PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A ruling by the NCAA last October is giving Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels another year of basketball on the Main Line.
Both seniors announced their intentions to return, thanks to a decision made before the start of this past season.
Because of the cancellation of the 2020 post-season due to the pandemic, all seniors in 2021 were given the opportunity for an extra year of eligibility.
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Gillespie believes another year of college basketball will not only get him another chance at a national championship, but also help prepare him for his professional career.
"Me coming back and getting healthy was really important," said Gillespie. "Just having another year at school to mature and grow as a person and a player was also really important."
Gillespie's health played a major role in his decision to return. He suffered a knee injury at the end of the 2021 season. He missed out on a chance to play in the Big East Tournament as well as the NCAA Tournament.
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Gillespie had a chance to rethink his plans for the NBA, and decided another year at Villanova was the best choice.
"I think I was ready if I wasn’t injured to make that leap to the next level," Gillespie said. "Obviously getting injured, it puts everything into perspective."
Villanova coach Jay Wright did all he could to make the decision as easy as possible for his players. While Wright is no doubt happy to have Gillespie and Samuels back, he wanted to make sure it was the right decision for both of his seniors.
Wright also needed to move forward, no matter what decision was made.
"It was a unique balance in giving them our opinion and hoping they would speed up their decision making," said Wright.
"You had so many people calling in that want to transfer, and you have guys on the team wondering if they're going to stay or not."
The return of Gillespie and Samuels will help offset the loss of Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, who elected to enter the NBA Draft. The chance to play professionally can wait for Gillespie and Samuels.
For Samuels, a return is an opportunity to make a bigger impact on the history of the program.
"This place is really special to me," Samuels said.
"I have another opportunity to get better, to become a better Villanova basketball program, and to become even more of a staple in the Villanova program."