Jahvon Quinerly Instagram post raises more questions about his situation at Villanova | Zagsblog
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Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
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Friday / March 29.
  • Jahvon Quinerly Instagram post raises more questions about his situation at Villanova

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    By ADAM ZAGORIA

    Jahvon Quinerly played 1 minute in Penn’s thrilling 78-75 upset of No. 17 Villanova on Tuesday night at The Palestra.

    After the game, a post appeared on his Instagram reading “Was my 2nd choice for a reason.” The post was brought to light when Ryan Bowman posted it on Twitter.

    As of Wednesday morning, the post is no longer on Quinerly’s Instagram.

    Whether Quinerly deleted it, or whether his account was somehow hacked remains unclear. But it will surely raise more questions about Quinerly’s future at the school.

    For the season, Quinerly is averaging 2.4 points in 8.6 minutes, surprising numbers for a McDonald’s All-American and a player ranked No. 26 in the ESPN.com recruiting rankings for 2018.

    It’s hard to believe Quinerly hasn’t played, or played much, in some of these games, considering how talented he is. In a 27-point loss to Michigan, he played just 8 minutes. In close games against Furman, Florida State and Temple, Quinerly got DNPs. In a victory over a winless La Salle team, he played just 2 minutes.

    Villanova isn’t known for playing freshmen — even ones who come in with big names and big reputations. And the Wildcats certainly aren’t known for playing freshmen as much as, say, Kentucky or Duke or Arizona, where Quinerly originally committed.

    Villanova coach Jay Wright, he of the two NCAA championships in three years, obviously doesn’t feel Quinerly can help his team right now. Wright may just be opting to work Quinerly into his rotation behind guards Collin Gillespie and Phil Booth as the Wildcats move toward conference play in January and February.

    “So much of what he does is really efficient in college basketball,’’ Wright told Dana O’Neil of The Athletic earlier this year. “But our goal is to make him really efficient all the time, so how do you do that without taking away his flair?’’

    Quinerly was part of a highly touted “Big Three” at Hudson Catholic last season. The other two members of the “Big Three,” — Louis King and Luther Muhammad — are both expected to play big roles for their respective teams.

    The 6-foot-3 Muhammad is averaging 8.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in nearly 29 minutes per game at Ohio State.

    The 6-9 King scored 11 points in his first game after his return from a knee injury, and is expected to have a bigger role going forward.

    Naz Reid, Quinerly’s close friend and former AAU teammate, is averaging 12.1 points and 4.9 rebounds in 23 minutes a game as a freshman at LSU.

    Time will tell if Quinerly’s role will change at Villanova, or if something more dramatic will happen. Villanova visits No. 1 Kansas on Saturday, and another chapter in the story will unfold.

    Photo: USA Today

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    Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.

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