13 minute read
Sports
Jay Wright to Stay at Villanova, Turning Down 76ers
Billy Vinci Co-Sports Editor
On the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 2, men’s basketball head coach Jay Wright announced that he is not a candidate for the Philadelphia 76ers head coach position. “Out of respect for our Villanova community and our 76ers organization, I feel the need to address speculation about the 76ers head coach position,” Wright said in a statement released on Twitter. “The 76ers have a great leader in Elton Brand, outstanding young talent, and an incredible opportunity for any coach to compete for a championship. As a lifetime 76ers fan, I have confidence they will bring in the right coach to build on what Brett Brown has developed. I am not a candidate for the job. I am very happy and honored to coach at Villanova.” When Brett Brown was fired on Aug. 24 following a sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs, speculation quickly turned to Wright as the man to fill the job. Wright has coached the Wildcats to two National Championships and three Final Four appearances in 19 years on the job, going from a hot mid-major coach to AP Coach of the Decade for the 2010s. Wright has been courted for, or at the very least been linked to, Zac Tipton Staff Writer As we all know, when every- one was sent home back in March, all college sports were shut down. This included the season for the Villanova golf team, which was in the middle of its spring season and was thoroughly enjoying being out many jobs while he has been at the University, but only two have caused real speculation for Wright to leave the Main Line. Following the 2009 Final Four, Wright’s first appearance in the last weekend of college basketball, Kentucky attempted to hire Wright. Kentucky is obviously a blue blood in the college basketball world, and Wright took his time and considered a departure. Obviously, it didn’t hap- pen as he remained at Villanova. The other job that causes Vil- lanova fans angst when it comes to Wright is the Sixers. Wright has long expressed that he loves the North- east, the Big 5 and Philadelphia in general. Going to the 76ers would not only allow him to take a step up to the NBA, but allow him to stay near the home he loves. Following the 2009 Final Four appearance, Wright was also contacted by the 76ers. Then Sixers President Ed Stefanski, who is a Phil- adelphia native himself, reached out to Wright to gauge his interest in the job. The two did meet to discuss the job, but Wright ended up declining and releasing a statement, like the one he just released 11 years later. As a result, whenever a 76ers job opens, speculation turns directly to Wright. Philadelphia is obviously special to Wright, and the city has never had a team as good as the one they have now. The Sixers are a legit playoff team that has real championon the course and playing together. After a successful fall season in 2019, the squad was excited to get back out there for the spring. The Wildcats were able to play in the Banyan Creek Collegiate Tournament in Palm City, Florida in mid-February. Also, on March 2nd and 3rd, they participated in the Fort Lauderdale Intercollegiate event, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. ship aspirations. Despite Wright’s self pro- claimed love for Philadelphia and the Sixers, a job in the NBA is immense- ly different from a job in the Big East. As those who closely follow the Head Coach know, Wright has pointed out on numerous occasions that he enjoys the anonymity the Villanova job provides. He has specif- ically been on the record saying that he enjoys going to the Jersey Shore during the summer with minimal interruptions. Being the head coach of the local NBA team changes all of that. Winning two National Champion- ships will get a coach a lot of atten- tion and recognition, but nothing would compare to the pressure and attention he would receive as the Sixers coach, especially considering However, the Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate event scheduled to begin on March 22nd in Williamsburg, Va. was cancelled, as was the remainder of their schedule. The Wildcats also missed out on their home event, the Wild- cat Spring Invitational, scheduled for April 6th and 7th, and the Big East Tournament at the conclusion of the season. While this was a bump in the road for the golfers, it didn’t stop the team. Although the members weren’t able to golf, they were able to focus on their studies. Coach James Wilkes applauded the team saying, “They really focused on school and cracked down on their studies, and we finished with a combined GPA of 3.8 as a team, which I believe is the best for any men’s sport.” Wilkes was incredibly proud of how the men were able to excel in the classroom when they couldn’t be on the golf course. The golfers’ individual hard work helped to earn the team a GCAA Team Academic Award, which added to Villanova’s 14 NCAA Public Recognition Awards for aca- demic achievement. Golf is different from many