Pat Farrell was on Jay Wright’s first Villanova University team to win a national title, but he’s not talked about much, writes Anders Pryor for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
That’s OK, though, because the lessons he learned being part of that championship season has stayed with him.
In high school, it looked like his future was in lacrosse, until he discovered he was better at basketball.
At 6-foot-6, he arrived at Villanova in 2012 as a preferred walk-on,without a scholarship.
When he showed up, Villanova was having a bad 13-19 season and Wight had some holes to fill.
“Whether you’re a starter on the team [in 2016] or the last guy on the bench like I was, everybody’s opinion mattered,” Farrell said. “Everybody listened to each other. It might take five guys to win a game, but it takes 15 guys to win a championship.”
The team’s, and Jay Wright’s, embrace of a walk-on taught Farrell the importance of treating everyone equally, and basketball taught him to be decisive.
Those are lessons that have stayed with him, lessons he’s taken to his work today as vice president of Dune Real Estate Partners in New York.
Read more about how being part of the Wildcat’s influenced Pat Farrell’s life in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
