Villanova Basketball: Reynolds Has Wildcats Poised to Contend for Big East Crown

It has been just two weeks since Bill Self and Kansas cut down the nets in San Antonio, but it's never too early to start thinking about teams that will fly under-the-radar in 2008-09.

The Big East will be a loaded conference in 2008-09. Pittsburgh returns every starter from a year ago, and Louisville and Marquette return a strong contingent of players from last season's tournament teams. Georgetown loses Roy Hibbert and Johnathan Wallace, but welcomes Rivals.com No. 1 rated prospect Greg Monroe into the fold, and returns a lot of young talent as well. 

One team no one seems to have competing for the Big East title is the Villanova Wildcats, a Sweet 16 team from this past season.

The Wildcats lost out on their only targeted recruit for the 2009 season when McDonald's All-American game MVP, Tyreke Evans, chose Memphis in a press conference earlier this week.

But Wildcats fans should look no further than the returning squad as a source of hope.

Villanova returns every player, save one, from their team that struggled through the middle of the season, but ended 22-13, 9-9 in eighth place in the Big East. The only attrition the team will suffer is Malcolm Grant, a freshman reserve who had moments, but unfortunately was buried on the depth chart and chose to transfer to Miami.

They are led by their rising junior combo-guard Scottie Reynolds, who averaged 15.6 points per game. He will receive help from seniors Dante Cunningham and Dwayne Anderson, who was a revelation in the second half of the season and was a valuable contributor to the team's run in the tournament.

The most important thing the team will need if they expect to contend is the continued progression of freshmen Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes, and Antonio Pena. 

All three showed at different times in the season that their future's are bright, but their inconsistencies were occasionally on display and were a major reason the Wildcats were up and down all season.

The major weakness that Kansas exposed was the lack of depth in the frontcourt. A portion of the problem can be attributed to 7-footer Cassiem Drummond, who was extremely productive on the glass in the early part of the season but battled injuries to his ankles. 

If Drummond can lose weight, he should form a serviceable frontcourt that will feature Cunningham, Pena, and Shane Clark, who is looking to return to his freshman form when he was a key contributor to Villanova's run to the Elite Eight.

Everybody says that good guard play is what makes team's successful in the NCAA Tournament. If Fisher can continue to improve at point guard and allow Reynolds to move off the ball, those two combined with the depth behind forms a likely Big East contender.