1996–97 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1996–97 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball

Big East Regular Season co-champions
NCAA tournament, Round of 32
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 20
Record	24–10 (12–6 Big East)
Head coach	Steve Lappas (5th season)
Home arena	CoreStates Center (Capacity: 6,500)
Seasons← 1995–961997–98 →

1996–97 Big East men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Big East 6
No. 20 Villanova	12	–	6	.667	24	–	10	.706
No. 23 Boston College†	12	–	6	.667	22	–	9	.710
West Virginia	11	–	7	.611	21	–	10	.677
Notre Dame	8	–	10	.444	16	–	14	.533
St. John's	8	–	10	.444	13	–	15	.464
Connecticut	7	–	11	.389	18	–	15	.545
Big East 7
Georgetown	11	–	7	.611	20	–	10	.667
Providence	10	–	8	.556	24	–	12	.667
Pittsburgh	10	–	8	.556	18	–	15	.545
Miami	9	–	9	.500	16	–	13	.552
Syracuse	9	–	9	.500	19	–	13	.594
Seton Hall	5	–	13	.278	10	–	18	.357
Rutgers	5	–	13	.278	11	–	16	.407

† 1997 Big East tournament winner As of March 31, 1997 Rankings from AP poll

The 1996–97 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University in the 1996–97 season. With an overall record 24–10 and conference record of 12–6, the Wildcats placed first in the Big East Conference, and after reaching the finals of the Big East tournament, the team was invited to the NCAA tournament as a 3 seed.

Roster

1996–97 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F	3	Tim Thomas	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Fr	Paterson, New Jersey
G	13	John Celestand	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	So	Piscataway, New Jersey
C	15	Malik Allen	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Fr	Medford, New Jersey
G	20	Alvin Williams	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
C	42	Jason Lawson	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Sr	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Head coach

Steve Lappas

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
November 29*	at American-Puerto Rico	W 68–62	1–0	Eugene Guerra Sports Complex San Juan, Puerto Rico
November 30*	vs. Butler	W 62–54	2–0	Eugene Guerra Sports Complex San Juan, Puerto Rico
December 1*	vs. Tulane	W 85–70	3–0	Eugene Guerra Sports Complex San Juan, Puerto Rico
December 4	Providence	W 75–64	4–0 (1–0)	CoreStates Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 7	at St. John's	W 82–70	5–0 (2–0)	Madison Square Garden New York City, New York
December 10*	at Pennsylvania	W 82–62	6–0 (2–0)	The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 14*	Duke	L 79–87	6–1 (2–0)	CoreStates Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 21*	Mount St. Mary's	W 91–66	7–1 (2–0)	CoreStates Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 23*	at Saint Joseph's	W 81–65	8–1 (2–0)	Hagan Arena Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 28*	Rider	W 75–61	9–1 (2–0)	CoreStates Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 30*	North Carolina-Wilmington	W 87–38	10–1 (2–0)	CoreStates Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 2	Seton Hall	W 88–67	11–1 (3–0)	CoreStates Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 6	at Providence	L 68–91	11–2 (3–1)	Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI
January 8*	Oral Roberts	W 64–46	12–2 (3–1)	CoreStates Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 11	Miami	L 59–61	12–3 (3–2)	CoreStates Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 14	at Notre Dame	W 68–57	13–3 (4–2)	Joyce Center South Bend, IN
January 18	Rutgers	W 79–56	14–3 (5–2)	CoreStates Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 20	Syracuse	L 60–62	14–4 (5–3)	CoreStates Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 25	at Boston College	W 84–66	15–4 (6–3)	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
January 27	at Georgetown	L 67–78	15–5 (6–4)	Capital Centre Landover, Maryland
February 1	at Syracuse	W 70–60	16–5 (7–4)	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY
February 4	West Virginia	W 81–70	17–5 (8–4)	The Pavilion Delaware County, Pennsylvania
February 9*	at No. 3 Kentucky	L 56–93	17–6 (8–4)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
February 12	at Pittsburgh	L 89–95	17–7 (8–5)	Fitzgerald Field House Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
February 16	Notre Dame	W 75–70	18–7 (9–5)	CoreStates Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
February 19	St. John's	W 65–54	19–7 (10–5)	CoreStates Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
February 23	Connecticut	W 65–58	20–7 (11–5)	CoreStates Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
February 26	at West Virginia	L 76–83	20–8 (11–6)	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, WV
March 1	at Rutgers	W 84–74	21–8 (12–6)	Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, NJ
Big East tournament
March 6	vs. Syracuse Quarterfinals	W 80–70	22–8 (13–6)	Madison Square Garden New York City, New York
March 7	vs. Providence Semifinals	W 73–63	23–8 (14–6)	Madison Square Garden New York City, New York
March 8	vs. Boston College Championship	L 58–70	23–9 (14–7)	Madison Square Garden New York City, New York
NCAA tournament
March 13*	vs. Long Island First round	W 101–91	24–9 (14–7)	Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum Winston-Salem, NC
March 15*	vs. California Second round	L 68–75	24–10 (14–7)	Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum Winston-Salem, NC
*Non-conference game. Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Rankings

Main article: 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Team players in the 1997 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	7	Tim Thomas	New Jersey Nets

References

sports-reference.com 1996-97 Big East Conference Season Summary
Keefe, Gavin, "Big East Notes: The Big East 7 and Big East 6? Big Deal!", The Day, January 1, 1996, p. 7.
"PLUS: COLLEGE BASKETBALL -- BIG EAST CONFERENCE; League Cuts Games In Search of Bids," The New York Times, August 7, 1998.
"1996–97 Villanova Wildcats Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
"1997 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 13, 2020.

v t e Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	Jake Nevin Field House (1932–1986) William E. Finneran Pavilion (1986–2017, 2018–present) First Union Spectrum (alternate; 1967–2009) Wells Fargo Center (alternate; 1996–present)
Rivalries	Saint Joseph's
Culture & lore	Will D. Cat City 6 Philadelphia Big 5 Big 5 Classic Robert V. Geasey Trophy "V for Villanova"
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

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