1998–99 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

1998–99 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
1998–99 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Round of 64
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	21–11 (10–8 Big East)
Head coach	Steve Lappas (7th season);
Home arena	First Union Center (Capacity: 6,500)
	Seasons ← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

1998–99 Big East men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 Connecticut†	16	–	2	.889	34	–	2	.944
No. 10 Miami (FL)	15	–	3	.833	23	–	7	.767
No. 9 St. John's	14	–	4	.778	28	–	9	.757
Syracuse	10	–	8	.556	21	–	12	.636
Villanova	10	–	8	.556	21	–	11	.656
Rutgers	9	–	9	.500	19	–	13	.594
Providence	9	–	9	.500	16	–	14	.533
Notre Dame	8	–	10	.444	14	–	16	.467
Seton Hall	8	–	10	.444	15	–	15	.500
Georgetown	6	–	12	.333	15	–	16	.484
Pittsburgh	5	–	13	.278	14	–	16	.467
West Virginia	4	–	14	.222	10	–	19	.345
Boston College	3	–	15	.167	6	–	21	.222

† 1999 Big East tournament winner As of March 29, 1999^[1] Rankings from AP Poll

The 1998–99 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University during the 1998–99 season. With an overall record 21–11 and conference record of 10–8, the Wildcats placed fifth in the Big East Conference, and after reaching the finals of the Big East tournament, the team was invited to the NCAA tournament as the No. 8 seed in the Midwest region.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	13	John Celestand	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Sr	Piscataway, New Jersey
C	15	Malik Allen	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	Jr	Medford, New Jersey

Head coach

Steve Lappas

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

^[2]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 16, 1998*		George Mason	W 86–76	1–0	First Union Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nov 19, 1998*		vs. Nebraska Top of the World Classic	W 75–60	2–0	Carlson Center Fairbanks, Alaska
Nov 21, 1998*		at Alaska-Fairbanks Top of the World Classic	W 66–57	3–0	Carlson Center Fairbanks, Alaska
Nov 22, 1998*		vs. No. 19 Arkansas Top of the World Classic	W 76–63	4–0	Carlson Center Fairbanks, Alaska
Nov 27, 1998*		Mount St. Mary's	W 71–68	5–0	First Union Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 1, 1998*		Saint Joseph's	W 61–49	6–0	First Union Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 5, 1998*		at Penn State	L 53–70	6–1	Bryce Jordan Center University Park, Pennsylvania
Big East tournament
Mar 3, 1999*		vs. West Virginia First round	W 73–61	21–9	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Mar 4, 1999*		vs. Syracuse Quarterfinals	L 62–70	21–10	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1999*	(8 MW)	vs. (9 MW) Ole Miss First round	L 70–72^[3]	21–11	Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest.

^[4]

Rankings

^[5]

Team players in the 1999 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
2	30	John Celestand	Los Angeles Lakers

^[6]

References

^ "1998-99 Big East Conference Season Summary". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
^ "1998-99 Men's Basketball Roster". Villanova University Athletics. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
^ "Ole Miss shakes 'Nova along with the ghost of 1998". The Tampa Bay Times. March 13, 1999. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
^ "1998–99 Villanova Wildcats Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1075–1076. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1999 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved March 19, 2023.

[1] "1998-99 Big East Conference Season Summary". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 1, 2019.

[2] "1998-99 Men's Basketball Roster". Villanova University Athletics. Retrieved March 19, 2023.

[3] "Ole Miss shakes 'Nova along with the ghost of 1998". The Tampa Bay Times. March 13, 1999. Retrieved March 19, 2023.

[4] "1998–99 Villanova Wildcats Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.

[5] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1075–1076. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[6] "1999 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved March 19, 2023.

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v t e Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	Jake Nevin Field House (1932–1986) William E. Finneran Pavilion (1986–2017, 2018–present) First Union Spectrum (alternate; 1967–2009) Wells Fargo Center (alternate; 1996–present)
Rivalries	Saint Joseph's
Culture & lore	Will D. Cat City 6 Philadelphia Big 5 (Robert V. Geasey Trophy) "V for Villanova"
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics