‘Villanova Knicks’ roster is unprecedented in NBA history

When the Knicks acquired Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets, it gave them four players from the 2016 national champion Villanova Wildcats, with Bridges joining college teammates Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo, who of whom have come to the Big Apple over the last two years. The Knicks also earlier employed Villanova alumnus Ryan Arcidiacono – who rejoined the team after being included in New York’s trade for Hart at the previous deadline – before trading him to the Detroit Pistons in February.

Four former Wildcats matches the most players from one university on an NBA roster in recent memory. The 2015-16 Phoenix Suns had four Kentucky Wildcats in Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, Archie Goodwin and Brandon Knight. The 1997-98 Boston Celtics, led by former UK coach Rick Pitino, also briefly had four Wildcats during the eight games Reggie Hansen played alongside Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer and Walter McCarty. And the woeful 2014-15 Philadelphia 76ers rostered four former UCLA Bruins during the season, but never more than two at one time.

There are some crucial differences with this current Knicks squad, though. Their four guys aren’t just from the same college. They’re from the same team. These four Wildcats also won a national title together. Three of them won a second without Hart in 2018. These Knicks are a contender, too, while those other teams weren’t cracking the .500 mark.

They could very well make it five if they decide to bring back Arcidiacono as a 15th man (though it’s unlikely they would do that) while adding Lowry to get to six Villanova alums. It’s unlikely they’ll try to add ex-NBA players Eric Paschall and Omari Spellman, last seen playing professionally in Puerto Rico and South Korea, respectively.

What NBA team had the most alumni from one college at once? That would be the 1949-50 Indianapolis Olympians, who had six former Kentucky players (plus Mac McMullen, who played two years at UK before transferring to Xavier).

The Cincinnati Royals built a strong team in the mid-60’s based on players from local colleges, including Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson and Jack Twyman from the University of Cincinnati. But that was in the age of “territorial picks,” when teams could forfeit their first-round pick to sign any player from within 50 miles of their home arena. They benefited from an unusual amount of quality “territorial” players from Dayton, Miami of Ohio, Louisville and Ohio State before the draft was revamped in 1966.

But this Knicks team is unprecedented. The former Wildcats all like each other and they’re all good players. If the franchise was simply adding Villanova guys due to an executive whims, that might be disastrous, but these players are also complementary.

The biggest danger will come at the end of the season. What if Villanova makes a deep run in the NCAA Tournament? March Madness could be distracting a full third of the Knicks roster for three weekends. And if it doesn’t work out with this group, Knicks owner James Dolan can always start collecting players from UConn instead.