As a Philadelphia native, Ja’Quan Newton grew up watching Villanova basketball.
And when the point guard developed into one of the best players in the city, the Wildcats started keeping tabs on him too, recruiting the former Neumann-Goretti standout in the hopes he’d stay home and add to Villanova’s rich basketball tradition.
Newton, a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard, considered Villanova’s offer. But when the school received a verbal commitment from Phil Booth, before Newton was ready to give his own pledge, the guard was forced to look elsewhere.
The place he eventually landed?