Brian

New Villanova defensive coordinator Billy Crocker (who recruits New England) has done well on the recruiting trail this year, adding Massachusetts-bred quarterback, C.J. Logan to the Wildcats’ 2012 recruiting haul. News of the commitment was broken by Logan’s former coach at Watertown, John Cacace, to the Boston Herald. Logan last played for Watertown in 2010 and is spending this academic year at Northfield Mount Hermon, a prep school in Gill, MA.

The standout at Watertown made a splash in the 2010 season, throwing 15 touchdowns and rushing for 11. He is a dual-threat who will fit well into the Villanova offense. He brings, speed, elusiveness and a hard-nosed willingness to make contact and take hits that may remind Villanovans of Chris Whitney.

Though he played out his high school career in Massachusetts, Logan hails from  Bay Minette, Alabama, a small town near Mobile. His biological parents sent him to live with his legal guardians in New England because they felt that it would give him an opportunity to better himself. Now, he will head to Villanova University in the fall and hopefully earn a degree.

“My grandfather taught me the game, and I actually played running back and linebacker in Alabama,” Logan told the Watertown TAB & Press in 2009. “I didn’t start playing quarterback until seventh grade, but I always wanted to be one because my father played that position.”

A year ago he had verbally committed to play at Bentley University, but his year in prep school seemed to change his mind. There was a chance that the coaches at Bentley would have asked him to change positions — a move he would have accepted — and that may ultimately be the case at Villanova as well.

Bentley’s strong business program was what attracted him to that school a year ago, and the Villanova School of Business’ reputation was likely a draw for him this time around as well. His dream career when his playing days are over is to become a sports agent or to work in marketing for a professional team.

Logan becomes the 14th known recruit for the Villanova football class. The other known members of the 2012 recruiting class are:

1. Jake Prus (OL, Woodstown HS)
2. Nico D’Angelo (OL, Holy Spirit – 2 stars)
3. Austin Calitro (ILB, Danbury – 3 stars)
4. Javon White (RB, Souderton HS)
5. Aaron Wells (RB, River Hill HS)
6. Tanoh Kpassagnon (DE, Wissahickon HS)
7. Michael Burke IV (WR, Columbia HS– 1 star)
8. Corey Majors (LB, Worcester – 3 stars)
9. Jonathan Green (OL, North Schuylkill)
10. Bradley Seaton (OT, Brunswick, CT)
11. Cameron McCurry (LB, Fleming Island, FL)
12. T.J. White (LB, West Chester Henderson, PA – 2 stars)
13. Gary Underwood (RB, Winton Woods, OH)

Four points.

That was the margin by which Marquette took their win over Villanova on New Years day. That game was in Milwaukee, however, on the Golden Eagles’ home court — Saturday’s game will give the Wildcats a chance at revenge in Philadelphia.

In their last meeting, Marquette had a 3 point lead at halftime and extended that lead by just one point in the second half. Villanova disappeared for large parts of the game, but had a strong showing at the end of each half to keep things close.

Jay Wright said afterwards.  “We didn’t play 40 minutes but we did play the last 4 minutes of each half. When you’re talking about these things, that’s not a good sign, but I do see signs of promise in this group. We don’t have any glaring weaknesses but we’ve got a lot of little weaknesses — turnovers, shot selection.”

In that game, Markus Kennedy had one of his best performances of the season, scoring 8 points with 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 4 blocks. He played 25 minutes while nearly all of the teams’ starters struggled with foul trouble. Four Wildcats fouled out of that game.

Marquette’s stars are senior guard, Darius Johnson-Odom, one of the league’s best scorers with 18.1 points per game (less than a point behind Maalik Wayns), and forward Jae Crowder, who averages 16.2 points per game. In addition to being Marquette’s only players averaging a double-figure score, they are also the team’s best three-point shooters, averaging 39.5% and 38.8% respectively.

Crowder also grabs a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game and nabs 2.3 steals as well. Against Villanova on New Years Day, he didn’t manage to break into double-digits, however.

Johnson-Odom did break into double-digits, scorint 24 points against the Wildcats. Three other players scored 11 or more points, including forwards Jamil Wilson and Davante Gardner and guard Todd Mayo.

