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After a long offseason and coaching movement within the city, the college basketball season begins tonight, and several programs will be in action to tip off their seasons. We begin first though with new Villanova coach Kevin Willard and his almost entirely new roster made the cross-country trip to Las Vegas to face No. 8-ranked Brigham Young (9:30 p.m., TNT, TruTV). The game will give the Wildcats a sense of where they stand against one of the top teams in the country. Jeff Neiburg sets the scene for this year’s team from the Sin City, where ’Nova faces a BYU team with Final Four aspirations and top recruit AJ Dybantsa. Out on Hawk Hill, Steve Donahue unexpectedly became the head coach in September when Billy Lange stepped away to take a job with the New York Knicks. After an 8-19 record at Penn last season, Donahue had been let go by the Quakers and hired for Lange’s staff. Despite the coaching change, many of the players who came to St. Joe’s for Lange remained on the roster for Donahue. The Hawks open with Lafayette (7 p.m., ESPN) and the longtime coach believes he might have the pieces to win in Year 1 with the Hawks. Several other teams open on Monday for both the men’s and women’s programs, too. For the women: Villanova hosts Lafayette (7 p.m., ESPN+) and Temple opens with George Mason (7 p.m., ESPN+). For the men: In addition to Villanova and St. Joe’s, Drexel hosts Division III Widener (6 p.m., FloCollege). Let the madness begin! — Devin Jackson, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com. If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here. ❓Will any of the city’s basketball programs make this year’s NCAA Tournament? Email us back for a chance to be featured in the newsletter. No Embiid, no problem Joel Embiid sat out of Sunday’s game as the Sixers manages his recovering knee, but it didn’t matter because they blew out the Brooklyn Nets, 129-105. Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 29 points and Tyrese Maxey added 26. The Inquirer’s Keith Pompey provides the key takeaways from the win. Speaking of Embiid, he was fined $50,000 for his DX chop, which the NBA considered as “lewd.” The former MVP voiced his displeasure on social media. Keith Pompey answers your Sixers mailbag questions, ranging from Embiid’s lack of lateral movement to Paul George’s projected role when he returns to the lineup. Next: The Sixers have a day off before traveling to face the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday (8 p.m., NBCSP). Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee, two former Flyers first-round picks, were back in Philly Sunday night after getting traded to Calgary earlier this year. Jackie Spiegel revisits the trade that netted the Orange and Black a second-round pick and opened up the cap space for this summer and beyond. On Sunday, the Flyers struggled to get shots on goal during a 2-1 loss to the Flames. During Saturday’s loss to the Maple Leafs, the Flyers’ Tyson Foerster suffered a lower-body injury, but played through it. He was sidelined for Sunday’s game, and Rick Tocchet revealed the team will re-evaluate Foerster “in three to four days.” The NFL trade deadline is quickly approaching, and Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has already made two moves to bolster the secondary, including trading for two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander on Saturday. Most GMs would sit on their hands, but Roseman seems poised to make yet another trade before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline. Roseman has made eight trades since the start of training camp, and other priorities for the Eagles could include upgrading at edge rusher. The Union entered Game 2 of its playoff series against the Chicago Fire without Mikael Uhre and expected Chicago to throw the house to prevent being eliminated. But the biggest key of Saturday’s 3-0 shutout win for the Union? Fire goalkeeper goalie Jeff Gal. With him in net, the Union attacked him early and often, and the game was all but decided by halftime, Jonathan Tannenwald writes. Now, the Union will prepare for the conference semifinals, which doesn’t kick off until later this month. Sports snapshot Humbled: Temple had its three-game winning streak snapped by East Carolina in a 31-point loss. Sinking ship: Penn State’s slide continued with its fifth straight loss, 38-14 at No. 1 Ohio State. ‘Surreal’: Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson faced off for the first time as coaches at the Linc on Thursday night. Strong start: Penn’s football team is 3-1 in Ivy League play, its best start since 2022. The Phillies have reached a point in their competitive cycle where people start talking themselves into change for the sake of change. That’s one of the more dangerous ideas within the realm of organizational decision-making. For Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies, it would be silly for the Phillies to think that now is the time to reinvent the wheel after watching an epic World Series. 🧠 Trivia time Who was the last Villanova men’s coach to lead the program to an NCAA Tournament appearance in their first season as head coach? A) Jay Wright B) Steve Lappas C) Rollie Massimino D) Jack Kraft We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Jeff Neiburg, Isabella DiAmore, Jackie Spiegel, Keith Pompey, Gina Mizell, David Murphy, Devin Jackson, Ryan Mack, Sean McKeown, and Greg Finberg. By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
