Farewell Scottie Reynolds

I don't think I have ever gotten more attached to a college athlete than Scottie Reynolds. Reynolds is the exciting point guard who led the Villanova basketball squad the last three years. Despite the disappointing finish to Scottie's senior season, History will likely view Reynolds as one of Philadelphia's Sports Heroes.

Scottie Reynolds burst on to the local basketball scene late in his freshmen year scoring 40 pts on UConn in a single game. He wouldn't do that every night, but he became more than a scorer. He became a basketball player. Reynolds has several shortcomings that will likely keep him from being an impact player at the next level, but he does possess some skills, a lot of heart, and high degree of basketball intelligence that should allow him to play professionally in some capacity.

I sincerely hope that Reynolds has a basketball future, and look forward to following it, regardless of it's magnitude. He led the 2nd wave of the return of Villanova Wildcats basketball, and it was always wonderful to watch him play.

This card is from the Original Phungo Cards released in 2009. The game was played in the legendary Pavilion over Thanksgiving weekend of 2008. Villanova beat Towson that night. It was one of about a half dozen times that I was able to catch Reynolds playing live. The games I saw included a couple of NCAA tournament games that Villanova won last year in route to their 2009 Final Four appearance.

Tonight the NCAA tournaments continues without Villanova and Reynolds. I still love March Madness and will be watching but the 2nd weekend will not be the same as the last couple of years when the Wildcats gave everybody in Philadelphia a rooting interest.

Phungo Cards - Scottie Reynolds, Villanova Wildcats

2009 Phungo #23 Scottie Reynolds

Tomorow Villanova plays their first game in the 2009 NCAA tournament. Scottie Reynolds will be leading the Wildcats at the point guard position. Above is the sole basketball card in the Phungo 2009 collection. Scottie Reynolds is the featured player, he is a point gaurd (PG) who has an outside chance of making it into the NBA. I chose Michael Jordan's number 23 as the basketball card number for the Phungo Set. The card is bordered in dark blue to match Villanova's team colors.

The picture was taken during a game at Philadelphia's historic Palestra. The Palestra is the Home for Penn Quaker's basketball and several big five/city six contests between the six Philadelphia college basketball teams; Nova, Penn, Temple, St Joes, La Salle, Drexel. If you're a basketball fan and you have the opportunity to see a game at the Palestra it is truly worth the effort. It is one of the oldest basketball gyms in the world and has been the site of many a great game. The list of notables that have played games there include Dr J, Allen Iverson, Oscar Robertson, Bill Bradley, Rick Barry, Billy Packer, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Ralph Sampson, Jerry West, and of course Wilt Chamberlain.