Villanova’s Bryan Antoine could redshirt this season

By ADAM ZAGORIA

NEW YORK — Villanova freshman Bryan Antoine could redshirt his freshman season after undergoing right shoulder surgery on May 31 for a torn labrum.

“It’s always a possibility,” Villanova coach Jay Wright told me at Big East Media Day at Madison Square Garden. “We’ve gotta get through his rehab first.”

The 6-foot-5 Antoine helped lead the Ranney School (N.J.) to a New Jersey Tournament of Champions title last season despite playing with a torn labrum.

“He didn’t get diagnosed with a torn labrum until he got to Villanova,” Wright said. “He played with it and then got to Villanova but didn’t have the surgery until June. So its reconstructive shoulder surgery. We gotta see how the rehab goes, and it’s going well, but then we’ve got to get him back on the court and see how much this layoff has affected him. so we have a long way to go.”

Jay Wright says there’s a ‘possibility’ Bryan Antoine will redshirt. Had reconstructive shoulder surgery in June and won’t practice until at least November.

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) October 10, 2019

Wright estimated that Antoine won’t practice until at least November.

Villanova plays Big 5 opponents La Salle, Penn and St. Joe’s Dec. 1, 4 and 7 before facing Delaware (Dec. 14) in Newark and Kansas Dec. 21 at Wells Fargo Center. It’s possible Antoine won’t play until at least the New Year, if he plays at all.

“We probably won’t get him back to practice until mid-late November,” Wright said. “Then we gotta see how does. You don’t know how he picks things up. Our other freshman have picked things up. He just can’t do anything.”

Villanova was picked second in the Big East behind Seton Hall, and fellow freshman Jeremiah Robinson-Earl was named Big East Freshman of the Year.

Put him in a COFFIN ⚰️ @BryanAntoine_ #throwback pic.twitter.com/iPTvIIePhu

— Overtime (@overtime) August 24, 2019

Antoine had been a projected first–round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, per ESPN.com, but is not currently projected to be drafted next year, while his former teammate Scottie Lewis, a freshman at Florida, is a projected Top 10 pick.

Antoine finished as the Shore Conference’s all-time leading scorer. He was listed at No. 15 in the ESPN.com ranking of the class of 2019 prospects and at No. 16 in the 247 Sports Top 100.

Big East coaches were worried about how to defend the high-flying Antoine, who can be unstoppable in the open court and can also shoot from distance,

.⁦@NovaMBB⁩ And ⁦@SetonHallMBB⁩ picked 1-2 in the ⁦@BIGEASTMBB⁩ per ⁦@AthlonSports⁩

⁦@StJohnsBBall⁩ 10th. I’m pretty sure they’ll finish higher than that. pic.twitter.com/vA4H1ptOlZ

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) September 13, 2019

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