Height: 6-2
Weight: 198
Position: PG
College: Villanova
Age: 21
2017-2018 Season Stats
PPG: 18.9
RPG: 3.1
APG: 4.6
BLK: 0.0
STL: 0.9
Player Bio
Courtesy of Villanova Athletics
2017-18 Overview: Enjoyed a banner campaign while helping lead the Wildcats to the 2018 NCAA National championship. A full list of honors is below:
Consensus National Player of the Year
(Associated Press, John R. Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy, The Sporting News, U.S. Basketball Writers Association Oscar Robertson Trophy)
NCAA East Region Most Outstanding Player
NCAA Final Four All-tournament Team
2nd Team CoSIDA Academic All-American
Bob Cousy Award
BIG EAST Player of the Year
BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Philadelphia Big Five Player of the Year
Philadelphia Big Five Scholar Athlete of the Year
2018 NCAA TOURNAMENT
His 18 points and six assists helped lead the Wildcats past Kansas 95-79 in the semifinal at the Alamodome ... Scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds to help lift the Wildcats to a 71-59 win in the East Regional Final at TD Garden in Boston ... His 27 points helped lift VU past West Virginia 90-78 on March 23 ... Added 12 points, four assists and two steals to an 81-58 second round win over Alabama ... Connected on 7-of-9 from the field and finished with 16 points in an 87-61 win over Radford.
2018 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT
Tied a career high with 31 points to held lead VU to a 76-66 overtime victory over Providence in the title game ... Named to the All-Tournament team ... Delivered 17 points in an 87-68 semifinal win over Butler ... Connected on 8-of-13 from the field in a 94-70 win over Marquette on March 8.
2017-18 REGULAR SEASON
Dropped in 22 points to go with five assists on Feb. 24 at Creighton ... Helped lead VU past Butler 86-75 on Feb. 10 with 27 points ... Scored 14 of his 28 points in the final three minutes of a 79-75 loss to St. John’s on Feb. 7 ... His 21 points and six assists help lead Villanova past Seton Hall on Feb. 4 ... Matched a season-high with 31 points in an 85-82 win at Marquette ... After opening the game 1-of-7 field from the field, reeled off an 8-of-9 stretch at Connectucit to finish with 23 points in an 81-61 win over the Huskies on Jan. 20 ... Dropped in 18 points and seven asists to help lead VU past Georgetown 88-56 on Jan. 17 ... Added 17 points and five assists in an 89-65 win over Xavier on Jan. 10 .. Dropped in 27 points to help lead VU past Marquette 100-90 on Jan. 6 ... Also contributed eight assists ... Contributed 16 points and five assists to a 103-85 win at DePaul on Dec. 27 ... Established a new career high with 31 points to go with six rebounds and five assists in an 87-67 win at Temple on Dec. 13 ... Provided 17 points and seven assists in a 77-68 win over La Salle on Dec. 10 ... Named Most Valuable Player at the 2017 Battle 4 Atlantis after scoring 16 points to help lead the Wildcats to a 64-50 win over UNI in the title game ... Notched a season-high 25 points and moved past the 1,000 point plateau in a 85-76 win Thanksgiving Day win over Tennessee.
2016-17 Overview: Named as a unanimous first team All-BIG EAST selection and was one of five finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, honoring the nation's top point guard ... Also earned first team status from the Philadelphia Big Five and was also named Scholar Athlete of the Year by the City Series (3.54 grade point average as a Communication major) ... Averaged 14.7 points and 4.1 assists per game.
2016-17 NCAA Tournament Highlights: Added 14 points and five assists in an opening round win over Mount St. Mary's ... Contributed 11 points in a 65-62 loss to Wisconsin a second round contest at Buffalo, N.Y.
2016-17 BIG EAST Tournament: Scored 17 points in the Wildcats' 74-60 title game victory over Creighton ... Play a major role in VU's rally to defeat Seton Hall 55-53 in the semifinals, finishing with 13 points ... Contributed 14 points, five assists and zero turnovers in a 108-67 win over St. John's in a BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinal on March 9 .... Named to the BIG EAST Conference All-Tournament unit.
2016-17 BIG EAST Regular Season: Added 17 points to help VU down Georgetown 81-55 on March 4 at the Verizon Center ... Led the Wildcats with 24 points in a 74-66 loss to No. 22 Butler on Feb. 22 ... Recorded his first career double-double with 22 points and 10 assists in a 92-70 win at Seton Hall on Feb. 18 ... Scored 23 points in a return to Illinois to lead a 75-62 VU victory at DePaul on Feb. 13 ... Led the Wildcats past No. 24 Xavier on Feb. 11 with 17 points and seven assists ... Named as one of 10 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award on Jan. 30 ... Scored the game's final seven points as a part of a 21-point night in a 66-57 victory at Providence ... Added 15 points and four assists in a 61-59 win over Virginia on Jan. 29 ... Dropped in 19 points in a 74-72 loss at Marquette on Jan. 24 ... Produced 13 points and six assists in a 78-68 win over Providence on Jan. 21 ... Dished out six assists to go with 13 points in a 76-46 win over Seton Hall on Jan. 16 ... Added 16 points and five rebounds in a 93-81 victory over Marquette on Jan. 7 ... Led the Wildcats with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting in a 66-58 loss at Butler on Jan. 4 ... Named BIG EAST Player of the Week on Jan. 2 after leading the Wildcats with a career-high 27 points past No. 10 Creighton 80-70 on Dec. 31 ... Contributed two huge free throws with 4.4 seconds left to help VU hold off DePaul 68-65 on Dec. 28.
