By ADAM ZAGORIA
NEW YORK — Cole Swider is excited to become a freshman with the Villanova basketball team — the newly minted national champs.
Swider, a 6-foot-7 small forward from St. Andrews (RI) School, is part of Villanova’s three-man recruiting class that will forge a new chapter in program history.
That chapter likely won’t include Mikal Bridges or Jalen Brunson, currently projected as the Nos. 10 and 26 picks in the NBA Draft per ESPN.com.
“Yeah, no doubt. They told me that both of them are pretty much gone,” Swider told me before the Jordan Brand Classic, where he went for 17 points and 4 rebounds as the Home team beat the Away team, 146-136, on Sunday at Barclays Center.
Neither Bridges, a redshirt junior, nor Brunson, who can graduate after this year, has officially announced his plans for next year. Both were in Los Angeles dealing with their Wooden Awards responsibilities. Brunson won the Wooden Award to go along with the Naismith and AP Player of the Year awards, while Bridges won the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award.
Swider said Villanova expects everyone else back from the national championship team, including redshirt freshman Omari Spellman, redshirt junior Eric Paschall and redshirt sophomore guard Donte DiVincenzo, who went off for 31 points in the championship game against Michigan en route to Most Outstanding Player honors.
Assuming Spellman, Paschall, DiVincenzo, Phil Booth and Collin Gillespie all return along with Villanova’s other players, they should be in the mix to reach the Final Four again in 2019.
“I think we have a chance to be one of the top teams in the nation again,” Swider said.
Villanova coach Jay Wright called Swider the night of the championship game to share the moment.
“It was exciting,” he said. “And he’s focused on winning another one, that’s the great thing about their program. They’re always on the next step.”
Swider also attended the Sweet 16 game in the Boston Garden with fellow Villanova commits Jahvon Quinerly, who played in the McDonald’s All-American Game, and Brandon Slater.
“They all came over to my house,” he said. “My dad bought tickets and we ended up going to the game.”
Swider shot 6-for-12 in the Jordan game, but just 1-for-6 from deep. When he’s playing well, he’s “Shooting the basketball, rebounding, just playing hard and playing with attitude,” he said.
He’s looking forward to playing in Villanova’s four-out offense and said he can play either forward spot.
As for the Jordan experience, he said it was especially rewarding considering he wasn’t eligible for the McDonald’s Game as a fifth-year player.
“It’s been awesome, getting invited to a prestigious event like this, it’s awesome” he said. “Especially not being eligible for McDonald’s, it was great to get invited.”
