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Villanova 2016 ‘upsets’ Villanova 2018 in virtual matchup of NCAA champs | Mike Jensen

It was goofy — including Jalen Brunson guarding ... Jalen Brunson — and proved nothing. And it was fun.

Kris Jenkins (left), Josh Hart would have laughed after the results of Monday's virtual game.
Kris Jenkins (left), Josh Hart would have laughed after the results of Monday's virtual game.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer

It was goofy, and proved nothing. And it was fun, watching Villanova’s 2016 NCAA champions “play” Villanova’s 2018 NCAA champions Monday night in a virtual game.

The fun part was that most of the participants were watching live, shown on screen, trash-talking each other, incredulous at the substitution rotations and shot selections. In reality, the WSOE computer model did not come close to simulating how either of those teams played the game of basketball.

Still, you got to see Jalen Brunson guarding Jalen Brunson, since Brunson played on both teams. Phil Booth may have scored 20 points in the 2016 title game, but there Booth was, hitting two last-minute threes for the ‘18 team to force this game into overtime.

Kris Jenkins didn’t hit a miracle shot this time as he did in ’16, but he did hit a Kareem-style skyhook, which even surprised the real Kris Jenkins, who said he doesn’t have that in his repertoire.

Josh Hart was a dominant force, eventually named player of the game, while Josh Hart watched, sipping wine.

The actual players did have some limited input into the outcome, since they had gotten together in advance and debated what ratings each player should have. “That was quite a time,’’ said Kevin Rafferty, a walk-on the 2016 team, who had organized this venture. Rafferty noted that guys were arguing they should have had a lower rating on the ‘16 team because they were also on the ‘18 team.

Daniel Ochefu said he thought he was underrated by a couple of points. But Ochefu still did his thing inside.

“What about the attitude score?’’ one of the players said online when ratings were shown, making it clear that Villanova had its own internal rankings system.

Interestingly, the ‘18 team had the higher collective rankings, but that mattered little once the game began, the ‘16 team starting out hot.

The whole thing was shown on YouTube, fans commenting over on the side. They’d talked about trying to pitch it to a network entity but decided the complications were too many. They raised more than $20,000 for Philabundance, the local hunger relief agency, with viewers asked to vote for their favorite team by donating, and the alumni players also pitching in, including doing things like betting on which team would win the opening tip and hit the first basket.

The group took no chances on NCAA eligibility issues, so current players Collin Gillespie, Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, and Jermaine Samuels, who had all played in 2018, weren’t in this “game.”

The computer model ignored the overall shooting capabilities of the 2018 team, apparently respecting the defensive capabilities of the 2016 team. (My own prediction: The ‘18 team would win six or seven of every 10 matchups.)

Coach Jay Wright did appear, interviewed live at halftime by 2016 player Darryl Reynolds, who was the online host. Wright passed on picking a favorite team but did note how he might try to go at each team, maybe by going at the first-year players on the respective teams. Wright said that was a sign of how tough those teams were, since those players, Omari Spellman in ‘18 and Jalen Brunson in ‘16, both went on the NBA.

Chuck Everson from the 1985 NCAA title team appeared as a guest after the third quarter, saying his group wanted winners.

Donte DiVincenzo hit some big shots, but not as many as in the 2018 title game. Ryan Arcidiacono didn’t have the same impact he had in ‘16, but he made two free throws that proved to be decisive as his squad took this by two points in overtime. (The low final score of 57-55 was misleading because the game was short.) Jalen Brunson actually hit the last point on a foul shot in OT for ‘16, even though he was rooting hard for the ‘18 squad he led to the title as national player of the year.

At the buzzer, the whole thing had done exactly nothing to end the “Who’s better?” debate that goes on endlessly between the participants.

“We play right now,’’ Brunson announced when it was over. “See how it really goes.”