To celebrate 30 years of SLAM, we’re featuring the 30 most influential men’s college teams of the past 30 years. Stats, records and chips are not the main factor here, it’s all about their contribution to the cultural fabric of the game.
Over the next 30 days, Monday through Friday, we’ll be featuring full list here. We also have an exclusive retro collegiate collection out now that pays homage to the threads of each squad. Shop here.
The Villanova Wildcats entered the 2017-18 season as that team. They had just won the national championship the previous season in historic fashion when then-senior forward Chris Jenkins hit a shot against UNC that shocked the entire college basketball world. It was and remains one of the greatest moments in college history. It sets the precedence for what comes next.
So how did Jay Wright’s squad pull it back? One of the game’s brilliant minds knew exactly how to coach a hungry, fundamentally sound team that included Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo, Eric Paschal and Phil Booth. Brunson is the type of player who has attributed his success since childhood to his work ethic, and during his time at Nova, he would put together a list of individual and team goals he wanted to achieve and stick to them. in his dorm room. It included:
Completing Summer 2018.
Making All-American, Big East and Big Five Academic Teams.
2018 First Team All American, All Big East, All Big Five.
Conference regular season and tournament champions.
Winning the NCAA National Championship.
While there are many, many factors to the team’s success, Brunson’s mental approach to the game, instilled in him by his father, Rick, and then supported by Wright, set the precedent for what he and his team have achieved. The manifestation is real and so are the wildcats. With Brunson’s court vision, Bridges’ defensive prowess and DiVincenzo’s scoring bursts, ‘Nova waltzed through the regular season, finishing 14-4 in Big East play.
“I was the version of myself, I guess technically I didn’t know I had,” Brunson told SLAM in 2022, reflecting on the 2018 season. “I always knew I was playing well, but we really used it as a weapon.”
Meanwhile, the East Region’s No. 1 seed dominated on its way to the NCAA Tournament, including wins over Radford, Alabama, West Virginia and Texas Tech. After defeating Kansas in the Final Four, the Wildcats squared off against Michigan in the Championship. they knocked down clutch shots from deep, connected on Brunson and controlled the tempo. Final score: 79-62.
National champions, check.
Photos via Getty Images.
