NEW YORK CITY – Villanova guard Allan Ray nodded.

A lone statement, ‘It’s always something,’ triggered his approval. Not a question, not even anything substantial, just a simple statement.

But Ray knew what it meant.

At Villanova – the Big East preseason’s top team – bad news isn’t news. It’s just another day for the suburban Philadelphia program.

So when Curtis Sumpter, one of Villanova’s top players and a member of its vaunted 2002 recruiting class, injured his knee for the second time in eight months, the Wildcats shrugged and continued like they’ve been there before.

Because, well, they have.

‘It’s life. When things happen in life, you have to deal with it,’ Ray said. ‘(Villanova head coach Jay Wright) told us, ‘You can be a better team without Curtis, or you can be a worse team without Curtis, and it depends how you handle it.’ And we’re handling it pretty well right now.’

Villanova finished 24-8 last season and reached the Sweet 16, where it lost to the eventual national champion, North Carolina, in the Carrier Dome on a controversial last-minute traveling call.

The Wildcats return all five starters, though Sumpter’s injury (the prognosis is indefinite) leaves Villanova without one. But the Wildcats bring back their entire bench, and key contributing seniors Ray, Randy Foye, Jason Fraser, juniors Will Sheridan and Mike Nardi and sophomore Kyle Lowry comprise one of the most talented rosters in the nation.

‘I think (the preseason Big East ranking is) with an asterisk; it was pre-Curtis Sumpter injury,’ Wright said. ‘But right now, we’re going to take pride in it. I’m proud of the seniors in the program.’

When Sumpter, Ray, Foye and Fraser arrived at Villanova, their class was expected to be the cornerstone of Wright’s rebuilding efforts. But for much of the past three seasons, injuries and controversy mired the program.

Fraser, the most hyped of the class, has been injured seemingly his entire career. Sumpter’s been hurt, Lowry was sidelined for the first half of last season and other contributors spent significant time on the trainer’s table. There were also five Wildcats suspended at the end of the 2003 season for misuse of a university’s telephone access code.

Amid outside problems, the Wildcats learned to deal with adversity and they use it as help with Sumpter’s injury.

‘Because we’ve been through it, we know how to deal with it,’ Nardi said. ‘The only way to look at it is to say, ‘He’s going to be here or not,’ and we have to go on like anything else.’

Their experience is also critical in dealing with the preseason hype, which includes top 10 rankings in seven preseason polls, including The Sporting News and Street & Smith’s and the top Big East ranking.

‘The challenges that come with being (Big East) preseason No. 1 will help us with the downfalls,’ Wright said. ‘We don’t evaluate ourselves based on outside perceptions. We didn’t let that affect us. We can’t let this affect us either. We’re going to appreciate it, be humbled by it, be honored, but it’s not going to affect how we do things.’

Wright said experience is Villanova’s biggest strength, but mentioned size as its biggest weakness. He pointed toward Connecticut’s four player representatives at Big East Media Day – 6-foot, 10-inch Josh Boone, 6-foot, 9-inch Rudy Gay, 6-foot, 6-inch Denham Brown and 6-foot, 5-inch Rashad Anderson – and noted that guarding them will be a problem.

But Villanova’s persevered through three seasons of injuries. The Wildcats dealt with odd suspensions. And they’ve learned from last year’s heartbreak Sweet 16 loss. After the Wildcats’ recent roller coaster, UConn’s front line is bearable.

‘We really believe any team, any organization, any family, it’s not about avoiding problems, avoiding adversity; it’s about how you handle it and the attitude with which you approach it,’ Wright said. ‘I think we’ve gotten our older guys to pass that onto the younger guys. And that’s what happened with Curtis. They accepted that and moved on.’

Published on October 26, 2005 at 12:00 pm