Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Villanova’s Jenkins and Hart to gauge NBA interest

Josh Hart, Isaac Copeland

Villanova guard Josh Hart (3) shoots in front of Georgetown forward Isaac Copeland (11) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

AP

Fresh off a national championship, Villanova’s junior duo of Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins will submit their names to the NBA draft without immediately hiring an agent, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Joe Juliano. The pair, who were integral in the Wildcats’ run to the title, have Villanova coach Jay Wright’s “blessing,” Juliano wrote. Jenkins, the 6-foot-6 forward who hit the all-time classic game-winner against North Carolina, averaged 13.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game last season while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 38.6 percent from 3-point range. Hart, a six-foot-five guard, put up 15.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game and shot 51.3 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from distance. Neither are right now projected to be first-round picks, and it would seem that both are likely to go through the process and return to the Wildcats given their less-than-stellar draft projection, though it only takes one good workout to change scouts’ perceptions. Hart is definitely the more intriguing NBA prospect heading into this spring.

Still, at this point, it seems likely that the pair will return to help Villanova in its title defense.