Off to an 11-0 start to the season, No. 1 Villanova will be without a member of its perimeter rotation when the team returns to action Friday night against Hofstra. On Tuesday it was announced that freshman guard Collin Gillespie has been ruled out indefinitely, as an examination of his injured left hand revealed a broken bone.
Gillespie suffered the injury in practice ahead of Villanova’s December 10 victory over La Salle, with the Wildcats also beating Temple since losing the reserve guard. In nine games Gillespie averaged 4.4 points and 1.3 assists in 13.2 minutes of action per game, shooting 46.4 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three.
“We’re really disappointed for Collin,” head coach Jay Wright said in the release. “He was playing great for us. We miss him on this team. We’re still struggling to replace him. But I know with his positive attitude and work ethic he’ll get back on the court as soon as he can.
“We’ll continue to evaluate Collin’s situation as we move ahead.”
Without Gillespie the Villanova rotation shrinks by one, but it isn’t as if this group lacks the pieces needed to continue on its current run as Big East play approaches.
Jalen Brunson, Phil Booth, Donte DiVincenzo and Mikal Bridges have received the lion’s share of the minutes on the perimeter this season and that will continue to be the case. The loss of Gillespie likely means that his minutes are spread out amongst those four players moving forward.