Villanova to play in inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament in Las Vegas
“This is a unique situation for our team,” interim coach Mike Nardi said.
Viva-nova Las Vegas.
A disappointing 2024-25 Villanova men’s basketball season will continue at the new College Basketball Crown tournament in Las Vegas. The Wildcats open competition in the 16-team field on April 1 vs. Colorado (8:30 p.m., FS1) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The Crown is the answer if you saw the NIT field late Sunday night and wondered where some of the power conference schools were. The new event is put on by Fox Sports, a television partner of the Big East. Villanova was an automatic qualifier since it was among the top two Big East teams — along with Georgetown — that did not make the NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats (19-14) fired coach Kyle Neptune on Saturday and named assistant coach Mike Nardi as interim head coach, signaling they planned to continue their season. The tournament doesn’t begin until after the transfer portal opens, but Villanova’s entire starting five is out of eligibility.
“If there are games to play, I’ll play,” Eric Dixon said via text message Sunday night.
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Dixon, the nation’s leading scorer, is eight points away from passing Kerry Kittles and becoming Villanova’s all-time leading scorer.
It remains possible that a player with remaining eligibility enters the portal and doesn’t join Villanova in Vegas. Still, the expectation is that Villanova will have its regular team for the tournament. There is a name, image, and likeness compensation component for teams advancing to the tournament’s semifinals.
“This is a unique situation for our team,” Nardi said in a news release. “It’s been a tough week for the Villanova basketball family. Our team enjoyed playing for Kyle and appreciates everything he did for all of us. We’re fortunate in that each of our guys, as of today, is on board to continue to compete together at the Crown. We want to represent Villanova University and this program by playing hard, smart, together, and with pride in a way that honors the efforts of the players and coaches who came before us.”
A handful of teams opted out of postseason play, contributing to a weakened field. Colorado was 14-20 overall and finished 3-17 at the bottom of the Big 12.
St. Joe’s men to NIT
St. Joseph’s accepted a bid to the National Invitation Tournament and will open at home Wednesday vs. Alabama-Birmingham (7 p.m., ESPN+). The Hawks (22-12) were eliminated in the Atlantic 10 tournament semifinals Saturday and are among five A-10 teams in the 32-team field.
If St. Joe’s wins Wednesday, it will face the winner of Santa Clara and Cal-Riverside.
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Hawks, Wildcats women to WBIT
St. Joseph’s and Villanova could be on their way to a Women’s Basketball Invitational matchup for the second consecutive season. Both women’s teams are back in the WBIT and open play in the 32-team event on Thursday. Villanova hosts Boston College, and St. Joe’s hosts Albany.
A win for each would set up a second-round game Sunday at Hagan Arena.