Home or away, Marquette promises to be a tough out. Villanova can’t take a breather and hope to win a game against the Golden Eagles — and they can’t afford to waste possessions on offense.

Kennedy had a good game against Marquette the last time out, but both he and Mouph Yarou have been inconsistent this season. The Wildcats will need one or both to establish a strong presence in the post on Saturday, and to work the glass for rebounding opportunities that will end opposing possessions and give the ‘Cats second-chance opportunities when they miss.

Most importantly is to play consistently for 40 minutes. Too often this season either defense, offense, or both have been missing for 20 minutes per game. A stronger second-half defense in New York would have allowed the ‘Cats to beat the Johnnies in regulation instead of needing an overtime to finish the job. Similarly, despite a good first half against Louisville, Nova came out flat in the second half and allowed the Cardinals to take control.

Villanova and Marquette have played more than a few close games in the last few years. The teams have been similar in many ways. This one promises to be no different.

The game will tip-off at Noon from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and be broadcast nationally on ESPN2. Tickets are still available.

Villanova football was in search of a new defensive coordinator this off-season, and found one right on campus. Wildcats’ linebackers coach Billy Crocker was promoted to the position after the departure of long-time staff member Mark Reardon. In addition, Andy Talley added two new coaches to his staff to replace the departed Reardon and Dave Sollazzo. Tony Trisciani will now coach Villanova’s secondary, while Roc Bellantoni will take over as defensive line coach and special teams coordinator.

Crocker has now been a member of the Villanova football staff for seven seasons, he has previously coached defensive line and last season was moved over to coach linebackers. He was also the special teams coordinator in 2011. Under his direction last season, freshman linebacker Dillon Lucas was named both the CAA and ECAC Defensive Rookie of the Year and was named to the All-CAA third team.

Yesterday, news of Tony Trisciani’s hiring leaked out through a release from his prior employer, Whitehall High School. He was the head football coach at Whitehall for five seasons, leading them to  a 36-22 record and three appearances in the Class 4A playoffs. In 2010, with a team quarterbacked by Villanova freshman Chris Polony, the Zephyrs earned a spot in the District 11 Class 4A title game.

Prior to coaching at Whitehall, Trisciani compiled some FCS coaching experience, coaching defensive backs and linebackers at Elon University, linebackers at Lehigh University and he spent three season as the defensive backs coach at New Hampshire. He also coached at Alfred University and Springfield College, where he was a four-year starter as an undergraduate.

Prior to Villanova, Bellantoni spent a decade as an assistant at Eastern Illinois University from 2001 to 2011. His duties there included being the defensive coordinator from 2002-11 and the associate head coach in 2007-11. In 2009, EIU won the Ohio Valley Conference title. He had also been the defensive coordinator at Drake University. Prior to coaching, Bellantoni played college football at Iona College, where he was a three-year letterwinner at defensive tackle. He will step in to replace Dave Sollazzo, who left the program after just one season to join the coaching staff at Massachusetts.

Bellantoni is familiar with Villanova wide receivers coach Brian Flinn, who had also spent time on the staff at EIU, as well as offensive assistant Nick Kray, who played for EIU.

“Brian Flinn and Nick Cray are there,” Bellantoni told the Journal Gazette & Times-Courier. “Once the openings were on their staff, they went to their head coach and talked to him about me. Not only Brian and Nick but I knew a few other guys on the staff.”

He left Eastern Illinois as a result of former head coach Bob Spoo’s retirement, who many thought Bellantoni would succeed. After two 2-9 seasons, however, he was told that the program wouldn’t be promoting him after the 2011 season.

“I can’t lie to you: The last three or four years the way the administration has handled things here, there’s some bitterness. I’ll be honest.”

Villanova has at least one more coaching hire pending, but for all intents and purposes, the staff is currently complete in advance of the final recruiting weekend for the 2012 class.

Window Opening:  January 26, 9:00 PM … The window is now open for our readers to post their predicted final scores for Saturday’s game vs. Marquette at Wells Fargo Center (12 Noon, ESPN2) in the 14th round of our Closest to the Pin Contest.  Clarkkell stands alone in first place; click here to see our full leader board.

