Ryan Arcidiacono grew up surrounded by Villanova’s blue and white. His parents, Villanova graduates, bought him miniature Villanova basketballs as a child. His father Joe drove 25 miles, sometimes through snowfall, to watch the Wildcats in Philadelphia with his son.

Arcidiacono’s earliest memory of Villanova basketball came on a snowy January night in 2005, when he watched the Wildcats dismantle then-undefeated No. 2 Kansas 83-62 with a 3-point shooting barrage.

“That’s the only game I remember from before I was recruited,” Arcidiacono said. “They pretty much killed them and Villanova’s fans rushed the court.”

Arcidiacono’s upbringing in nearby Langhorne, Pa., kept him around Villanova basketball throughout his youth. When it came time to choose a college basketball program, he made the obvious choice.

After medical uncertainty in his senior year of high school, the freshman point guard has recovered to dazzle Villanova crowds with sharp shooting of his own. Arcidiacono has had an up-and-down freshman campaign, but has given his hometown crowd more to be excited about.

Arcidiacono committed to play for the Wildcats and head coach Jay Wright in October of his junior year of high school. That year, he scored 20.4 points per game, along with 5.6 rebounds and five assists per contest.

In March, though, a pain in his back suddenly clouded his future.

Arcidiacono initially planned to play through the pain. He sought no medical attention and played basketball throughout the summer. He attended NBA basketball camps hosted by Chris Paul and Deron Williams, giving little thought to the injury.

“It probably wasn’t the best decision on my part,” Arcidiacono said. “I tried to gut it out, and I thought I could just put it off until August or September.”

But the pain intensified enough that Arcidiacono saw a doctor in September.

The visit led to a December back surgery that kept him on the bench his entire senior season.

Arcidiacono was relieved he had solidified his college basketball plans before the injury. Rather than dwell on the premature conclusion of his high school career, he worked on getting himself in shape for college.

“I didn’t really have any sleepless nights thinking about missing my senior year,” Arcidiacono said. “It was tough not to be out there with my teammates, but I really just started to focus on college.”

His work has paid off, and Arcidiacono hasn’t shown any effects of the injury that kept him away from basketball for a season.

He made an early splash by scoring 25 points, including four 3-pointers, in his second career game, an 80-68 win over Marshall.

But the challenges of college basketball caught up to him. Arcidiacono shot just 8-for-37 from behind the arc during an ensuing 2-4 stretch for the Wildcats.

He’s gone through other rough patches this season, like a 2-for-9 3-point shooting stretch in late January and early February.

Arcidiacono just kept shooting. Continuing to pull the trigger is the only way to emerge from a slump, he said.

“I just need to keep shooting and make the other team fear my shot,” he said. “But if my shot’s not falling on that night, I just need to be more creative and get my teammates involved.

Arcidiacono’s maturity has allowed him to grow from his inconsistencies this season, coach Wright said.

“He’s kept his confidence. He’s kept a great attitude,” Wright said. “I think his maturity has allowed him to gain from every positive experience and every negative experience.”

Arcidiacono exhibited his resilience Jan. 26, when he found himself mired in a 1-for-7 3-point shooting slump, trailing then-No. 3 Syracuse by three points at home. He received a feed with less than five seconds left and drained a 3-pointer from the left corner.

The Wildcats prevailed in overtime in front of Arcidiacono’s blue-and-white-clad parents, family and friends. This time, the Villanova fans mobbed Arcidiacono for his 3-point heroics.

“People were grabbing me. One kid was trying to take off my jersey,” Arcidiacono told reporters after the game. “It was fun, but hopefully, people know we don’t need that anymore.”

Published on March 6, 2013 at 1:08 am

Contact Jacob: jspramuk@syr.edu