Villanova’s Bryan Antoine cleared to practice

By ADAM ZAGORIA

Villanova freshman Bryan Antoine was cleared by doctors on Wednesday to begin practice Thursday, head coach Jay Wright said by text.

The 6-foot-5 Antoine underwent right shoulder surgery on May 31 for a torn labrum.

“We are going to monitor him closely with load management,” Wright said. “We do not have any definite time on his return to game action. We won’t consider evaluating that possibility until after Thanksgiving.”

Happy to see @BryanAntoine_ healthy and on the practice court with his teammates . Much respect for his disciplined work ethic to rehab and return !! pic.twitter.com/p3dTXeFntt

— Jay Wright (@VUCoachJWright) November 7, 2019

At Big East Media Day last month, Wright said there was a “possibility” Antoine could redshirt, but Antoine later told fans at a Villanova event he had no intention of doing so.

Villanova (1-0) opened its season with a blowout win over Army and next plays at Ohio State on Wednesday. They open Big East play Dec. 30 vs. Xavier.

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 at Media Day. “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

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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