Villanova (10-11, 3-6) is unranked in the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls but is ranked #75 by Kenpom.com.  The Cats have a RPI of 77, a SOS of 3, and score an average of 73.6 PPG while giving up an average of 71.3 PPG.

Marquette (17-4, 6-2) is ranked #17 in the AP Poll and #17 by Kenpom.com. The Golden Eagles have an RPI of 9, a SOS of 23, and are scoring an average of 76.3 PPG while giving up an average of 63.7 PPG.  The table below sets out their Big East wins and losses so far this season.

Be sure to read our game preview tomorrow.  Good luck!

Special Note: When posting predictions, be sure to:

• Use a consistent handle / ID so that we can keep an accurate running leader board over the course of the season. Obviously, score predictions posted by anonymous readers cannot be accepted.
• List your predicted score for Villanova first, followed by the score for the opponent (e.g., Cats 100, Golden Eagles 75)

Villanova quarterback Chris Polony will see a familiar face on the sidelines this spring and next season. His former coach at Whitehall High School, Tony Trisciani  will be joining Andy Talley’s staff at Villanova — effective on February 1 — as the new defensive backs coach for the Wildcats. Per a release by the high school.

Villanova must hire at least one more new defensive coach to replace the departed Mark Reardon and Dave Sollazzo.

In addition to serving as defensive coordinator, Reardon had also coached the Villanova secondary, though David Riede coached cornerbacks as well.

During his five seasons at Whitehall, Trisciani’s teams compiled a 36-22 record and made three appearances in the Class 4A playoffs. In 2010, with a team quarterbacked by Villanova freshman Chris Polony, the Zephyrs earned a spot in the District 11 Class 4A title game.

Whitehall issued the following statement:

“While we are sorry to see Coach Trish leave our athletic staff, we know he will always be a part of the rich tradition and blue-collar ethic that we have earned,” Whitehall athletic director Bob Hartman said in the press release. “We extend good luck and congratulations to him on his new position. Villanova University is gaining an outstanding football coach and better person. Five years ago, Coach Trisciani entered our program with goals and ambitious plans for our football program. He wanted to treat our program like a small college program. I can say that he has not only elevated our football program to that level, but he has helped to elevate our entire athletics program.

“We can only hope Coach has learned as much from us as we did from him. He has helped to re-engage our football alumni and made our football program available to them. His attention to detail, passion, intelligence, work ethic, and love for our players has made his tenure here very special. Coach has helped to raise the standard for which this athletic department now operates. Our past and current players and coaches are very lucky to have worked with Coach T.”

The new Villanova assistant is excited about his move to the collegiate ranks at Villanova.

“I’m excited about my future at Villanova,” Trisciani tweeted. ”My experience at Whitehall was amazing. I’ll miss Friday night lights with such special people.”

Official announcements from the University regarding this hire as well as any additional hires should occur within the next few days, after the human resources staff finishes processing the required paperwork.

According to Cincinnati.com, Gary Underwood, a quarterback from Winton Woods High School has committed to play football at Villanova — as a runningback. He rushed for 1,014 yards and 8 touchdowns as a senior this past fall.

He was a playmaker for the Winton Woods team that used him primarily as a running threat from the quarterback position. While he did have opportunities to throw the ball, they were few compared to his rushing attempts. Still, Villanova may consider him an option to take snaps out of the “wildcat” package.

Underwood is the Wildcat’s 13th commitment for the 2012 recruiting class. He visited campus earlier in January.

He does not have a recruiting profile on Rivals, Scout or ESPN.

To view his highlight reel: Click Here.

National Signing Day for football recruits is less than a week away on Wednesday, February 1. Players may receive offers and change their minds at any point prior to signing a national letter of intent, so while Villanova appears to have a hold on Underwood and the other 12 verbal commitments, the picture could change over the next few days.

