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Villanova's Josh Hart Gives No. 1 Seed Confidence Off Bench

By Kevin McGuire

Name: Josh Hart
University: Villanova University
Year: Sophomore
Height: 6-5
Weight: 205 lb.
Hometown: Silver Spring, Maryland
Position: Guard

March is a magical month that has a way of throwing players into the college basketball spotlight when you least expect it. Such was the case for Villanova guard Josh Hart, who jumped off the bench when called on by Jay Wright last week and played his way to Big East tournament MVP honors. A sixth man had never won the Dave Gavitt Most Outstanding Player Award, awarded to the tournament MVP, before Hart did following Villanova’s Big East championship victory over Xavier, essentially clinching a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Hart joined an historic list of Big East tournament winners that includes Chris Mullin, Patrick Ewing and Villanova’s own Kerry Kittles.

"I know I'm going to sound like a broken record the last couple of days, but I got to shout out to my teammates," Hart said following the Big East championship victory. "The confidence they had in me. They kept on finding me when I was open.”

That is the formula for Villanova. The Wildcats are a team that distributes the praise as well as it does the basketball.

Hart is coming off a memorable performance in the Big East tournament. The tournament MVP scored an average of 17.7 points per game. He was as close to automatic from the field as you can get in a conference tournament off the bench, draining 21 of his 29 shots. Beyond the three-point line Hart found a groove by sinking nine of his 14 three-point attempts. If he continues to contribute like that off the bench in the NCAA tournament, Villanova will be a tough out for anyone in their way of their quest to reach Indianapolis, site of this year’s Final Four.

Just a sophomore, Hart has spent much of his time on the Main Line backing up Villanova’s Darrun Hilliard and Ryan Arcidiacono. Guard, after all, is Villanova’s key position and it is deep. That could very well change next season, but for now Hart will be content to come off the bench and chip in as much as he can when needed. The Silver Springs, Maryland product from Sidwell Friends can score a number of different ways, which is what makes him so dangerous off the bench. Having a player with multiple skills to call off the bench is valuable to Wright, and allows Villanova to continue running its offensive system without losing a step. More importantly, Hart has earned the respect of his teammates, which was evident after the victory over Xavier as the tournament MVP award was just about to be announced. The team gathered around Hart, chanting in unison in support of their teammate before the tournament MVP winner had been announced. They all knew who the most valuable player was last week in Madison Square Garden before it was made official. Sixth men rarely get that kind of attention, but maybe Villanova is unique in that way.

As Villanova prepares for this year’s tournament, which opens later this week against Nick Lindner and Lafayette on Thursday in Pittsburgh, Hart will have some tournament experience to fall back on. In last year’s NCAA tournament, Hart scored 11 points and three rebounds in a second round victory over Milwaukee. He also saw 24 minutes against UConn in a Round of 32 loss.

Kevin McGuire is a Philadelphia area sports writer covering the Philadelphia Eagles and college football. McGuire is a member of the FWAA and National Football Foundation. Follow McGuire on Twitter @KevinOnCFB. His work can be found on Examiner.com.

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