sports because one can easily social distance while playing. A golfer has the ability to stay 50 feet apart from another ahtlete, much less six feet. So, most golf courses were able to open early on in quarantine, which means that many of the players Philadelphia is a professional sports town above all else. Radio and televi- sion talk shows discuss college bas- ketball, but just spend an hour or two a day watching or listening during a calendar year, and a very large ma- jority of the discussion will be on the professional teams. At most, about 10-20% of their discussions are re- served for college basketball, mostly during March. Wright confirmed on Wednesday that Villanova is the place he wants to be. Any distrac- tions the basketball team has had to deal with in the days since the firing are removed as they now look forward to a season where they are ranked in the top three in the presea- son and have a real shot at Wright’s third national championship and the
Coach Jay Wright after Villanova’s win against Butler in the Finn Courtesy of Villanova Athletics
Golf: The Perfect Sport to Play During Quarantine
program’s fourth. were able to play nearly every day (when they weren’t studying). Wilkes said that he does know a lot of his players were still finding ways to play competitive- ly over the summer. He said that they all are really serious about the coronavirus and are all trying to do the best they can to make sure students can stay on campus and not have to go home again. Since the team has been able to start meeting, Wilkes said that he hasn’t been using up all the practice days he can. The team has Zoom meetings and in-person meetings, and it has been starting to get back to normal. While it hasn’t done much practicing at the course as a team, Wilkes said that a lot of the guys have been going with each other, as roommates or as groups, and just going to the course to play. He is also excited because he now has the biggest team he’s ever had. The school’s website lists the roster at 11 players, with a good mix of both old and young guys. With freshmen all the way to seniors, Wilkes is really excited to have the depth on the roster. Wilkes said that Athletic Director Mark Jackson has had good communication with Big East Officials throughout the school year and that at the moment, the spring season is still a go as normal. However, there will not be a fall season. For now, the team is back on campus practicing, playing and learning.
Meghann Morhardt Staff Writer
Since the NCAA shocked the sports world by cancelling its biggest event, March Madness, the college sports scene has been very bare. Other winter sports, as well as spring sports, were also cancelled for the 2020 season after students were sent home from universities across the country, due to the coronavirus outbreak. The drought of sports con- tinues to this day, as conferences and the NCAA have also cancelled all fall sports other than FBS football, which started this weekend. The NCAA, after making the decision to cancel fall sports, announced that all athletes will be granted an extra year of eligibility to make up for their lost 2020 season. The possibility of holding fall sports championships in the spring of 2021 has also been discussed by the NCAA board. This spring championship set up would apply to sports such as FCS football, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey and men’s water polo, to name a few. While the NCAA has not explicitly stated what this will look like, one can assume it will involve a shortened sea- son with strong restrictions regarding travel and out-of-conference games. With fall sports officially off the table, everyone is wondering what the winter season will hold. While the NCAA has not come to a decision about this yet, there have been many Frank Crippen Staff Writer With topics of social justice in mind, 2020 continues to be an interesting year for professional sports teams, as the intersectionality of the sports world and America’s political sphere persists. Players and organizations continue to voice their sentiments about racial injustice issues, as the public has seen over the past few weeks, starting with the Milwaukee Bucks and several other athletes and organizations after the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, WI. In light of these events, multiple professional sports team owners are offering their stadiums as polling locations for the upcoming presidential election. The franchises participating in this effort span through the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL. Organizations in Philadelphia are no different. Jeffrey Lurie, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, recently held a media press conference with various outlets, including CBS Sports and MSNBC, relating to the allegations of converting Lincoln Financial Field into a polling place. “I don’t think there’s ever been a time when we all realized the importance of voting,” Lurie said. “And voting has ramifications, everybody, as we know, and