By AARON BRACY
May 3, 2024
Big5Hoops.com
Villanova got the long-range shooter they desperately needed on Friday, when Max Shulga committed to the Wildcats through the transfer portal.
A 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard, Shulga made 41.5 percent of 3-point shots last season at VCU after transferring to the Richmond school following three seasons at Utah State. Shulga settled on Villanova due to the school’s winning tradition and the opportunity to play in the Big East Conference.
“First and foremost, it is a program with rich history, a lot of winning in the past years,” Shulga told Big5Hoops on Friday. “It’s a big-time program in the Big East, which is the best basketball conference in the country. Just the mix of both. Great history, great people, great coaches, winning culture and being in the best conference, too.”
Shulga averaged 14.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists for the Rams. He had one of his best games of the season in the Atlantic 10 tournament semifinals against Saint Joseph’s when he scored 25 points while making 10 of 11 shots, including 3 of 4 3-pointers, in a 66-60 VCU win.
“I feel like I just had it going,” he said. “I was just in the moment, playing how I always play, trying to make the right read, trying to make the right basketball play. Everything was going down.”
Villanova fans saw Shulga later in March when VCU defeated Villanova 70-61 on March 20 in the opening round of the NIT at the Pavilion. He had 10 points in the contest. For Wildcats supporters who never have seen him play, Shulga describes himself as a versatile guard who wants to help his team win.
“I’m just a combo guard that does everything,” he said. “I can play on-ball, I can play off-ball, I can play as the two. I’m just trying to make the right play every single time, whether it’s getting the shot for my teammates or getting the shot for myself. Just trying to make the right play and make my teammates better.”
Asked what he expects his role to be on the Main Line, Shulga said, “Whatever the team needs me to do, really.”
Shulga, a native of Kyiv, Ukraine, fine-tunes his shot by daily repetition, day after day, and that was his message when asked about expectations going forward.
“Let’s work,” he said. “It’s not going to happen just because it’s Villanova University. We actually have to go in the summer and work and gel as well as we can as a team and make it happen. I would say just that.”
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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Big5Hoops.com is his second website dedicated to Philadelphia college basketball. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages.