On July 8, 2023, the New York Knicks announced that the team had signed former two-time Villanova national champion and 2020-2021 NBA Champion guard Donte Divincenzo. Then, against (some) odds, guard Ryan Arcidiacono, re-signed with the Knicks on Sept. 15, 2023, completing the “quadfecta” of ‘Nova players on the Knicks: guard Jalen Brunson, forward Josh Hart, Divincenzo and Arcidiacono.
Not only do these players add a winning culture to the Knicks, but it more-or-less tells a story about the Villanova Basketball program: that it has an underrated, winning culture. This culture was mainly built by no other than former head coach Jay Wright, who coached all four of the current Knicks during his 21 year tenure.
Looking at the former ‘Cats in the NBA, some analysts questioned if Brunson was worth his four-year, $104 million contract going into the 2022-2023 season after the Dallas Mavericks did not re-sign him during free agency. But, after averaging 24 points and 6.2 assists in the 2022-23 season, Brunson proved his ability to bring a winning culture to the Knicks after they experienced years of playoff drought and internal problems with players and management.
Hart, Donte and Arcidiacono also had unbeatable effects on the NBA during their careers, after taking part in playoff and even championship rosters.
Brunson, Hart and forward Mikal Bridges, had substantial contributions to the USA basketball team in the qualifying rounds of the FIBA World Cup. The team finished fourth after losing to Canada in the third place game, despite Bridges’ buzzer beater shot to send the game to overtime.
“Obstacles are going to happen in any style of basketball or any league,” Brunson said to Sports Illustrated. “It’s all about how you bounce back, how you respond and how you overcome those obstacles, how you really … not necessarily change your game but your mind has to change now that it’s single-game elimination, things like that. So you can’t ease into games, just got to tap in from the beginning. It’s a basketball game. There’s a lot at stake, but there’s no pressure. We’ve just got to go out there and play our style, do what we do, and stay together, just bounce back.”
After being taught the iconic Villanova basketball “attitude,” during their time as Wildcats, the Villanova Knicks are sure to embody this winning culture, constantly bringing it to the NBA.
Let’s call it now: the New York Knicks are more successful because of the ‘Nova players it has added to its roster.
