VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) – Kris Jenkins buried the 3-pointer that sparked book deals, red carpet photo ops, a White House trip, a handful of award banquets and hundreds of perks that come with winning a national championship.
But the national title did come with a tinge of pressure that lingered into this season – can Villanova beat the odds and become the first back-to-back national champs in 10 years?
“It’s always a reminder that everybody expects you to do it again,” coach Jay Wright said. “That’s part of the challenge. When people say it’s hard to repeat, that’s part of why it’s hard to repeat, is because you have to deal with those expectations all the time, those constant reminders of last year.”
The reminders of April were impossible to ignore this season.
So were the warnings for the rest of the NCAA Tournament bracket that this season’s Wildcats just might be better than last year’s edition.