After the Villanova basketball team lost freshman Matt Hodge for the season with a torn ACL, the program is hit with more news of player that will be away from the school. As Villanova basketball head coach Kevin Willard is in his first year, he is already experiencing some setbacks as Zion Stanford is reportedly leaving the university.
With the Wildcats playing their regular season finale on Saturday against Xavier, with the March Madness tournament soon, this news comes as a surprise. According to Jeff Neiburg of The Inquirer, Stanford is “no longer with the team” as he had been listed out, but when he was active, he “had fallen out of the rotation.”
“Stanford, a junior Temple transfer who went to West Catholic, did not travel with the team to Chicago for its Wednesday night game at DePaul, sources said, a day after practicing with the team. He was again listed as out ahead of Saturday’s season finale vs. Xavier and was not with the team while it went through warmups,” Neiburg wrote.
“Stanford suffered an ankle injury before the season started and later dealt with knee soreness, but he had fallen out of the rotation otherwise and had not appeared in a game since Feb. 4. It’s unclear if Stanford plans to try to pursue a medical redshirt,” Neiburg continued.
Zion Stanford's news comes after a huge Villanova basketball injury
The reason for Stanford's leaving the program is unknown, though one could say that the playing time has been sparse, as he's averaged 5.1 minutes per game in 10 games played this season. Still, Stanford had also been dealing with an injury, as Neiburg reported that the junior's agent, Ken Jackson, said that he had been waiting to be “cleared.”
At any rate, the recent news of the standout freshman in Hodge tearing his ACL could've opened up room for more playing time for Stanford.
“Matt is a tremendous person with an unbelievable work ethic. We know he will be back better than ever,” Willard said, via the Villanova basketball team.
Entering Saturday's game against Xavier, the Wildcats are 23-7, 14-5 in Big East conference play.
