Villanova touches down in Rome for college basketball season opener and papal audience

ROME (AP) — It hit Villanova coach Kevin Willard early Thursday morning when he got off the charter flight that carried the university’s men’s and women’s teams to Rome for Sunday’s season-opening college basketball doubleheader against Notre Dame. Villanova, Willard believes, has a responsibility to represent Pope Leo XIV, who graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from the Augustinian school near Philadelphia. “At first, I didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal, but when we landed, you understand he is our best alumnus and most notable alumnus, Willard said. He’s also the most famous person on earth.” Sunday’s games might not even be the highlight of the trip. That honor likely belongs to the private audience that Leo is scheduled to hold with the four teams and their 7,000 traveling fans on Saturday. The team already drove by the Colosseum on their way to practice and plans to see the Spanish Steps, too. “It’s crazy, the things that basketball has