The other known members of the 2012 Villanova Football recruiting class are:

1. Jake Prus (OL, Woodstown HS)
2. Nico D’Angelo (OL, Holy Spirit – 2 stars)
3. Austin Calitro (ILB, Danbury – 3 stars)
4. Javon White (RB, Souderton HS)
5. Aaron Wells (RB, River Hill HS)
6. Tanoh Kpassagnon (DE, Wissahickon HS)
7. Michael Burke IV (WR, Columbia HS– 1 star)
8. Corey Majors (LB, Worcester – 3 stars)
9. Jonathan Green (OL, North Schuylkill)
10. Bradley Seaton (OT, Brunswick, CT)
11. Cameron McCurry (LB, Fleming Island, FL)
12. T.J. White (LB, West Chester Henderson, PA – 2 stars)

Just one day after the U.S. Naval Academy announced that it would move it’s football program to the Big East conference in 2015, a report came out through Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports that the Big 12 conference was meeting on Wednesday to discuss possibly adding one or more schools.

To make matters worse for the Big East, the report noted that Louisville would be the “slam dunk” choice to be the 11th team invited. Louisville was passed over by the conference in favor of West Virginia a few months ago when they needed to add a 10th member to replace Missouri. The Big 12 would also give consideration to Brigham Young university as part of any expansion.

That conference has had difficulty deciding on a final number of teams, with some interest groups preferring a 12 team model and others (Texas) preferring to hold steady with 10 members.

The 10-team model appears to be winning the day, despite the conference office leaving the door open to expand again in the future.

“I don’t anticipate there’s going to be a movement off 10,” interim Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas told Lubbock radio station Double-T 104.3 FM. “It could happen down the road, but we definitely won’t be beyond 10 for 2012-2013 and there is strong feeling within the membership that 10 provides the opportunity for round-robin in football and you play everyone in basketball twice …

“That seems to be appealing to the conference members. To go beyond that will take a lot of research and hard thinking.”

A potential crisis, seemingly averted.

The power of litigation

The Big 12 may be unwilling to rock the boat in hopes that the Big East and West Virginia will reach a settlement agreement that has been rumored to be in discussion. They have plans to announce their 2012 football schedule on February 1, in order to meet requirements to their television partners. They also need to have a 10th member to comply with those agreements.

There are rumors that have been mentioned by media sources that the Big East and WVU may be near a settlement agreement.

If the Big 12 were to further raid the Big East membership it could jeopardize any willingness that the conference may have to settle it’s legal dispute with West Virginia. In fact, there is still a chance that the Big East could amend it’s pleadings to make the Big 12 a defendant in that case as well.

If West Virginia’s exit costs are greater than what the Mountaineer administration is capable of expending, the Big 12 may be willing to assist them in covering the difference.

The blame game

Big 12 interim commissioner Chuck Neinas, who also serves as a consultant to C-USA and the Mountain West Conference on their merger plans, blamed the current mess on Missouri being “selfish” and demanding to leave immediately. According to the Charleston (WV) Gazette:

“The one thing that gets lost is we’re in this predicament because the SEC invited Missouri,” Neinas said. “But the SEC was willing to play with 13 [rather than 14] next season. We made an offer to Missouri that was financially beneficial to stay for another year. Missouri made the decision not to accept.

“We had a teleconference call with those in the SEC, Big East, ACC, Mountain West and Conference USA. We all agreed we could save money and avoid litigation if all held serve for 2012-13. All agreed. But Missouri made a very selfish decision. It’s been very disruptive. Missouri gave us notice in November [of 2011] and it’s pretty difficult to move forward then.”

He wasn’t very sympathetic over how these moves have affected the Big East though.

“The Big East gets on planes and flies all over the country inviting other schools,”  Neinas [told the Charleston (WV) Gazette]. “But they raise hell when West Virginia wants to come to the Big 12?

“We didn’t solicit West Virginia; West Virginia solicited us — as did other Big East schools. It seems to me the Big East has a double standard. And the Big East was talking about [automatic qualifying status to the BCS]. There’s not going to be AQs in the near future.”

To date, no conference has asked a potential new member to join sooner than their current conference’s exit notice period other than the Big 12. The Big East may have flown on airplanes to line up its expansion schools, but all of them have given notice to current conference partners and will withdraw according to the bylaws and provisions they are currently bound to.

