Watching Villanova these days, it’s easy to forget that not too long ago, the program was a wreck.
Have you forgotten the 2012 basketball season? Darrun Hilliard and JayVaughn Pinkston — the only seniors on this 32-2 Villanova powerhouse — haven’t.
They lived it. They survived it.
Three years ago, Villanova went 13-19, losing 19 of its last 27 games and nine of its last 12. The Wildcats went from being ranked among the top 30 in the country in November to a laughingstock six weeks later.
They lost by 16 to a St. Joe’s team that finished fifth in the Atlantic 10. They lost by 21 to a Georgetown team that finished fifth in the Big East. They lost three times by a combined 40 points to a South Florida team that lost 14 games.
Let’s face it.
They were awful.
“I remember a lot of things out of that year,” Hilliard said. “What were we, 13-19? It was tough, man. It was difficult. Going through that and then coming back [the next year] and then losing to Columbia?
“It was tough. It was a rough road. Me and Jay (Pinkston) were the only [freshmen] that went through it and stayed.
“We’ve been through it. We’ve been through the ugly days and persevered and kind of broke through and still going. It was a great learning experience. I hope none of these guys have to go through it. But for us, it was a great learning experience.”
From Nov. 25 through Feb. 25, the span of three months, that Villanova team won seven games.
Three freshmen from Wright’s prized recruiting class bolted after the season. Markus Kennedy left for SMU, where he’s now starring for Larry Brown. Ty Johnson wound up starting for South Carolina and Achraf Yacoubou resurfaced at Saint Louis.
Hilliard and Pinkston stuck it out, and now they are two pivotal pieces of a 32-2 Wildcats team that’s ranked No. 2 and seeded No. 1 in the NCAA Tournament East region.
The Wildcats open at 6:50 p.m. Thursday against No. 16 seed Lafayette at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh.
The Wildcats haven’t even gotten out of the regional quarterfinals since the 2009 team went to the Final Four. It was that magical run that helped persuade Hilliard, Pinkston and the others to play at Villanova.
They weren’t counting on 13-19.
"This is a really unique pair in that if you look at this class, it started with five guys,” Wright said.
“These guys lived through 13-19, and they are the only guys in the program who really understand, because everyone else in the program has done nothing but win.
“There have been countless times this season that I can refer to JayVaughn and Darrun and tell the guys, ‘Talk to them, remember how quickly this can go [bad],’ and they have done a great job keeping the team in line and have led us all the way through to this point.”
This is really a fairly young Villanova team that’s won 32 of 34 games, coasted through the Big East Tournament and avenged its only two losses (at Seton Hall, at Georgetown) with lopsided wins in the rematch.
More than 70 percent of Villanova’s scoring has come from underclassmen, and there have been key moments down the stretch in which sophomores Kris Jenkins and Josh Hart and freshman Phil Booth have been on the court with juniors Daniel Ochefu and Ryan Arcidiacono.
But Hilliard and Pinkston have been at the heart of everything Villanova has done. Pinkston contributes defense, a physical post presence and power on the boards. Hilliard is a polished offensive player, a terrific defender and a willing rebounder.
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And both are tremendous leaders.
No team in Villanova history has lost more games than the 2012 team.
No team in Villanova history has won more games than the 2015 team.
Hilliard and Pinkston have experienced both.
“That year, we didn’t have any leadership,” Pinkston said. “Everybody was just out for themselves.”
Villanova’s two leading scorers from that 2012 team, Maalik Wayns and Dominic Cheek, declared for the NBA draft and left school early.
But things didn’t turn around immediately. The 2013 team won just four of its first eight games, and suffered that ghastly 18-point loss on campus to a Columbia team that finished 12-16 and won just four games in the Ivy League.
But with seniors James Bell and Tony Chennault finally providing long-absent senior leadership, the Wildcats went 29-5 last year, and they're now 61-7 over the last two years.
And 13-19 seems like a distant memory. Although it’s one that Hilliard and Pinkston say they both learned from.
“I think it humbled us,” Hilliard said. “It humbled us a lot. We needed to be humbled and we needed to let Coach coach us, and we went through that and I’m glad we did. Nobody wants to go through 13-19, but I think it definitely taught us a lot of lessons.”
This team is the opposite of that team.
They play for each other instead of themselves. They're always looking for the extra pass instead of the quickest shot. They'd rather defend than score.
“Just having faith in the program, faith in Coach Wright, faith in the guys we had,” Pinkston said. “We knew we just had to buy into what Coach said, have a common goal — to work hard — and that’s what we did. Everybody worked, and it’s paid off.”
Wright said the greatest value in having people like Pinkston and Hilliard in the program is how they pass their work ethic, determination and persistence down to the current juniors.
Who will in turn pass it down to the sophomores.
“I think you’re going to see the most important thing that they’ve done is when you see Daniel and Ryan next year,” Wright said.
“Those guys really look up to those two, and they take responsibility for those guys. You’re going to see two really good leaders because of them.”
So when the winningest Villanova team in the program’s 95-year history takes the court against Lafayette Thursday night, a small piece of the losingest team will be on the court as well.
Driving them. Motivating them. Pushing them.
“We try not to think about the past, because you can’t change it,” Pinkston said. “Just have to keep working and keep moving forward.
“But that year, it did help shape me. It shaped me so much. Me and Darrun, we’re the last people left from the team. We’ve seen the good and the bad. And the good, this is so much better.”