2005–06 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2005–06 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University in the 2005–06 college basketball season. This team is typically credited with re-establishing Villanova as a national powerhouse after nearly two decades of underwhelming performances.

2005–06 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
Big East Season Co-Champion
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
ConferenceBig East Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 5
APNo. 3
Record28–5 (14–2 Big East)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaThe Pavilion
Seasons
2005–06 Big East men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 2 Connecticut 14 2   .875 30 4   .882
No. 3 Villanova 14 2   .875 28 5   .848
No. 22 West Virginia 11 5   .688 22 11   .667
Marquette 10 6   .625 20 11   .645
No. 23 Georgetown 10 6   .625 23 10   .697
No. 16 Pittsburgh 10 6   .625 25 8   .758
Seton Hall 9 7   .563 18 12   .600
Cincinnati 8 8   .500 21 13   .618
No. 21 Syracuse 7 9   .438 23 12   .657
Rutgers 7 9   .438 19 14   .576
Louisville 6 10   .375 21 13   .618
Notre Dame 6 10   .375 16 14   .533
DePaul* 5 11   .313 12 15   .444
Providence* 5 11   .313 12 15   .444
St. John's* 5 11   .313 12 15   .444
South Florida* 1 15   .063 7 22   .241
2006 Big East tournament winner
As of April 3, 2006[1]
Rankings from AP Poll
*Did not qualify for 2006 Big East tournament.

Villanova, led by head coach Jay Wright, spent most of the season competing with Duke and Big East rival Connecticut for possession of the top spot in the college basketball rankings. Utilizing a starting lineup that consisted of four guards (seniors Randy Foye and Allan Ray, junior Mike Nardi, and sophomore Kyle Lowry) and a center (junior Will Sheridan), Villanova played a fast-paced style of basketball that became a common topic of intrigue among analysts. Villanova entered the NCAA tournament as a number one seed and made an Elite Eight appearance before losing to eventual champion Florida.

Four players from the 2005-06 Villanova Wildcat team currently have played in the NBA: Randy Foye, Allan Ray, Kyle Lowry, and Dante Cunningham. As of 2022, only Kyle Lowry remains in the NBA.

Class of 2005

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[2][3][4]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Dwayne Anderson
SF
Oakdale, Connecticut St. Thomas More School 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Nov 12, 2003 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A
Bilal Benn
SG
Chatham, Virginia Hargrave Military Academy 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Feb 25, 2005 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A
Dante Cunningham
PF
Washington, D.C. St. Johns College HS 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Oct 5, 2004 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247SportsN/A
Frank Tchulsi
PF
Newark, New Jersey St. Benedict Prep 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Nov 18, 2004 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A
Overall Recruiting Rankings:     ScoutNR     RivalsNR [5]     ESPN

Roster

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Villanova Basketball
2005–06 Roster
G 23   Dwayne Anderson FR Washington, D.C. (St. Johns College HS)
F 44   Marcus Austin SR Irvington, New Jersey (St. Patrick's HS)
G 3   Bilal Benn FR Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Cardinal Dougherty HS)
F 21   Chris Charles SR Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Crispus Attucks HS)
F 20   Shane Clark FR Chatham, Virginia (Hargrave Military Academy)
G 4   Ross Condon JR Springfield, Virginia (Potomac School)
F 33   Dante Cunningham FR Washington, D.C. (St. Johns College HS)
G 22   Baker Dunleavy JR Portland, Oregon (Lawrenceville Prep)
G 2   Randy Foye SR Newark, New Jersey (East Side HS)
F 20   Jason Fraser SR Amityville, New York (Amityville Memorial HS)
G 1   Kyle Lowry SO Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Cardinal Dougherty HS)
G 12   Mike Nardi JR Elizabeth, New Jersey (St. Patrick's)
G 14   Allan Ray SR Bronx, New York (St. Raymond's HS)
F 50   Will Sheridan JR Hockessin, Delaware (Sanford School)
F 34   Curtis Sumpter SR Brooklyn, New York (Bishop Loughlin)
F 42   Frank Tchuisi FR Douala, Cameroon (St. Benedict's)

