Scottie Reynolds News

The Wildcats are loaded with talent and experience among the guards. All-Big East pick Scottie Reynolds is the leader.

Big things are expected from the UConn men's basketball team this season. Hasheem Thabeet spent the summer dunking on anyone who guarded him, point guard A.J. Price is nearly all the way back from his torn ...

Counting Kevin Durant among your former teammates has its plusses and minuses. On the positive side, there's a lot of attention.

The Nova Notebook, by Villanova director of media relations Mike Sheridan, appears weekly during the fall and into the basketball season and periodically from May through August.

“That was incredible ...We showed great heart, and Malcolm was incredible. I can't ever remember winning like that. They had us.”

Malcolm Grant vs. LSU Corey Marine Media Credit: Matthew Bandelt Malcolm Grant drives to the basket. via The Villanovan

Villanova sophomore guard Scottie Reynolds will remain in school and not test the waters for the NBA Draft, according to Wildcats coach Jay Wright. via Fox Sports

“I don't begrudge Tom Crean or anyone else leaving to take another job”

MORE: More Rivals.com Basketball Recruiting Terrell Holloway considered it an insurance policy he never expected to use. via Rivals

FOUR FORMER NORTHERN VIRGINIA high school boys' basketball players competed in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament last week. via Alexandria Gazette-Packet

Russell Robinson of Kansas, in our estimation, is the best defensive guard in college hoops. via The Big Lead

“He's a great player who can do everything. (But) it is a team effort here at Davidson. It's our entire team and coaching staff - although he has a lot to do with it.”

Davidson guard Stephen Curry, so smooth on the court and usually so smooth in speaking, stumbled over his words Friday night during postgame interviews. via MySanAntonio.com

“He has the ball in his hands a lot and can get a shot at any time.”

Kansas figures to become a lot more familiar with a player who was supposed to play in the Jayhawks' conference.

Kansas faces Villanova and sophomore point guard Scottie Reynolds in tonight's Midwest Regional semifinal. Reynolds signed with Oklahoma, but when Kelvin Sampson took the Indiana job, OU released Reynolds from his scholarship and he signed with Villanova.

A 6-foot-2 sophomore, Reynolds leads the 12th-seeded Wildcats with 16 points per game.

Kansas senior guard Russell Robinson, who along with backcourt teammates Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins will concentrate on wrapping up Reynolds, believes there's a Big 12 Conference prototype. Read more

It's never fun to have your bracket busted. The NCAA men's basketball tournament is my favorite sporting event of the year. via Register-Pajaronian

“Steph's parents did a great job with him”

Russell Robinson and his Kansas teammates are duly impressed with Davidson shooting star Stephen Curry.

Then again, Russell believes he sees the nation's best guards every time his Jayhawks practice.

'Honestly, I think we have the best backcourt in the country. We can get after it at both ends of the court,' he said Saturday. 'They're playing really well right now. But I still think we're the best.'

Robinson and top-seeded Kansas play Curry and 10th-seeded Davidson in the Midwest Regional final Sunday. Read more

“I thought it was a reach, a real reach. But everything has clicked and we're very fortunate to be in this position.”

Villanova might have learned the most from its season-ending loss.

The Wildcats saw the kind of team they want to become in Kansas: A postseason-tested and tough team that doesn't rely on underclassman to lead them, has the confidence to beat anyone and won't consider a Sweet 16 berth a successful season.

The Jayhawks dominated Villanova (22-13) from start to finish in a 72-57 win Friday night in the Midwest Regional semifinal, ending a season that saw the Wildcats go from a tournament maybe to one of March's biggest surprises. Read more

“They can do whatever they want”

As Kansas' Russell Robinson approached the steps to practice Thursday on the raised court at Ford Field, he said, 'Wow!'

Wow, indeed.

Not your usual setup for a basketball game.

Not only from the standpoint of the wide-open spaces of such a vast arena with a capacity of 72,818 for tonight's Sweet 16 games.

It's the raised court -- 27 inches, to be exact -- that first grabs the players' attention. It looked like a setup for a boxing ring.

For those sitting courtside, you get a terrific view of players' knees. Read more

“It's over and done with. We're just ready to play.”

D ETROIT | Listening to Jay Wright talk, you'd think he would give anything to coach Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins.

Wright, the Villanova head coach, has tutored some of the top guards in college basketball the last four years. When he had the chance to watch Kansas' Chalmers and Collins up close at the 2007 USA Basketball Pan American Games team tryouts last summer, he couldn't help but get lost in the moment.

'You think, 'I wonder what they're like to coach, I wonder if they're tough to deal with,' ' Wright said. 'Because they're stars. You see them. You see their talent. But then you get to coach them and you see they're good kids. Those guys were proud to be there. They were unselfish. They listened to anything you told them to do. I was so impressed.' Read more

“Guys that come off the bench could be starters on teams in this Sweet 16”

Scottie Reynolds might not be here today if a woman he has never met had made a different decision years ago. via KMOV-TV Saint Louis

“My teammates have faith in me and they jumped on my back and I have faith in them”

Scottie Reynolds calls the one-inch long, deep scar above his right eye "pretty ugly." His Villanova teammates say the gash reflects what their determined point guard is all about. via WPVI-TV Philadelphia

“I knew we were going to be good, I just didn't know when”

Quick, try to find Davidson on a map. Name Western Kentucky's conference. This is the time in the NCAA tournament when basketball fans love to root for those double-digit-seeded underdogs and all those fuzzy ... via KMOV-TV Saint Louis

Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points, Corey Fisher added 17 and the 12th-seeded Wildcats gave this NCAA tournament pod its fourth upset in four games. via Home News Tribune