For today’s basketball fans, Jalen Brunson is the face of Villanova basketball.
Two NCAA championships. National Player of the Year. NBA All-Star. Leader of the New York Knicks.
Nearly seventy years earlier, another Villanova player helped define both the university’s basketball tradition and the game itself.
His name was Paul Arizin.
College Careers.
Brunson won two NCAA championships.
Arizin won none.
But before Arizin, Villanova was a small Catholic school on the Main Line, perhaps best known locally for its beautiful campus. By the time he graduated, Villanova basketball had earned a national reputation—one it has maintained ever since.
Different Eras. Different Games.
Brunson is a 6-foot-2 point guard whose footwork, balance, and ability to create space have made him one of the NBA’s elite players.
Arizin was a 6-foot-4 center at Villanova. When Paul Arizin entered the NBA, his jump shot was still regarded by many as a novelty. By the time he retired, it had become the standard by which virtually every young basketball player learned to score. Without a jump shot, a kid couldn’t make most high school junior varsity teams.
Brunson mastered the modern game.
Arizin helped create it.
Professional Careers
Brunson’s NBA story is still being written.
Arizin’s résumé is complete: Five-Time All NBA, two scoring titles, ten All-Star selections, Hall of Famer, and leader of the Philadelphia Warriors’ 1956 NBA championship team. His prime was interrupted by two years of military service.
Brunson reached the NBA Finals alongside fellow Villanova stars Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges.
Arizin was the only Villanova alumnus on the Warriors, but he was joined by another Philadelphia basketball legend—La Salle’s Tom Gola. Together, they helped bring the NBA championship to Philadelphia in 1956.
An Unlikely Beginning
Paul Arizin attended La Salle College High School but was cut from the varsity basketball team.
After enrolling at Villanova, he developed his game playing in the CYO league. One epic day, Villanova coach Al Severance watched him play and asked whether he would like to attend Villanova.
Arizin famously said, “I already go to Villanova.”
The following year, Tom Gola entered La Salle College High and became one of the greatest players in the school’s history.
Less than a decade later, Arizin and Gola were teammates on the Philadelphia Warriors, helping bring the 1956 NBA championship to Philadelphia.
One had been cut from his high school varsity team.
The other had become a high school legend.
Together, they became Hall of Famers.
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