Neinas has had discussions with Big East commissioner John Marinatto, specifically noting that they spoke at the BCS Championship Game in New Orleans this year, but would not divulge the substance of those discussions. He also declined to speak about potential solutions to the fact that at least one of the Big East or Big 12 will be without a 12th scheduled football game for next season.

Five-star 2013 small forward Troy Williams, has apparently cut his list of schools down to four. According to his uncle, AAU coaching legend Boo Williams, he has narrowed his list down to Kentucky, UNC, Georgetown and Villanova — cutting Virginia Tech.

Williams has visited Kentucky and UNC more than once already and has also visited Georgetown, where his aunt, Terri Williams-Flournoy, is the women’s basketball coach.

“But we haven’t been to Nova,” Boo told Five-Star Basketball.

Without any visits, Nova would appear to be in the back of that group of four schools, but the coaching staff must be saying the right things in the meantime to keep the Wildcats in contention. Villanova has a few more months to get him on campus.

“I think he probably will get it done in the next six months,” Boo Williams told Five Star.

Despite taking a five point lead into halftime, Villanova struggled after the break with Maalik Wayns picking up his third and fourth fouls early in the final half. The deficit became too big to overcome and the ‘Cats fell on the road, 74-84 to the Louisville Cardinals.

Villanova started slow, falling behind by as much as 9 points in with 13:40 left in the first half, but climbed back to a 30-30 tie with 5:49 before the half. After a few quick lead changes, Villanova pulled ahead again with about four minutes left on a Tyrone Johnson 3-pointer with four minutes left.

Nova again started slow in the second half, but things really went wrong when Maalik Wayns picked up his third foul about a minute and a half in. Just six seconds later, he was whistled for his fourth foul on an offensive play. He was immediately pulled out of the game and wouldn’t re-appear again until there was just 10 minutes left in the game. By that point, the ‘Cats already trailed by 10 points.

Wayns’ return lead to a small Villanova surge and the ‘Cats began to close the gap once again with head coach Jay Wright subbing players in and out at every opportunity for offense/defense.

Along the way, two Louisville players, Russ Smith and Chane Behanan, fouled out. Despite having three players carrying four fouls, none of the Wildcats picked up a 5th.

With about a minute left, however, Jared Swopshire nailed the dagger-3 that put Louisville ahead by 9 points, which would serve an impossible lead to overcome. A Maalik Wayns triple on the next possession brought the ‘Cats within 6 points, but they would need to foul in order to buy time — a strategy that ultimately buried them.

The ‘Cats struggled to finish offensively after the Wayns 3-pointer while Louisville made six of eight free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

James Bell had his first career double-double in Villanova’s first visit to Louisville’s brand-new KFC Yum! Center with 14 points and a team-high 13 rebounds. Bell was 6-of-11 from the field and 1-of-4 from beyond the arc.

Maalik Wayns again led all Wildcat scorers with 19 points, despite playing just 23 minutes in the game. Mouph Yarou also recorded a double-digit score with 10 points and 7 rebounds, while JayVaughn Pinkston scored just 8 points, but grabbed 12 boards.

Wayns also led the team from beyond the arc with 60% shooting from deep. The team shot just 26.3%, however, with the only other players connecting on a shot from outside being Bell and Johnson (Bell’s shot banked in); Dominic Cheek missed all 6 of his attempts. They were just short of 40% from the floor.

Louisville fared slightly better from the field (42.6%) and much better from 3 (34.8%), with five players scoring in double digits. Leading the way for the Cardinals was Peyton Siva, who scored 16 points, had 5 assists and 3 steals. Kyle Kuric scored 14, making 3-of-9 from deep while Chris Smith also scored 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting from downtown. Chane Behanan was an offensive force when he wasn’t sitting with foul-trouble, scoring 14 points on easy baskets and center Gorgui Dieng got the better of Yarou, scoring 12 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

Villanova’s defense wasn’t able to hold off the Cardinals, who have not be a particularly strong offense this season. Offensively, the Wildcats looked lost and disjointed while Maalik Wayns was out of the game. Both of these are areas in need of continued improvement.

The ‘Cats record now falls to 10-11 on the season and 3-6 in the Big East. They will host Marquette at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday at Noon — their previous meeting with the Golden Eagles resulted in a 4-point loss in Milwaukee.