They have been here before. They have done this together. Ten years ago, you might remember, the Jay Wright Villanova Wildcats had a far different reputation than the one they’d soon acquire. Heading into the 2016 NCAA Tournament, they were known as first-weekend tournament flameouts, allergic to the Sweet 16.
When they survived the Brooklyn subregional that March, burying UNC Asheville by 30 and then bombing Iowa by 19, the relief at the final buzzer for ending that jinx was palpable.
“We never stopped believing in ourselves,” said Villanova’s leading scorer that day, a 6-foot-5 junior swingman named Josh Hart. “And sometimes it felt like we were the only ones.”
Fifteen days later, Hart and his mates would be crowned national champions when Kris Jenkins made a shot for the ages against North Carolina. Game by game that year, those Wildcats — notable among them Hart, freshman guards Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson — got better and better, more and more dangerous. It was a note-perfect month for all of them.
