Villanova hoping to capitalize on potential, take Big 5 crown

On the eve of the 49th year of the Philadelphia Big 5, there are likely more questions than answers about the participants in one of college basketball's greatest traditions.

A few things are certain. When Penn, Villanova, Temple, Saint Joseph's, La Salle and Drexel face off against each other in the Palestra, the atmosphere will be electric. There is no such thing as an "easy" Big 5 game, and any coach or player who thinks otherwise likely does so at his peril.

The consensus favorite this year to win the unofficial "city title" is Villanova, which contains what is probably the best starting five of the six Division I schools in the area. The Wildcats' backcourt of juniors Randy Foye and Allan Ray combined for an average of 31 points per game last season, and both shot at least 30 percent from three-point range. Sophomore guard Mike Nardi had a breakout rookie season, averaging 10 points per game -- including a 20-point performance against Penn at the Palestra.

Junior center/forward Jason Fraser averaged seven rebounds per game and had 10 steals and 39 blocks last year, but the impact he will have early this year is unknown, as he recovers from knee surgery last month. Junior forward Curtis Sumpter was the team's second-leading scorer last year with 14.3 points per game, and sophomore forward Will Sheridan is also expected to see significant time.

But the Main Line has seen past teams like this fail to live up to expectations, and Villanova coach Jay Wright is under no illusions about what his team has to do to make the hype become reality.

"We have not proven anything yet," he said. "We are a team that has had the word 'potential' attached to us for many years."

Wright added that "there are a couple of teams -- [Penn] and the one on City Line Avenue [St. Joseph's] -- that have proven it."

"The one on City Line Avenue" is coming off the best season in its history, as star guards Jameer Nelson and Delonte West led St. Joseph's to within a missed jump shot of the Final Four. And although those two and defensive linchpin Tyrone Barley have graduated, St. Joseph's coach Phil Martelli still has high standards for his team.

"They're not replaceable," Martelli said of last year's senior class. "So what you have to do is come up with a way to play with the players that you do have, and we have enough good players who can add to what we hope is a legacy of winning."

Much of the offensive burden will fall on senior guard Pat Carroll, one of the nation's top three-point shooters. The Horsham, Pa., native currently has a 45.4 percent three-point shooting rate for his career, the best ever in the Atlantic-10.

Martelli said that there will be "not any more" pressure on Carroll to score than there has been in the past.

Carroll's role "will be to take open shots and make open shots," Martelli said. "We may ask him to play off the dribble more, but we only want him to be the best he can be."

Most fans of St. Joe's and Villanova will tell you that the two schools don't have much in common, beyond their fanatical rivalry known as "The Holy War."

But the city Jesuits and the suburban Augustinians share one other thing this year -- a game against the preseason No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks. St. Joe's will travel to Lawrence, Kan., for a nationally televised game on Oct. 23, while Villanova will welcome Kansas to the Wachovia Center on Jan. 22.

"It is an experience, because a lot of people say there are four buildings you have to play in your career -- the Palestra, Phog Allen [Fieldhouse, Kansas' home court], Pauley [Pavilion, at UCLA] and Cameron [Indoor Stadium, at Duke]," Martelli said. "I think it's really important that the college experience is enjoyed by players, and this will be a chance for them to have something that they will remember for the rest of their lives."

Wright relishes his chance to be something of an ambassador for the city when the Wildcats take on Kansas.

"It's great for the university, it's great for Philadelphia basketball to have the No. 1 team in the country coming in," he said.

Meanwhile, on North Broad Street, legendary coach John Chaney's Temple Owls are a sleeper pick to make some noise this season. The Owls were ranked second in the Atlantic-10 in the conference's preseason poll of coaches and media, due in no small part to their size. Only one player on the roster is listed at under 200 pounds, and centers Keith Butler and Wayne Marshall -- 7-foot-1 and 6-11 respectively -- are both expected to see lots of playing time.

