JOSH HART MAKES WOODEN AWARD WATCH LIST - ALL-MET ELITE

JOSH HART

 MAKES

WOODEN WATCH LIST

ALL-MET ELITE

 

SIDWELL FRIENDS H.S.

WASHINGTON D.C.

COURTESY

of

ESPN

 

First of all: How has Villanova's basketball team never been ranked No. 1 before this week? Kerry Kittles' socks were never given one measly, deferential week atop the Associated Press poll? Our fifth-grade AAU team wore knee-high socks for a whole summer in 1995! We understood the meaning of respect. What a travesty.

With that bone properly picked, we can think of no better time to introduce Hart to the Wooden Watch's top five.

Hart has been hovering in the honorable mentions for weeks. He's never among the first few names mentioned in any player of the year discussion. In the Big East, Providence's Kris Dunn understandably maintains most of the mindshare. Even in the context of Villanova, Ryan Arcidiacono, reigning Big East Player of the Year, is the first dude discussed. Which is understandable. No elite team of 2015-16 is as much of a starless ensemble as Jay Wright's. It vastly exceeds the sum of its parts and takes that compliment in stride.

Yet Hart is the best and most important of those parts. He is Villanova's leading scorer (15.4 points per game), its second-leading rebounder (7.4) and its co-leader in steals (1.3). He takes 25.6 percent of Nova's shots -- the next closest Wildcat, Kris Jenkins, doesn't break 24 percent -- and makes 63 percent of his 2-point field goal attempts. His rebounding covers for Jenkins, an ostensible 4-man who leads the team in 3s and very much prefers not to play around the rim. Hart's interior accuracy makes Villanova's offense reliable even when the Wildcats aren't making 3s. His strengths mask other's weaknesses.