If you’re just getting up to speed here on this Friday afternoon, the Villanova Wildcats received some unfortunate news earlier. Their prized incoming freshman Omari Spellman, an athletic big man from Ohio, was ruled academically ineligible for the 2016-17 season.
The defending national champions had expected that Spellman, a five-star recruit and the top player in his home state, would become a pivotal piece to their rotation and their attempt at defending the championship they dramatically won last April against the North Carolina Tar Heels in Houston. Many were waiting to be bedazzled and wowed by the combo of Spellman and former super freshman-turned sophomore Jalen Brunson that would slice and dice with a formidable pick-and-roll, but they will have to wait a little bit longer until 2017 assuming that Brunson sticks around in the Philly area and doesn’t depart for the NBA next summer.