqued the interest of three other Top 100 prospects in that class – Sumpter, Foye and Fraser. By the time the early signing period was complete in November of 2001, Villanova had signed letters of intent in hand from all of them.
 
 "Allan really took a lot of pride in coming to Villanova," Wright told the Philadelphia Inquirer before the 2002-03 season, "but more than that, he took the responsibility of bringing these other great players with him."

But as Ray tells it, his role as Pied Piper wasn't part of a grand plan.

"It's funny,  what I first saw at Nova was the opportunity," he says. "I had played behind Julius Hodge so I didn't want to go to N.C. State. Memphis wanted me but had DeJuan Wagner. I was looking for a place where I could make a mark and really wasn't thinking about who else would be with me.

"Once I committed, though, I heard that Villanova was recruiting these great players in my class. I knew how good those guys were and so I did what I could to try to convince them to come to Villanova too."
 
The class was ranked as high as No. 2 nationally and No. 5 by espn.com. The group was featured in a preseason cover story for the Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday magazine. Enthusiasm in the Nova Nation was in overdrive.
 
And then, for most of the next 18 months, Villanova endured a rocky ride. The Wildcats were 15-16 in '02-03 and found themselves far down the BIG EAST standings by the end of February 2004. Even the upbeat Ray – noted among his teammates for his sharp wit and sense of humor – saw himself tested by those times.
 
"I was talking to Mike Nardi about this (recently)," stated Ray. "We were just doing a bad job of paying attention to detail at that time. If you really think about it, being a good team is about the small, little details. Being young and not experienced, we didn't pay attention to that stuff.
 
"We had in our own minds what we thought we needed to do to be good. I think all of that changed when we played UConn our sophomore year."
 
Connecticut was anchored by All-American pivot Emeka Okafor and rolling towards what would five weeks later become a national championship. On Feb. 28, 2004, the Wildcats gave the mighty Huskies a major test at the Wells Fargo (nee Wachovia) Center, forcing overtime before Connecticut eventually prevailed, 75-74.
 
"When we came back to the locker room, we were really upset," Ray recalled. "We knew at that point that we had played our hearts out against a national champion. We knew we could be really good."
 
In March, Villanova upended NCAA Tournament bound Seton Hall and Providence at the BIG EAST Tournament. That helped it earn a bid to the National Invitation Tournament, where it won two more games and set the stage for what was to come.
 
In Ray's final two seasons, the Wildcats posted a 52-13 record, reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2005 and NCAA Elite Eight in 2006. As a senior Ray was a finalist for the Naismith Award and a first team All-BIG EAST choice.
 
"There are so many great memories it's hard to pick one," he says now. "One thing that stands out for me is the first time we made the tournament when we were watching together in the Pavilion. Just the feeling that we had made it was a big relief for us."  
 
Of course, that's not the Villanova memory he hears about most often when approached by strangers. There are two competing choices for that distinction. The first is the whistle that followed his move towards the goal in the waning seconds of the 2005 NCAA regional semifinal at the Carrier Dome against North Carolina. The other is a scene from the 2006 BIG EAST Tournament semifinal when he suffered an eye injury when diving for a loose basketball in a matchup with Pittsburgh.
 
"I still hear those questions," he says with a chuckle, noting that both came in Wildcats losses. (For the record, the eye injury inflicted no permanent damage).
 
Ray takes them good naturedly. With his playing days complete, he's now enjoying life with wife Charity and family in Georgia while pursuing opportunities in real estate and professional sports representation.
 
"It was time," stated Ray of retirement from basketball. "Luckily I didn't have any career-ending injury. I wanted to be with my family more and do some other things. I didn't have that itch to play anymore."
 
His professional basketball travels offered him a perspective he couldn't have imagined when he left Villanova.
 
"One of the biggest things I learned overseas is just being open-minded," he said. "I was a part of different cultures than what we have here in the States. You have to be willing to try new things and learn new things. I really enjoyed being over there to have those experiences."
 
One benefit of his return to the U.S. is that it affords him a more active link to Villanova. He visited once to watch practice this fall and plans a few more trips north to catch the 'Cats in 2020.
 
"I'm definitely excited to be around more," he stated.
 
His link to his former teammates remains strong too. There are frequent calls and FaceTime sessions between the group and a pride that comes from having accomplished something together.
 
"We're brothers," he said. "We went through a lot together and that's always going to be our bond."
 
The 2019-20 season – Villanova's 100^th college basketball campaign – is presented by Hartford Funds and Coca-Cola.