Villanova star Eric Dixon suspended one game for participation in pre-draft event

When Eric Dixon participated in the Portsmouth Invitational in April, the plan at that time was for the Villanova forward to forgo his final season of college basketball eligibility and head to professional basketball.

Participation in the event, which is against NCAA guidelines, is meant for college seniors who are heading off to the professional ranks, but Dixon, because of the extra year of eligibility provided to college athletes after the COVID-19 pandemic, had another year left to come back to college if going pro didn’t work out.

Dixon, of course, is back at Villanova for a fifth season. And on Monday, his punishment for participating in the non-sanctioned pre-draft event was handed down, a source telling The Inquirer that Dixon will serve a one-game suspension during Villanova’s Nov. 4 opener against Lafayette at Finneran Pavilion.

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Dixon seemingly got off lightly, considering the NCAA had hit previous participants with a three-game suspension in past years.

Villanova was prepared for that three-game sentence. The Wildcats scheduled three games during the season’s opening week. Villanova hasn’t opened a season with three games in five days in a non-tournament setting in at least 25 years.

Why now? Villanova plays rival St. Joseph’s on Nov. 12, and Dixon would have potentially missed that matchup if he was handed the standard sentence.

Instead, the Wildcats will be without their best player for just one game. Dixon, the 2023-24 Big 5 player of the year, will likely make his debut with the new-look team two nights later, on Nov. 6, when Villanova hosts Columbia.