Coaching staff

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Jay Wright – Head Coach

Schedule

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Date Opponent rank Location Time Result Overall Conf.
Regular Season
November 18, 2005 Stony Brook 4 Villanova, Pennsylvania W 78–35 1–0
November 27, 2005 Lehigh 4 Villanova, Pennsylvania W 84–47 2–0
November 30, 2005 Rider 4 Trenton, New Jersey W 86–57 3–0
December 3, 2005 #5 Oklahoma 4 Villanova, Pennsylvania W 85–74 4–0
December 6, 2005 @ Bucknell 4 Lewisburg, Pennsylvania W 79–60 5–0
December 10, 2005 @ Longwood 4 Atlantic City, New Jersey W 90–77 6–0
December 13, 2005 Penn (Philadelphia Big 5) 3 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania W 62–55 7–0
December 22, 2005 La Salle (Philadelphia Big 5) 3 Villanova, Pennsylvania W 98–57 8–0
December 31, 2005 @ Temple (Philadelphia Big 5) 3 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania W 75–53 9–0
January 5, 2006 @ #8 Louisville 3 Louisville, Kentucky W 76–67 10–0 1–0
January 8, 2006 #24 West Virginia 3 Villanova, Pennsylvania L 87–91 10–1 1–1
January 11, 2006 @ Rutgers 3 Piscataway, New Jersey W 84–78 OT 11–1 2–1
January 14, 2006 @ #9 Texas 3 Austin, Texas 1:00 p.m. L 55–58 11–2
January 17, 2006 Seton Hall 7 Villanova, Pennsylvania W 73–64 12–2 3–1
January 21, 2006 #20 Syracuse 7 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania W 80–65 13–2 4–1
January 24, 2006 @ South Florida 6 Tampa, Florida W 49–46 14–2 5–1
January 28, 2006 @ #20 Notre Dame 6 South Bend, Indiana W 72–70 15–2 6–1
January 30, 2006 Louisville 4 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania W 79–73 16–2 7–1
February 4, 2006 Marquette 4 Villanova, Pennsylvania W 72–67 17–2 8–1
February 7, 2006 @ Saint Joseph (Philadelphia Big 5) 4 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania W 71–58 18–2
February 11, 2006 @ DePaul 4 Chicago, Illinois W 61–51 19–2 9–1
February 13, 2006 #1 Connecticut 4 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania W 69–64 20–2 10–1
February 19, 2006 #17 Georgetown 4 Villanova, Pennsylvania 7:00 p.m. W 75–65 21–2 11–1
February 23, 2006 @ Cincinnati 2 Cincinnati, Ohio 2:00 p.m. W 74–72 22–2 12–1
February 26, 2006 @ #4 Connecticut 2 Storrs, Connecticut L 75–89 22–3 12–2
March 1, 2006 St. John's 4 Villanova, Pennsylvania W 65–52 23–3 13–2
March 5, 2006 @ Syracuse 4 Syracuse, New York W 92–82 24–3 14–2
March 9, 2006 Rutgers 4 New York, New York W 87–55 25–3
March 10, 2006 #16 Pittsburgh 4 New York, New York L 54–68 25–4
March 17, 2006 (16 MSP) Monmouth 3 (1 MSP) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania W 58–45 26–4
March 19, 2006 (8 MSP) Arizona 3 (1 MSP) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 4:50 p.m. W 82–78 27–4
March 24, 2006 #7 (4 MW) Boston College 3 (1 MW) Minneapolis, Minnesota 7:10 p.m. W 60–59 OT 28–4
March 26, 2006 #10 (3 MW) Florida 3 (1 MW) Minneapolis, Minnesota 5:05 p.m. L 62–75 28–5
Big East regular season games in bold.Philadelphia Big Five games in italics. • * represent seedings in NCAA Tournament.

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ "2005-06 Big East Conference Season Summary: Standings" sports-reference.com. Retrieved 11-14-2013.
  2. ^ Villanova Class of 2005 – Rivals
  3. ^ Villanova Class of 2005 – Scout
  4. ^ Villanova Class of 2005 – ESPN
  5. ^ "2005 Team Recruiting Rankings – Rivals". Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved July 23, 2011.