Get to Know a Recruit: Villanova’s Donte DiVincenzo

In the college basketball recruiting Class of 2015, the best guard from Delaware was Donte DiVincenzo and on Jan. 3, 2014 he decided to live out his childhood dream of playing for the Wildcats.

The Nova recruit is a 6-foot-4, 170 pound combo-guard from Wilmington, Del. who had a solid high school career. At Salesianum High School, he had three solid seasons where the guard would improve on his scoring each year.

As a sophomore, DiVincenzo averaged 14.9 points per game and 15.8 points as a junior. The guard would play his AAU basketball with Team Final and was highly recruited by teams on the east coast.

Teams such as Syracuse, Pitt, Florida, Vanderbilt and Rutgers all made the guard’s final six teams along with Nova, but the Wildcats signed him in the end.

An interesting part of DiVincenzo’s journey to Villanova is the fact that the guard had to choose between playing soccer and basketball before high school. He was good at both, but according to VUHoops.com, DiVincenzo told his dad when he was younger that he wanted to be just like the college basketball players that he would watch on television.

DiVincenzo can bring a number of skills to Jay Wright’s squad, especially with his size for the guard position. The freshman will be able to comfortably play both guard positions and use his instincts to make all of the necessary plays on the floor.

If the Wildcats want to play small with three guards on the floor at one time, DiVincenzo can battle with taller players and hold his own defensively. His athleticism is great too and the new Wildcat can play above the basket.

DiVincenzo also has accurate range from downtown, which fits perfectly into Wright’s system of solid shooting and guard dominated lineups. It is safe to say that if you are a guard in the Villanova system and are a solid shooter that you will thrive.

Villanova is still a team that has some veteran presence with Ryan Arcidiacono who is back for his senior season. DiVincenzo can certainly learn some skills and important lessons from the Arch. On the floor, ball handling and passing are things that can be passed on. Of course, his class and professionalism in addition to making the transition from high school to college a little bit easier.

The Wildcats lost many key players that helped lead the team to a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament including Darrun Hilliard, JayVaughn Pinkston and Dylan Ennis, but once again Wright reloaded and the Cats should be ready to defend their conference crown.

DiVincenzo’s size, poise and ability to play above the rim should allow Villanova to have another solid season. It helps that the Wildcats will be a mix of veteran, young and talented players. If the guards can continue to develop, look out for Nova once again.

Along with Jalen Brunson and Tim Delaney, DiVincenzo will look to help the Wildcats defend their Big East championship in a year when many teams can win it.