Photos: Mike Nance
BY: RICH FLANAGAN
VILLANOVA, PA - Cam Whitmore drove into the lane and drew two defenders. He attempted to change his shot in midair to convert but the ball hit right off the front of the rim. Instead of retreating to the other end, he immediately went right back up, corralled it out of the air with one hand and slammed it through with force.
The crowd inside Finneran Pavilion erupted in a way that had not been witnessed this year for a player that so many had longed to see, and Wednesday’s contest showcased the evolution of one player and the permeating effect he can have on the team he may potentially only play one season with.
Whitmore scored 21 points and grabbed six rebounds in leading Villanova to a 70-59 win over the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday night. He scored 13 points in the second half in front of the coach who recruited him in Jay Wright, calling his first college basketball game for CBS Sports, for the coach who hopes to unleash the multifaceted skillset that programs like North Carolina, LSU, Illinois, UConn, and UCLA so coveted.
Kyle Neptune chose to play Whitmore in his first collegiate game on Saturday against Oklahoma, where he recorded seven points and three boards in 19 minutes. After missing the first seven games of the season following surgery to his right thumb, Neptune is simply astonished, not by what Whitmore is doing but how quickly he is doing it.
Villanova's Cam Whitmore makes standout home court debue in game vs. Penn. (Photo/MIke Nance for PSD)
“I’m still shocked that he can go out there and play at this level,” Neptune said. “He legitimately practiced four or five times before his first game. And it’s his first time playing this season. And he’s a freshman, never played college basketball. To his credit, we’ve talked to him about playing hard and making sure he’s giving us effort, especially defensively. We know the talent that he is and knew he would figure it out offensively.”
Whitmore scored all eight of his first-half points over a 2:17 stretch to put Villanova (4-5) up 30-20. He sank two pure three-pointers then calmly converted a pair of free throws. Two possessions before his personal run started, he assisted on a three-pointer to Chris Arcidiacono and the energy just became more palpable with each possession Whitmore made something happen.
Penn head coach Steve Donahue can recall where he was watching Big 5 games in his youth. He compared Whitmore’s overall game with his 6-foot-7, 232-pound frame and fluidity to attack like a guard to that of Ken Durrett, the 6-7 late La Salle great, and Wildcats legend Howard Porter. Durrett, who scored 1,679 career points, was a teammate of Explorers head coach Fran Dunphy and played on the 1968-69 team under Tom Gola that finished the season 23-1 and ranked No. 2 in the country in the final AP poll. Porter, who played at 6-8, 220 lbs., scored 2,037 career points at Villanova and was the 1971 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in leading the Wildcats to the National Championship Game against UCLA.
Both Durrett and Porter were High School Parade All-Americans just like Whitmore was a McDonald’s All-American coming out of Archbishop Spalding (Md.), where he was also 2022 Gatorade Maryland Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
Donahue has seen a multitude of players with the versatility Whitmore displays but he was in awe at seeing it firsthand.
Villanova vs. Penn - PSD Highlights by Rich Flanagan
Cam Whitmore #22 and Brandon Slater #34 join head coach Kyle Neptune at the podium in the post press conference - Video by Rich Flanagan
“He’s a big body and the stroke is perfect,” Donahue said. “Then when you close out on him, he has the skills of a 6-2 guard. He’s not going to be here for long.”
Joining a lineup with multiple scoring options in Caleb Daniels (12 points), Eric Dixon (12) and Brandon Slater (10) can present a challenge on where to pick his spots, but Whitmore asserted himself and ended up shooting a superb 7-for-13 from the floor. He put together that strong second half and the Wildcats needed every one of his points as he went toe to toe with Penn’s Jordan Dingle, who scored 23 of his 25 points after halftime.
Dingle, who came in averaging 23.4 points per game - good for fifth nationally - drew a foul from behind the arc and sank all three free throws to cut the deficit to 40-32 with 17:32 to play. Whitmore answered at the other end with two free throws of his own.
Later, Dingle rattled off seven straight points, capping the run with a trey and the Quakers (5-7) were within eight once again at the 8:48 mark. Even as Dingle, who scored 18 of Penn’s final 20 points on the night, Villanova answered each of his baskets at the foul line where they hit eight in a row and the Wildcats lead at 61-51 with 5:50 was too much for the Quakers to overcome. Whitmore’s performance overshadowed an otherwise perplexing game for the Wildcats as they recorded no points in the paint in the first half then went 0-for-9 from the three-point line in the second.
UPenn's Jordan Dingle Scored 25 points in game vs. Villanova. (Photo/ Mike Nance for PSD)
Slater has played with several versatile forwards during his career from Dixon to Jermaine Samuels to Jeremiah Robinson-Earl to Saddiq Bey to Eric Paschall. He has seen them all develop incredibly while at Villanova and sees Whitmore - the Preseason Big East Freshman of the Year who became the first Villanova freshman to score 20 points in a game since Justin Moore had 21 against St. John’s on Feb. 26, 2020 - in the same mold as many of them.
“It’s amazing because he’s somebody who has so much room to get better and to see the player that he is now, I’m just excited to see his growth and development,” Slater said.
The hype around Whitmore’s arrival on The Main Line was evident as he had already accomplished a great deal in his career. He was a two-time Baltimore Catholic League Player of the Year, the first player to win the award in consecutive seasons since Indiana Pacers forward Jalen Smith at Mount St. Joseph’s. He averaged a double-double (21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds) as senior at Archbishop Spalding and finished his career with 1,252 points playing in a league that has produced Juan Dixon, Rudy Gay, Steve Wojciechowski, Carmelo Anthony (briefly), former Wildcat Phil Booth and Damion Lee, who starred at Drexel and now plays for the Phoenix Suns.
Post game press conference with Penn head coach Steve Donahue - PSD Video by Rich Flanagan
While he put together an impressive high school career, the intrigue surrounding his professional future on the hardwood took shape at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship, where he averaged 18.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in leading USA Basketball to a gold medal and winning MVP of the tournament in the process. He posted 30 points, the most ever by a USA Basketball player in a gold medal game, and 12 boards in the final against Brazil. He sank four three-pointers and scored 27 points in the semifinals against Mexico, which was potentially foreshadowing for Villanova as it moves toward the Big East portion of its schedule.
Whitmore came in as one of the most highly regarded freshmen in the country and Wednesday’s performance was indicative of that. He’s still working back to 100 percent and this outing had to give him and the program confidence that he is only ascending to the player many have pegged as the first one-and-done from Villanova since Tim Thomas in 1997.
For now, Whitmore will let people speculate while he works on rounding into form and continuing to elevate the Wildcats’ play and, hopefully, the exalted Finneran Pavilion crowd.
“I would say every day I’m getting better,” Whitmore said. “Nova Nation brought it tonight and it was awesome.”
