SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Jermaine Samuels and Collin Gillespie were both on the floor for the final seconds of Villanova’s national championship game victory four years ago. They were true freshmen on a title team with five NBA-bound players.
Now they are fifth-year seniors leading the Wildcats, who are in another NCAA Final Four after Samuels was the South Region MVP and third-team AP All-America point guard Gillespie made a clutch shot late in the regional final.
“It’s crazy how things have come full circle,” Samuels said. “Back then, it was amazing to watch those guys from the sidelines. I had front-row tickets to some of the greatest Villanova basketball players to ever put on the jersey.”
The Wildcats (30-7) have made the Final Four for the third time in the past six NCAA tourneys — they also won it all in 2016. They play in the first national semifinal game Saturday at the Superdome in New Orleans against Big 12 champion Kansas, the only No. 1 seed left in this…