The latest installment of the Nova Notebook focuses on two-time NCAA national champion guard Phil Booth, four years after he embarked upon a professional career that has taken him across the globe.
The voice on the other end of the phone from Miami sounds as unflappable as ever. Phil Booth's professional journey has taken him from G League stops in Washington and Oklahoma City to more recent international stints in Belgium and Turkey. Recently he signed a deal with SIG Strasbourg in France for the upcoming 2023-24 season.
"It's been good," he says of his path professional path. "There are some adjustments to make being overseas, but in terms of basketball, the mindset is the same. I'm just trying to be a complete player and do what I can to help our team be successful."
The degree to which Booth and his Villanova teammates did that during his five seasons in the Blue and White from 2014-19 was remarkable in its own time and its glow has only increased in the years since. Consider:
As a freshman in 2014-15, the 6-3 Booth emerged as a dependable backcourt reserve on a BIG EAST championship team that posted a 33-3 record. A year later, he averaged 7.0 points per game – and supplied 19 points in the NCAA title game win over North Carolina – for the 35-5 'Cats. After a knee injury cost him all but three November games in 2016-17, the Baltimore native returned to serve as a tri-captain alongside pals Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges on the 36-4 2018 NCAA national title team, averaging 10.0 points per game.
To cap it off, the man universally known within the program as "Boof" and Eric Paschall helped lift a young roster to a 26-10 record and another BIG EAST crown in 2018-19. Booth averaged 18.6 points per game and earned first team All-BIG EAST honors. He also took home the Dave Gavitt Award as 2019 BIG EAST Tournament Most Valuable Player.
Add it all up and he contributed 1,507 points on teams that over a five-year span – including the redshirt season of '16-17 – posted an overall mark of 152-26 (.854).
"During that time," he says now, "we were just grinding each day, trying to get better. You didn't really take stock of it. We were competing in the moment. When I look back now, though, it's kind of amazing to think about what we accomplished."
The bond forged at Villanova remains strong for Booth and those he played with. Bridges and Booth arrived on campus together as the only freshmen – Bridges would subsequently redshirt in 2014-15 – and have remained close since. They speak often, sometimes daily. Paschall and Matt Kennedy are also close confidants and well, the rest of the unit is never more than a FaceTime or text away.
"We're all still pretty tight," Booth notes.
The 7-hour time zone difference between Turkey and the east coast of the United States made viewing Villanova games last season a challenge. Booth mostly caught the weekend early afternoon games that aired in the Turkish evening. But he is well informed about the goings on at his alma mater.
"I was as probably as close to Coach Nep (
Kyle Neptune) as anyone on the staff when I was there," Booth says. "He worked me out and we would eat together a lot. Now, he's the man in charge. It's great to see."
Booth also noted the recent return to Villanova of the program's former associate head coach, Baker Dunleavy in the new role of general manager.
"It's so good that Bake Show is back," he says. "And Nards (
Mike Nardi), Dwayne (Anderson) and Ash (
Ashley Howard) are all there too. Those guys helped build that culture and made a big impact on me."
A busy summer awaits Booth as he prepares for his next professional campaign. There will be periodic visits to his hometown of Baltimore, and he does plan to swing by the Davis Center at some point. Then in early August, he'll board a flight to Paris to begin another season.
The reality of professional basketball as an American expatriate can be more daunting than meets the eye. With a limit of 2-3 imports per team, the Americans are generally expected to deliver at a high level. A shooting slump or diminished offensive production can quickly lead to an unceremonious release. Not surprisingly, that reality doesn't faze the even-tempered Booth.
"It's just like any other kind of pressure," Booth states. "You're called on to perform. That's always been a part of it."
One of Booth's great strengths is his adaptability. At Villanova, he fit perfectly as a complementary piece around older teammates Ryan Arcidiacono, Darrun Hilliard, Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins in the early portion of his career. Later, he seamlessly eased into the role of becoming a dynamic scoring threat.
"I may be more aggressive now looking to score than I was at times in college," he says. "The thing is we were taught to be a complete player. That's what I've always tried to be."
Booth also appreciates the role his college head coach, Jay Wright, played in this process.
"Coach Wright really challenged you and pushed you," Booth says. "When he thought you weren't doing something the right way, he let you know. It's why we were good. We took care of the details and we lived with the results.
"You see that in all of us now. When you watch JB with the Knicks, it's there. He never gets flustered. Same with Mikal, Josh, Donte."
As for the future, Booth isn't peering too far down the road, though he does expect to seek a role at some level of basketball when he is finished playing.
"I just take it one day at a time," he says. "I'm 27, kind of in the sweet spot of a career. Hopefully I can stay healthy and can keep doing this for a while."
Next stop, France.
