The Nova Knicks have brought New York back to the NBA Finals for the first time this century. For most Knicks fans, a championship would be the first in our lifetime. The culture of this team is more than just something nice for Knicks fans or Villanova alums; it is an example of what can be achieved with hard work, creativity, and collaboration.

The Nova Knicks are sometimes defined as just the Nova guys, the ones who played on the 2016 and 2018 National Championship teams coached by Jay Wright. Right now, that is Team Captain Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges, who joined the team in that order. It has also included Ryan Arcidiacono, the field general of the 2016 Villanova Championship team, and Donte DiVincenzo, the hero of the 2018 championship game.

Others treat the Nova Knicks as this Knicks team—all of them—built around the same culture of constant learning, creative teamwork, and adaptive strategy. Brunson is known for his motto “The magic is in the work.” Often the team motto has been “Find a way,” emphasizing a spirit of tenacity and creative play-making that has made for astonishing comeback wins since the Nova Knicks got started.

This team is special, because they play with grit and tenacity, they do not quit, they keep creating new threats their opponents are not sure how to handle, and through it all, they play selflessly. The best players are creating opportunities for their teammates, keeping opposing defenders off balance and a few steps out of position.

It’s not just Brunson, Hart, and Bridges. KAT is a Wildcat, too, and OG plays like one, relentlessly. And the Knicks bench has developed into something more than a second string; they play critical roles, score points, open the floor, punish double teams, and unsettle opponents’ game plans.

Our connection to the Nova Knicks starts with our founder—Joe Robertson—who studied at Villanova, and later taught there, published VIllanova imprint paperbacks for courses and events, and contributed to the emerging culture of sustainability-related strategic planning.

We see in the Nova Knicks, and the style and accomplishments of this team, a representation of the learning and service culture of Villanova. Specifically: Leadership that involves sacrifice for the community; cooperative problem-solving; constant learning, re-learning, and outcome-oriented adjustment; an honest commitment to strive against daunting, complex challenges.

To play that way requires not just one leader or a couple of stars; it requires a team that is able to consistently learn, adapt, improve, and adjust, that changes the court constantly, and creates small advantages, over and over again, from new and unexpected angles, and plays defense that way too.

This is why we feature teamwork, wildcat tenacity, and bold orange and blue colors in our fan-perspective Nova York designs.

• If you know Villanova, you know the sculpture popularly called ‘The Oreo’, which is actually titled ‘Awakenings’, to which we pay homage in our stacked design with the basketball as the ‘o’ in ‘York’.
• And of course, in our alternate Nova York design, we feature a wildcat—not only as a reference to Villanova, but to honor the cunning and grit of this Knicks team, which has brought championship-level basketball back to New York.
• This is a way of referencing the wider team, and the spirit of agility, tenacity, and adaptive pursuit of shared goals.
• Teamwork is the implicit message in both styles, and appears in some of the Nova York products. We will write more in our Salted Stories about why teamwork is so important.

Get your Nova York gear now, and share the store with friends.

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