2016-17 Non-Conference Highlights: Contributed 14 points and six assists to a 90-48 win over American on Dec. 21 ... Dished out six assists to go with 13 points in a 78-57 victory over Temple on Dec. 13 ... Established a new career high with 26 points in an 89-79 win over La Salle on Dec. 6 at the Palestra ... Added 11 points to go with six assists and only one turnover in an 88-57 victory over Saint Joseph's on Dec. 3 ... Contributed sevenpoints and three assists to a 63-47 victory over the College of Charleston on Nov. 23 ... Added 14 points and four assists to a 76-65 victory over Western Michigan on Nov. 17 ... Dropped in four critical free throws in the final minute to help VU outlast No. 15 Purdue on Nov. 14 ... Finished with 10 points and four assists ... His 17 points led the Wildcats in an 88-48 opening night victory over Lafayette.
2015-16 Overview: Started 39 of the Wildcats' 40 games, coming off the bench on Dec. 31 after dealing with a virus ... Was a unanimous choice to the BIG EAST All-Freshman squad and was also tabbed Philadelphia Big Five Rookie of the Year ... Finished second on the Wildcats with 100 assists (2.5 apg) and averaged 9.6 points per contest in his debut.
2015-16 NCAA Tournament Highlights: Drained a pair of clutch free throws to help seal a 64-59 win over Kansas in the Elite Eight in Louisville ... Contributed 12 points to an 86-56 opening round victory over UNC-Asheville and 10 points to an 87-68 win over Iowa in the second round at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
2015-16 BIG EAST Tournament Highlights: Chipped in with nine points to help the Wildcats down Georgetown 81-67 in a quarterfinal game on March 10.
2015-16 BIG EAST Regular Season Highlights: Scored 11 points in his return to Illinois in an 86-59 win at DePaul on Feb. 9 ... Poured in 16 points to go with four assists in a win over Creighton on Feb.. 3 ... Added 10 points and four assists against Providence on Jan. 24 ... Scored 14 points and added two assists to the cause in an 83-68 win over Marquette on Jan. 13 ... Named BIG EAST Rookie of the Week on Jan. 4 ... Scored all 15 points after halftime in a 85-71 win at Creighton on Jan. 2 ... A virus kept him out of the starting lineup against Xavier, though he contributed nine points in 17 minutes as a reserve.
2015-16 Non-Conference Highlights: Notched a season-high 25 points, converting 9-of-11 field goal attempts, in an 83-67 win at Temple on Feb. 17 that wrapped up the Philadelphia Big Five title for Villanova ...Scored a season high 22 points to go with five assists in a 77-57 win over Penn on Dec. 28 ... Named 2015 Male Athlete of the Year by USA Basketball on Dec. 21 ... Connected on three consecutive 3-pointers in the first half en route to a 13-point, five rebound effot in a 78-48 win over Delaware ... Chipped in with 13 points and four assists in a 76-47 victory over La Salle on Dec. 13 ... Named Most Valuable Player at the NIT Season Tipoff ... Also named to the BIG EAST and Philadelphia Big Five Honor Roll on Nov. 30 ... Led the Wildcats with 18 points in a 59-45 semifinal win over Stanford and then delivered 13 points in the championship game win over Georgia Tech on Nov. 27 ... Added nine points, five assists and zero turnover in an 86-51 win over ETSU on Nov. 20 at the Pavilion ... Scored nine points and added six assists in the 87-63 win over Nebraska on Nov. 17 ... Made his college debut a successful one on Nov. 13, scoring 12 points and handing out four assists in a 91-54 win over Fairleigh Dickinson at the Pavilion.
STEVENSON HIGH SCHOOL
A two-time Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year (2014 and 2015) and also was Illinois' Mr. Basketball as a senior in 2015 ... Selected as a McDonald's All-American and to the Jordan Brand national game following his senior year ... Also named first team All-Illinois by the Associated Press, the third time he was so honored ... Averaged 23.3 points, 5.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game as a senior ... Led Stevenson to the 2015 Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 4A state championship.
USA BASKETBALL
Named the Most Valuable Player of the 2015 U19 World Championship after helping lead Team USA to the gold medal ... Scored 30 points to help the Americans hold off Greece in the semifinals ... Averaged 14.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game over the course of the tournament ... Played a pivotal role in a 79-71 USA overtime victory over Croatia in the gold medal contest, scoring all 14 of his points in the second half and overtime. He also added seven assists ... In the summer of 2014 represented the USA at the U18 FIBAS Americas event as well as at the 2015 Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Ore.
PERSONAL
Parents are Eric and Sandra Brunson ... Has one sibling, Erica (14) ... Rick Brunson played college basketball in the Philadelphia Big Five at Temple and spent nine seasons playing in the National Basketball Association ... Rick Brunson was also a McDonald's All-American ... Born Aug. 31, 1996 in New Brunswick, N.J.