NCAA Basketball: Villanova Wins National Championship Sans NBA Prospects
Villanova finished its Cinderella run in college basketball by going all the way to the top, winning the school's second national championship in incredible fashion.
After Marcus Paige of UNC nailed a three to tie the game at 74, Villanova's Kris Jenkins answered on the other end with a buzzer-beating three, giving his team the victory in the championship game last night.
And while everyone is going gaga over the unexpected and remarkable finish, the more interesting story is Villanova's rise to the top even without players projected to be first-rounders in the upcoming NBA Draft.
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In a report from Yahoo Sports, even the team's own players couldn't believe they're fighting for the national championship. According to Josh Hart, he's having a difficult time processing what's really happening to them right now. It should be interesting to hear what he has to say right now after his team made it all the way. For Ryan Arcidiacono, winning Final Four against a powerhouse like Oklahoma and winning it by 40 is just plain crazy.
For years, majority of college programs that reach the Final Four in the NCAA tourney are those that are equipped with the best national players, who turn out to be first-round draft picks in the NBA. So it's rather unique and special for a Villanova squad to reach this far even without the top and best players in college basketball.
A very interesting fact from the same Yahoo Sports report says that all 28 teams that won the national title since 1987 had at least two first-round players in the draft. Kentucky and UConn had the most with six in 1996 and 2004 respectively.
We're not saying that no Villanova player will get to the NBA in the draft; it's just that no one from the roster is currently projected to be drafted in the first round.
