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VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — At Villanova University, all roads — or at least many of them — seem to lead to Rome, thanks to famed alumnus Pope Leo XIV and the school’s growing ties to the Vatican. Even its vaunted basketball program is getting in on the act.
“We certainly have a bigger footprint there now than we used to,” said the Rev. Peter Donohue, Villanova’s president. “People do know who we are, just because it’s the pope’s school.”
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The pope graduated from Villanova with a degree in mathematics in 1977. He belongs to the Augustinians, the religious order that founded the university near Philadelphia in 1842. Now his alma mater is finding new and inventive connections to his papacy.
On Sunday, the men’s and women’s basketball teams from Villanova will open the season in Rome with a Catholic university matchup, playing Notre Dame 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) from the Vatican in what organizers are calling the Eternal City Tip-Off. The doubleheader comes only weeks after Villanova hosted a sustainability conference in Rome and awarded a cardinal with the inaugural Pope Leo XIV Sustainability Medal.
“It’s crazy,” Donohue said. “We’re taking over Rome.”
Villanova saw applications jump more than 10% during the first admissions cycle after the pope’s 2025 election.
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“We claimed it was ‘the Pope Leo effect,'” Donohue said.
Pope Leo’s alma mater is a basketball powerhouse
Villanova is the only American university that can claim a pope as a graduate — a distinction that has elevated its profile alongside a run of athletic success.
The school won the NCAA men’s basketball championship in 1985, 2016 and 2018. Three alums dubbed the ‘Nova Knicks were instrumental in the New York Knicks winning the NBA title this year.
Over Halloween weekend, the power of Catholic school basketball will be in full effect as 6,000 Villanova fans and 1,000 Notre Dame fans travel to watch their teams compete.
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“The voice of the people of God will be very strong on the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ahead-rome-tipoff-basketball-powerhouse-110224061.html
Author : TIFFANY STANLEY
Publish date : 2026-10-27 11:02:00
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