If you're looking for freshman talent in bunches, the Villanova Wildcats may just be the team to watch over the 2015-16 NCAA Basketball season.
After a disappointing early #1-seeded exit from the 2015 NCAA Tournament for Nova, this new crew of incoming All-American student-athletes is sure to aid the avenging efforts for the 'Cats this upcoming college basketball campaign.
Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo lead a Class of 2019 that is more than likely to have a few draft-goers before graduation. Brunson and DiVincenzo, opponents in Saturday's annual Blue/White Scrimmage, led their teams in scoring.
DiVincenzo, a 6'4" combo guard, had a stellar game attacking with versatility, notching a game-high 16 points on 5-9 shooting, 4-6 from beyond the three-point NCAA arc. He also showed off a bit of athletic capability with exciting moves on drives into the paint for the Blue team.
The Delaware product originally chose basketball over soccer, and very beneficially so, as his talent shooting the three and playing a number of roles on both ends of the court is nearly unmatched, especially for freshmen trying to fill in holes where JayVaughn Pinkston, Darrun Hilliard, and Dylan Ennis stood in 2014-15.
His size and poise should be a useful option for the Wildcats to implement throughout the season next to the existing talent from Nova's Round-of-32 run last season.
Brunson, 19, recorded 14 points for team White, setting the scoring pace for his side with 5-of-7 shooting from the field, including 3-4 from downtown. The 6'2" New Jersey native added three assists from his point guard spot on Saturday.
Both guards were very successful in high school, and Brunson in particular impressed on a larger stage, leading Team USA in scoring at the U19 World Championship. Brunson was also an All-State first-teamer in Illinois, a Jordan and McDonald's All-American, as well as a two-time winner of Illinois' Gatorade Player of the Year award.
A five-star recruit, Brunson is coach Jay Wright's biggest pull since Corey Stokes in 2007. Wright has produced great points guards such as the likes of Kyle Lowry and Scottie Reynolds, so it seems like a great partnership for the coach and his newest weapon in the backcourt.
Brunson exhibits a mix of throwback prototype traits for a point guard, with his agility and space-making skills helping him on the offense-manning side of things. His ability to score from a multi-facet of sets in any offense just adds to the thought that he was meant to do this. Even his father was a nine-year NBA player who attended Temple University, not too far from Villanova in the state of Pennsylvania.
Illinois' 2015 Mr. Basketball was part of a crowded backcourt in high school, and that will again be the case for him and DiVincenzo in their freshman year, as senior Ryan Arcidiacono and junior Josh Hart are easily-projected starters for Wright's team entering the season.
Villanova has at times decided to run a three-guard system, and with talents of Brunson's and DiVincenzo's likes available for that third spot, it is more than likely that the Wildcats will continue to do the same. Center Daniel Ochefu should be able to hold down the fort inside the paint and under the boards for Nova.
Unfortunately, the third major freshman cog for the 'Cats, Tim Delaney, is set to have surgery this week and is out for an indefinite time period. It does give DiVincenzo and Brunson a better opportunity to earn decent minutes in what appears to be headed for a frequently-substituted backcourt rotation in Villanova, PA.
Whatever the case, whether by injury or outplaying, DiVincenzo and Brunson will be getting significant highly-anticipated minutes in front of Nova Nation. Either one could be that supreme talent coach Wright's team has seemed to lack these past few seasons.