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By AARON BRACY Big5Hoops.com January 4, 2026 After three straight seasons of missing the NCAA tournament, Villanova is back on track to being, well, Villanova in the first year under coach Kevin Willard. The Wildcats’ latest feel-good win came on Saturday when they used a dominating second half to coast to an 85-67 rout of Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse, improving to … [Read more...] about Aaron Bracy’s Big 5 Column: How is Kevin Willard transforming Villanova back to Villanova? Here are three ways

By AARON BRACY December 31, 2025 Big5Hoops.com VILLANOVA, Pa. – Kevin Willard called timeout to try and figure things out with the Wildcats down 10 points and an NCAA tournament resume-busting loss staring them in the face. To that point, DePaul had frustrated them at both ends of the court. To see Villanova struggle a bit on defense wasn’t all that surprising … [Read more...] about Aaron Bracy’s Big 5 Column: Two key adjustments help Villanova escape past DePaul

By AARON BRACY Big5Hoops.com December 29, 2025 With conference play set to kick off this week for most of the Big 5, now is a good time to pause and grade how each team has performed to this point. There have been some highlights, notably Villanova and Penn, but overall it has been mediocre—at best—for most of the city’s Division I basketball teams to this point in the … [Read more...] about Aaron Bracy’s Big 5 Column: Midseason report card grades aren’t pretty for most Big 5 teams

By AARON BRACY December 22, 2025 Big5Hoops.com PHILADELPHIA – There were reminders everywhere on Monday night of the greatness that once was Saint Joseph’s basketball. Before the game against Coastal Carolina, Jim Lynam, Lonnie McFarlan, John Smith, and Tony Costner met up for a bite to eat and to share some stories about the good-old days. Those names are royalty … [Read more...] about Aaron Bracy’s Big 5 Column: What has happened to the once-great Saint Joseph’s program?

By AARON BRACY December 14, 2025 Big5Hoops.com PHILADELPHIA -- Gavin Griffiths was one of the top high school recruits in the country in 2023. Two years later, he was relegated to playing on the scout team. Griffiths struggled in his first collegiate season at Rutgers two seasons ago and then even more after transferring to Nebraska last season. But the Simsbury, … [Read more...] about Aaron Bracy’s Big 5 Column: Hard work helping Temple’s Gavin Griffiths finally feeling success