maybe it’s taken some of us too long, myself included, to realize that.” speculations and discussions around some possible ways to safely proceed. NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball, Dan Gavitt, released a statement regarding basketball and the upcoming season. He says that the boards of both women’s and men’s basketball have “developed and studied contingency plans for alternatives to the scheduled Nov. 10 start date.” Many expect there to be a delay to the start of the season in hopes that once Thanksgiving break arrives, there will be less students on campus and therefore less exposure to the athletes, making it safer for them to travel and interact with other teams. Gavitt also stated that the NCAA hopes to “provide direction on whether the season and practices will start on time” in the coming weeks. There are still many factors that will affect this decision, such as schools switching to fully online instruction, more outbreaks in certain areas and the impact of conditioning workouts that are currently taking place. Villanova men’s basketball has high hopes entering this year after having a strong 2019-20 season and earning a share of the Big East regular season title. Having all players return, with the exception of Saddiq Bey, the Wildcats are looking at a strong chance of earning their third national title in six years. The players and coaching staff anxiously await a decision from the NCAA and the Big East Conference with hopes of having a safe and successful season. The sports world has seen a Lurie made certain that his message was clear — voting is a crucial part of being a part of a democracy and the Philadelphia Eagles want to help. “We have a very important election coming up on November 3,” Lurie continued. “And one of the things we’ve offered to do is to open up Lincoln Financial Field to be a polling place, if needed.” The Philadelphia Eagles also tweeted a short video of Lurie to release his statement to the public by quoting Lurie in the caption, “This has been going on for far, far too long and it’s our history.” This press release was met with a variety of comments, both against his decision and supporting the move. However, Lurie and oth- er franchise owners are continuing to help in any way they can. Lurie also addressed that all of the Eagle offices will be closed on Election Day and that the organization has encouraged staff members to serve as volunteers in pre-polling in order to help “maxi- mize people’s ease of voting.” The Philadelphia 76ers ownership group, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, as well as the owner and operator of the Wells Fargo Center, also offered to have the arena serve as a polling place. The owners of local professional sports teams met with city officials to discuss whether or not their venues could be converted into polling locations. Ultimately, Philadelphia’s Office of City Com- missioners declined their offer, variety of solutions for playing in this pandemic, but the most successful has proven to be the bubble format that the NBA, WNBA and NHL have implemented. There has been talk of the NCAA using this format for basketball, not necessarily for the whole season, but possibly for preseason games and/or the November tournament cycle. It will be very interesting to see what this could look like and but they are happy to know those locations are available if needed. “The Eagles and Sixers have reached out, though we have already identified more convenient locations for the voters of those divisions around the Linc and Wells Fargo Center,” Nick Custodio, Chair of Philadelphia City Commission, said in a statement with the Philadelphia Inquirer. “But it is great to know they are available if needed.” where it will take place as the NBA may also be using a bubble format for the 2021 season, set to begin in January. College basketball would most likely not be able to use the same Disney facilities, but there are certainly other locations to consider. Things are changing everyday with new research and new decisions from university officials, and the next few months are sure to be unpredict
Senior student-athelte Jermaine Samuels and teammates preparing for the season Courtesy of @NovaMBB Instagram
Lincoln Financial Field to Become Polling Center
able.
Wells Fargo Center will not be used as a polling center for the 2020 election but will be used for other purposes as the city sees fit. Those other purposes might include local elections if deemed necessary by city officials. After weeks of civil unrest in America and the sports world, Philadelphia sports teams are showing their support for the city and making a statement that they will use their large platforms for
FOR RENT
4 bedrooms single house, located 10 minutes from campus in Wayne on Lancaster Avenue Furnished (no beds) living room, dining room, kitchen, and 2 newly renovated bathrooms Laundry facility and a large yard with off-street parking Available from August 1, 2020 $1850.00 per month for 4, plus utilities
