Duke Brennan, Villanova’s faith leader, closes the regular season with another double-double in win over Xavier
The center tied a program record with his 14th double-double and crossed the 1,000-point mark for his career on senior day.
Before every game, Villanova senior center Duke Brennan clutches his bible while seated next to the other four Wildcats starters and says a prayer.
His teammates bow their heads while Brennan prays that “they can put on the full armor of God and get all their distractions away from them.” The bible, given to him by his former Grand Canyon teammate Gabe McGlothan, is then returned to the locker room.
It has become a ritual of sorts, and McGlothan is responsible for it. Brennan was a sophomore at Grand Canyon when McGlothan, a senior at the time, encouraged his teammates, if it was part of their faith, to bring their bibles to the bench. McGlothan “talked about the Lord and how the bible was the sword of the Spirit, and he didn’t want to be the only one bringing the sword out,” Brennan said Saturday after Villanova ended its regular season with a 91-78 victory over Xavier.
Brennan considers his bible Villanova’s sixth man. “I always say, ‘You guys talk about my work ethic and my willingness on the court, I always say that’s the will of God pushing me every single day,’” he said.
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Whatever the cause, Brennan has been using the sword of the Spirit to guide Villanova to a 24-7 overall regular season record and a 15-5 run through the Big East. The Wildcats will be the No. 3 seed in next week’s Big East tournament and are on their way to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022. Brennan has been a key part of it all. He notched his program record-tying 14th double-double Saturday with 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting — crossing the 1,000-point mark for his career in the process — and 13 rebounds on senior day.
Brennan finishes the regular season second in the Big East in rebounds per game (10.5) in his lone season at Villanova. Wildcats coach Kevin Willard has mentioned multiple times this season about playing against Brennan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season when Willard was at Maryland and Brennan was at Grand Canyon.
“I knew what a warrior he was, but I just didn’t know how good of a person he was,” Willard said Saturday. “He’s been the backbone of our inside all year, but he’s been a great leader.”
How does Brennan’s leadership show, besides the pregame prayers? Willard pointed to Brennan’s work ethic. “When he speaks, he backs it up with how hard he works,” Willard said.
Brennan was asked postgame Saturday why he ended up at Villanova for his final season of eligibility. Willard’s answer moments earlier about their tournament matchup last season was on his mind.
“I got pressed for 40 minutes in March Madness and couldn’t score, so then I was like, ‘I want to be on that guy’s team,’” Brennan said jokingly. “That’s basically how it went.”
However and for whatever reason Villanova landed him, Brennan has been a perfect fit.
“I think he represents what all the other former players who played here represent,” Willard said.
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Brennan carries a different bible for road games. He travels with a coach’s bible given to him by Grand Canyon assistant Casey Shaw. Brennan said he hasn’t earned any new nicknames. None of his new teammates call him “the preacher,” for example. But he said he can see the impact the pregame prayers and his messages rooted in faith have had on his teammates.
Sophomore forward Malachi Palmer, a Maryland transfer, said after a 15-point performance in a win over Seton Hall in February that he credited a lot of his success in his second college basketball season to the way he refocused his relationship with his faith.
“Even if I was a small part of that, that’s what I try to do,” Brennan said. “If I can inspire one person, I feel like I got my job done.”
Brennan’s sister, Breann, was at Finneran Pavilion on Saturday to join Brennan on the floor for his senior day celebration. But Brennan also brought Mary Ann McCarthy, a local woman he met at church. Brennan attends Mass at the St. Thomas of Villanova Church at 10:30 on Sunday mornings.
He’ll be there again Sunday morning. The regular season ended Saturday, but more basketball awaits for Brennan and the Wildcats.
“It’s a good way to mentally refresh myself during the week,” he said. “I’ll do it tomorrow, and we’ll push into the Big East tournament, put it all in God’s hands, but go out there and play the game we know we can play.”