Earlier this evening, Class of 2019 five-star recruit Jeremiah Robinson-Earl verbally committed to the Wildcats, likely putting the lid on the best-ranked class in program history. The 6-8 power forward, who is playing his senior season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL, was heavily recruited by the likes of Notre Dame, Arizona, and North Carolina before deciding between his final two of the Wildcats and the Kansas Jayhawks. With his signature, Wright currently has secured the 2^ndranked class in the nation per the 247Sports Team Rankings, following last year’s 9^thranked class. These are the first two top 10 classes the Wildcats have landed since 2009. 

When it came to deciding between the Main Line and Lawrence, KS, the “small community” on campus drew Robinson-Earl in, and he was also attracted to the greater Philadelphia community where “everybody there is down for Villanova… I thought that was cool.”

A Kansas native who also won Gatorade Player of the Year before leaving for Florida, Robinson-Earl was for a long time considered close to a lock to commit to his home state school under Bill Self. However, after an official visit to the Main Line in mid-September the whispers among experts grew that Wright and his staff had made an especially strong pitch and that they were in the running. These whispers intensified over the past month before experts began to come out in force to predict his intent to choose Villanova roughly a week ago

Although some consider him a “one-and-done” candidate destined for the NBA after his freshman season, Robinson-Earl’s high school coach in announcing his decision described him as a “multi-year player,” a possibly massive development for a frontcourt that his sophomore season at this point only has him and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree as realistic options to play significant minutes at the five.

Even if Wright had closed shop after securing Antoine in September, it looked like a new perception had formed around Wright’s program as a place future pros can go to prepare for a future in the NBA. But now that Robinson-Earl has joined as another five-star widely seen as a future first-round pick, whether after their freshman season or later, Wright and Villanova fans can prepare to enter the heart of the 2020 recruiting period knowing they are in the game for any recruit, as long as they adhere to Wright’s Villanova Attitude.