"They take up so much space that they are trying to not get in each other's way," Chaney said. "Nobody in the country is playing with two guys this big."

Junior guard Mardy Collins, who like so many great past Temple players is a Philadelphia native, is expected to be the main offensive spark this year at point guard.

"He's my kind of a point guard," Chaney said. "He doesn't throw the ball away, and he can also put everyone in their own room -- he's patient enough to get his shot last as long as he can orchestrate for the other guys."

Chaney also expects big things from freshman guard Mark Tyndale, who was last year's Philadelphia Public League Player of the Year at Simon Gratz High School.

"He's a strong kid, really an aggressive, very athletic youngster," Chaney said.

"We're hoping that we can harness him and direct him in the right way."

As always, Temple will play one of the nation's most difficult non-conference schedules. This year's docket includes road games against Georgetown, Alabama, Duke and Maryland, and home games with Auburn, Arizona State, highly touted Wake Forest and Princeton. But this is never a problem for Chaney, now in his 23rd season at the Owls' helm.

"By the time I finish playing all those guys, I already told them, if they fire me, they've got to fire the other guy, because his ass is going to lose those games too," Chaney quipped. "I certainly wouldn't do this if I was a young, up-and-coming coach -- I'm an old-timer and I can take the bumps and bruises and keep coming to work every day."

The other potential sleeper team this season is Drexel. Although the Dragons are not an official member of the Big 5 -- the school does not have a banner hanging with the other schools in the Palestra's rafters -- Bruiser Flint's squad is poised for a big year.

Senior guard Phil Goss and senior forward Sean Brooks are Drexel's main offensive threats, especially from three-point range. Goss set a Drexel single-season record last season with 90 treys, and Brooks finished second in the Colonial Athletic Association shooting 59.7-percent from long distance. If they can keep up that scoring this year, the Dragons might finally be able to pull some attention -- and maybe a home game -- away from the better-known teams in the city. At the same time, Flint said he has more pressing concerns than whether the bright lights are shining on his team.

"When we play the Philly teams, we always play them at the Palestra or on their home court," Flint said. "When they start coming to the DAC [the Daskalakis Athletic Center, Drexel's home court], and we start playing a little more home and away, then you can make that assessment. I don't worry about what people think or how much respect we get from people in the city."

Finally, La Salle will look to put a scandal-filled summer behind it and begin the rebuilding process under new coach John Giannini. The Explorers lost three of their best players -- Mike Cleaves, Gary Neal and Dzaflo Larkai -- after sexual assault investigations earlier this year resulted in all of them being suspended from the team. The allegations against Cleaves and Neal also brought down former La Salle men's head coach Billy Hahn and former women's coach John Miller, who were accused of illegally withholding information about those assaults from the police.

Enter Giannini, who has been handed the reins of a program which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary of winning the national championship in 1954.

"It's a tradition-rich program," Giannini said. "There's tremendous talent in the area, the Atlantic-10 is one of the best conferences in the country and multiple teams will get into the NCAA Tournament."

La Salle's success this season will depend largely on junior forward Steven Smith, who was named to the Atlantic-10's pre-season all-conference first team.

Smith averaged 17.3 points and eight rebounds per game last season, while shooting 46.5 percent from the field.

"We're not as deep as we'd like to be, we're not as proven as we'd like to be, but we believe that we have players who have potential," Giannini said. "It's my job to get them to reach that potential."

The former Maine head coach also does not want anyone to lower the expectations of his team because of its recent turmoil.

"I think people outside the program will be patient," he said. "But I'm not sure that we want to feel that success is off in the distance -- I think we need to strive for success every day, and I think that will just help us get there quicker."

While Giannini may be the new pledge in the Big 5's coaching fraternity, he is well aware of its history and significance to Philadelphia sports.

"The Big 5 is one of the best traditions in college basketball," he said.

And despite the great passion of the Big 5's rivalries, that is one thing on which basketball fans all over the city can agree.

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