With five-star freshman Cam Whitmore healthy, Villanova’s ‘room for growth’ just got a lot bigger

Villanova coach Kyle Neptune did his best Friday, and again Saturday, after his team’s 70-66 win over Oklahoma, to temper expectations around star freshman Cam Whitmore and his Villanova debut.

So, let’s get those caveats out of the way: Whitmore injured his right (shooting) thumb in an early October practice, and surgery kept him away from real basketball for seven weeks. It was back in June — when Whitmore scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a win for Team USA in the final of the U18 FIBA Americas Championships — that he last played a competitive game. He hadn’t played a minute of basketball in a college environment.

The list went on.

Even when it was decided that Whitmore would make his debut on Saturday, it was inside an NBA arena that housed an announced crowd of more than 17,000 and against a veteran Big 12 team on a six-game winning streak.

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All of those cautions were contextual fodder when Whitmore, a 6-foot-7, 232-pound wing from Maryland ranked among the best players in the 2022 freshman class, quickly rose from the bench less than three minutes into the game and went to the scorer’s table to check in.

And with all that context, Neptune said he was “shocked” at how well Whitmore played. His final stat line in 20 minutes (he was on a minutes restriction): seven points on 3-of-7 shooting (1-for-4 from three-point range); three rebounds; three steals; two turnovers. He finished plus-4.

“Normal human beings would’ve been just completely discombobulated,” Neptune said. “To his credit, I think he gave us a big boost, especially defensively.”

Whitmore said he felt some nerves coming into the game, and they showed during his first stint on the court. He missed his first three shots and, with his thumb taped, looked a bit uncomfortable controlling the ball.

When he checked in the second time, with six minutes left in the first half, it became clear what Whitmore’s presence in the lineup means for a Wildcats team that entered the game on a four-game losing streak and still is searching for an identity under first-year coach Neptune.

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Neptune praised Whitmore’s defense. The first defensive possession after he checked in for the second time showed what Villanova can be with Whitmore on the floor. Oklahoma used a screen at the top of the key that forced forward Brandon Slater — playing the “5″ in Villanova’s small-ball lineup — to help out on the wing. It freed Oklahoma big man Tanner Groves to release toward the basket. But Whitmore read it perfectly, dove into the passing lane, and grabbed the first of his three steals. A fast break the other way ended with an open Mark Armstrong three-pointer that capped a 10-0 Villanova run and pulled the Wildcats within one.

The next offensive possession, Whitmore, 18, drilled a step-back three-pointer from the wing, his first collegiate basket. He also got Villanova’s next bucket when he drove right at 6-9 forward Jacob Groves, a 210-pound, 21-year-old senior, and used his body to force separation for an easy layup.

Whitmore’s athleticism and talent — he’s a projected NBA lottery pick and could be Villanova’s first one-and-done player since Tim Thomas — were obvious.

But even more critical for a 3-5 Villanova team, with work to do to get back into the NCAA Tournament picture and a grueling Big East schedule just two weeks away, was what Whitmore did for Neptune’s rotations. The Wildcats went smaller a few times without big man Eric Dixon on the floor and used Whitmore and Slater’s ranginess in the frontcourt. Whitmore a few times played at the tip of Villanova’s 1-2-2 press. Other times he was in the middle. When the Wildcats switched defensively with Whitmore on the floor, they had fewer mismatches.

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Neptune had said that the early part of this season, with or without Whitmore in the lineup, would be about figuring out the team’s rotations. Villanova has three “wily veterans,” (a fourth if you count injured guard Justin Moore), Neptune said, and then a lot of younger, inexperienced guys.

“When you have a young team, guys can get a lot better,” Neptune said. “Your room for growth is much more.”

Neptune was speaking generally, but Saturday made clear that the room for growth is much larger with Whitmore than it was without him.