1996–97 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

The 1996–97 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University in the 1996–97 season. With an overall record 24–10 and conference record of 12–6, the Wildcats placed first in the Big East Conference, and after reaching the finals of the Big East tournament, the team was invited to the NCAA tournament as a 3 seed.

1996–97 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
Big East Regular Season co-champions
NCAA tournament, Round of 32
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 20
Record	24–10 (12–6 Big East)
Head coach	Steve Lappas (5th season)
Home arena	CoreStates Center (Capacity: 6,500)
Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

1996–97 Big East men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Big East 6
No. 20 Villanova	12	–	6		.667			24	–	10		.706
No. 23 Boston College†	12	–	6		.667			22	–	9		.710
West Virginia	11	–	7		.611			21	–	10		.677
Notre Dame	8	–	10		.444			16	–	14		.533
St. John's	8	–	10		.444			13	–	15		.464
Connecticut	7	–	11		.389			18	–	15		.545
Big East 7
Georgetown	11	–	7		.611			20	–	10		.667
Providence	10	–	8		.556			24	–	12		.667
Pittsburgh	10	–	8		.556			18	–	15		.545
Miami	9	–	9		.500			16	–	13		.552
Syracuse	9	–	9		.500			19	–	13		.594
Seton Hall	5	–	13		.278			10	–	18		.357
Rutgers	5	–	13		.278			11	–	16		.407
† 1997 Big East tournament winner As of March 31, 1997[1][2][3] Rankings from AP poll

Roster

1996–97 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 3 Tim Thomas 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Paterson, New Jersey G 13 John Celestand 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Piscataway, New Jersey C 15 Malik Allen 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Fr Medford, New Jersey G 20 Alvin Williams 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Philadelphia, Pennsylvania C 42 Jason Lawson 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Head coach Steve Lappas Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
November 29*		at American-Puerto Rico	W 68–62	1–0	Eugene Guerra Sports Complex  San Juan, Puerto Rico
November 30*		vs. Butler	W 62–54	2–0	Eugene Guerra Sports Complex  San Juan, Puerto Rico
December 1*		vs. Tulane	W 85–70	3–0	Eugene Guerra Sports Complex  San Juan, Puerto Rico
December 4		Providence	W 75–64	4–0 (1–0)	CoreStates Center  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 7		at St. John's	W 82–70	5–0 (2–0)	Madison Square Garden  New York City, New York
December 10*		at Pennsylvania	W 82–62	6–0 (2–0)	The Palestra  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 14*		Duke	L 79–87	6–1 (2–0)	CoreStates Center  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 21*		Mount St. Mary's	W 91–66	7–1 (2–0)	CoreStates Center  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 23*		at Saint Joseph's	W 81–65	8–1 (2–0)	Hagan Arena  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 28*		Rider	W 75–61	9–1 (2–0)	CoreStates Center  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 30*		North Carolina-Wilmington	W 87–38	10–1 (2–0)	CoreStates Center  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 2		Seton Hall	W 88–67	11–1 (3–0)	CoreStates Center  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 6		at Providence	L 68–91	11–2 (3–1)	Dunkin' Donuts Center  Providence, RI
January 8*		Oral Roberts	W 64–46	12–2 (3–1)	CoreStates Center  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 11		Miami	L 59–61	12–3 (3–2)	CoreStates Center  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 14		at Notre Dame	W 68–57	13–3 (4–2)	Joyce Center  South Bend, IN
January 18		Rutgers	W 79–56	14–3 (5–2)	CoreStates Center  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 20		Syracuse	L 60–62	14–4 (5–3)	CoreStates Center  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 25		at Boston College	W 84–66	15–4 (6–3)	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
January 27		at Georgetown	L 67–78	15–5 (6–4)	Capital Centre  Landover, Maryland
February 1		at Syracuse	W 70–60	16–5 (7–4)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
February 4		West Virginia	W 81–70	17–5 (8–4)	The Pavilion  Delaware County, Pennsylvania
February 9*		at No. 3 Kentucky	L 56–93	17–6 (8–4)	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
February 12		at Pittsburgh	L 89–95	17–7 (8–5)	Fitzgerald Field House  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
February 16		Notre Dame	W 75–70	18–7 (9–5)	CoreStates Center  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
February 19		St. John's	W 65–54	19–7 (10–5)	CoreStates Center  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
February 23		Connecticut	W 65–58	20–7 (11–5)	CoreStates Center  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
February 26		at West Virginia	L 76–83	20–8 (11–6)	WVU Coliseum  Morgantown, WV
March 1		at Rutgers	W 84–74	21–8 (12–6)	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, NJ
Big East tournament
March 6		vs. Syracuse Quarterfinals	W 80–70	22–8 (13–6)	Madison Square Garden  New York City, New York
March 7		vs. Providence Semifinals	W 73–63	23–8 (14–6)	Madison Square Garden  New York City, New York
March 8		vs. Boston College Championship	L 58–70	23–9 (14–7)	Madison Square Garden  New York City, New York
NCAA tournament
March 13*		vs. Long Island First round	W 101–91	24–9 (14–7)	Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum  Winston-Salem, NC
March 15*		vs. California Second round	L 68–75	24–10 (14–7)	Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum  Winston-Salem, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[4]

Rankings

Main article: 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Team players in the 1997 NBA draft

See also: 1997 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	7	Tim Thomas	New Jersey Nets

^[5]

References

1. sports-reference.com 1996-97 Big East Conference Season Summary
2. Keefe, Gavin, "Big East Notes: The Big East 7 and Big East 6? Big Deal!", The Day, January 1, 1996, p. 7.
3. "PLUS: COLLEGE BASKETBALL -- BIG EAST CONFERENCE; League Cuts Games In Search of Bids," The New York Times, August 7, 1998.
4. "1996–97 Villanova Wildcats Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
5. "1997 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 13, 2020.