Villanova's Eric Paschall already proving to be ‘big' contributor

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It had been over 20 months since Eric Paschall last started a college basketball game when Villanova head coach Jay Wright told the Fordham transfer he’d be in the starting lineup for Wednesday night’s game vs. the College of Charleston.

Kris Jenkins, the hero who hit one of the biggest shots in March Madness history to lift Villanova to last season’s national title — when Paschall was on the team but ineligible for games because of NCAA transfer rules — was the reason for that.

Jenkins did not start because he missed a class — a minor disciplinary action that didn’t prevent the star forward from still putting in a full shift. But it did open a door for Paschall, who finished with eight points and five rebounds in a 63-47 win over the Cougars while showing the same kind of versatility Jenkins possesses.

“Kris Jenkins has done a great job in that area in his career and Eric can do the same,” Villanova head coach Jay Wright said. “Kris can play the 2, 3, 4, and 5 and I think Eric will be able to do the same. It’s something that’s really important in our program and I think Eric can be great in that area.”

A 6-foot-7, 250-pound forward, Paschall was mostly used as a guard during his dominant freshman season at Fordham in 2014-15 when he was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. But once Wright learned that 6-foot-9 freshman Omari Spellman would be ineligible this season, he told Paschall that he’d be needed to bolster a thin frontcourt and even, at times, match up with opposing centers.

In just his second game with the ’Cats, the sophomore certainly helped with that in Villanova’s 79-76 win over a Purdue team that features 7-foot-2, 290-pound center Isaac Haas.

It’s fair to say he wasn’t used to matching up against players that big during his Atlantic 10 days — but so far, he’s been up to the challenge.

“At this level, you have to be prepared to guard anybody, 1 through 5,” Paschall said. “Just get in the mindset to defend anyone. It doesn’t matter how big they are or how small they are.”

Paschall admitted he used to play as a center before developing an outside shot, so he’s not going into this experiment blind. In fact, playing a variety of positions on the floor is something he “takes pride in,” especially now, as he’s helped the defending national champs get off to a 6-0 start and soar to No. 2 in the country.

Through six games, Paschall is averaging 8.7 points and 3.2 points per game and has shown to be adept at both shooting threes and banging in the paint.

“Getting low is an advantage for me and also being quick,” he said. “It’s gonna be important for us.”

Even though Paschall has already contributed valuable minutes — which, until Wednesday, came off the bench — he’s still shown some inconsistency, finishing with zero rebounds in 23 minutes in a 76-65 win over Western Michigan last week.

That’s something Wright is hoping Paschall will improve as the season goes on — perhaps by looking at star swingman Josh Hart, who led the team with 11 rebounds in Wednesday's win over Charleston.

“Eric is a mismatch for anybody,” the Villanova head coach said. “I thought [Wednesday] was a good night for him. He’s getting better. To have a national player of the year candidate like Josh get 11 rebounds … he’s thinking team and Eric’s learning from him. Eric sees him go get 11 rebounds and he’s gonna go get 11 rebounds. And that’s gonna make us a good team.”

The Wildcats, of course, are already a good team. It remains to be seen just how good they’ll be a season after winning the national championship, but we’ll find out more about them over the next month with four of their next five games coming against Big 5 opponents.

That begins Tuesday when, after a much-needed six-day break, the Wildcats take on Penn at the Palestra — Paschall’s first-ever Big 5 game.

“That’s always exciting,” Wright said. “Eric doesn’t know a lot about that. Donte [DiVincenzo] doesn’t know a lot about. I think we have to educate them on the intensity they’re gonna get face. We’ve got to get everyone playing harder because those games are more intense.”

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