Villanova core reunites on Knicks with big dreams in mind

When Jalen Brunson was playing at Villanova, he and some of his teammates would sometimes imagine what it would be like if they all ended up together on the same NBA team.

“We’ve joked when we were younger about if we all played on the same NBA team, that would be funny, that would be cool and everything,” Brunson said Monday at Knicks media day.

Now it’s a reality because the Knicks have four former Villanova players on their roster in Brunson, Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo and Ryan Arcidiacono.

All of them won at least NCAA championship under former coach Jay Wright, with Brunson and DiVincenzo winning a pair in 2016 and ‘18.

“I know one thing, whenever we’re on that court, man, it’s about what we’re trying to do to win,” Brunson said. “Whatever the game is asked of us, we’re going to try to do.”

“And so I’m just happy to have those guys around.”

Brunson and Hart were key members of the Knicks team that reached the Eastern Conference semifinals a year ago, and have dreams of going further this season with their former teammates in the fold.

DiVincenzo signed with the Knicks on a four-year, $50 million deal in July, and Arcidiacono returned to the team last month ahead of training camp.

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“I like winning basketball games,” DiVincenzo said when asked why he chose the Knicks. “We have a helluva team. We have a helluva coach.”

The Delaware native added that he’s also just two hours away “from my family and family’s everything to me. Adding on to that, ‘Nova guys are an extension of my family, Jalen especially.”

When he signed with the team, he FaceTimed his old teammates Brunson and Hart.

“I facetimed Jalen and Josh, and Jalen was dancing, but that’s Jalen fashion,” he said. “Josh was making jokes, but it was good to see them kind of excited and relieved that I was joining them again.”

Still, he said it’s important not to get too caught up in the ‘Nova reunion angle and instead to focus on building something new with the Knicks.

“I think the big thing for us is to not get carried away with the ‘Nova stuff,” he said. “... We can rely on that, but at the same time how do we develop these relationships and how do we push together all as one?”