Supernova

It wasn't easy. Villanova had always been the outsider at home, a suburban school on the ritzy Main Line. Lappas's pursuit of Alvin Williams, a local point guard from Germantown Academy, demonstrates just how difficult his task was. When Lappas was on the Villanova bench for the national championship game against Georgetown, the 10-year-old Williams was at home in Philadelphia rooting fervently for the Hoyas. "I had no idea Villanova was even in Philly," says Williams, "and it wouldn't have mattered if I did." But Lappas was resolute. "Every time I turned around at summer league games, he was there," says Williams—and in November 1992, Williams became the first Philadelphia player since 1973 to accept a scholarship to Villanova. Now he's the Wildcats' starting point guard, averaging 10.9 points and 5.6 assists through Sunday.

Lappas had a tougher time later that season persuading another Philadelphian, 6'11" Jason Lawson, to stay home. Lappas's recruiting pitch emphasized how well Lawson would team up inside with Rasheed Wallace, the No. 1 Philly schoolboy plum who had verbally committed to the Wildcats. But just as Lawson was ready to say yes, Wallace said no, opting instead to sign a letter of intent with North Carolina. That made Lawson rethink his decision. Only some frantic salesmanship by Lappas, particularly after one I'm-going-to-Virginia phone call from Lawson at one in the morning, kept him at home.

Still, Villanova wouldn't be anywhere without its out-of-town seniors, Kittles and Eberz. The latter is one of the country's best shooters, a player who, as Temple coach John Chaney puts it, "just finds some vast land and waits for someone to find him." His .415 shooting from three-point range frees up Kittles and discourages double-teaming down low on the Wildcats' musclemen, Law-son and power forward Chuck Kornegay.

Kittles, meanwhile, has turned into a classic all-purpose guard, a long-distance shooter and slasher on offense, a tenacious man-to-man specialist and all-court roamer in Lappas's run-and-jump press on defense. An 84-inch wingspan and a frame with just 3% body fat make Kittles one of the longest and most imposing 6'5" players in the country. Since he and fellow Big East star Ray Allen of Connecticut, could be among the top five picks in the 1996 NBA draft, these inevitable comparisons might as well be made: While Allen's classic jump shot and smooth, economical moves suggest Michael Jordan, Kittles's rougher pounce-and-glide style evokes Scottie Pippen. (There—does that put enough pressure on them?)

Off the court, Kittles gradually found himself drawn to the activities at the Catholic church on campus, St. Thomas of Villanova, where he now serves as a eucharistic minister during Sunday services once a month. "There was always a religious feeling around my house," says Kittles, a former altar boy, "and I guess I was just drawn to the church." (At his homecoming game in New Orleans, the most prominent Kittles fan was his aunt, Carmen, a nun, who made her way along the Wildcat bench shaking hands before the game.)

Kittles felt pressure to leave Villanova after last season when he admits to having been "consumed" by thoughts of declaring for the NBA draft. But after much soul-searching he realized that he wanted to get his degree in management, that he enjoyed being around his teammates and that the Wildcats had unfinished business, having flamed out of last year's NCAA tournament with an 89-81 first-round loss to Old Dominion in triple overtime.

Could the same thing happen to Villanova this year? Absolutely, because the Wildcats do have some weak spots. Though Kittles has become more vocal this year, he and Eberz, the obvious leaders, are by nature quiet types, and Williams, the point guard, admits that he's not always sure when to take charge. And now both Lawson and Kornegay are playing while wearing invisible handcuffs as the result of a melee late in the first half of a 70-63 win over Bradley on Nov. 29. Under the NCAA's stringent new rules designed to curb fighting, if either player becomes involved in another fracas, he will be suspended for the rest of the season. Then, too, Kittles has not yet played like the Big East Player of the Year he was a season ago, particularly from the perimeter—he is shooting only 42%, considerably below last season's 52%. Still, whenever Villanova has needed something extra, Kittles has supplied it: 13 rebounds in a 77-65 win over Santa Clara in Maui; 28 points, 10 rebounds and four steals in an 83-68 win over St. John's; an acrobatic catch and buzzer-beating layup against Miami; 30 points and several clutch shots in his return-of-the-native game in New Orleans. If Villanova is to make it far into the postseason, everyone knows the minister will have to be out front, sending a message to the masses.

At the beginning of last season Villanova invited back its championship team for a 10-year reunion that was both a celebration of the past and a call to the future. Massimino opted not to attend, but all of the other 1985 heroes were there, along with most of the key players on this year's team. "This is a different generation of players, so I don't dwell on the past," says Lappas. "But the subject does come up from time to time. I think it's important they realize that there is a foundation here for winning it all." Says Eberz, "We didn't follow that '85 team, but we all know this is a place where magic happened once. And it can happen again."