'Nova Knicks' looking to join exclusive list of NCAA, NBA title-winning teammates - ESPN

New York's «Nova Knicks» are on the verge of joining some elite company.

All but certainly the NBA's most famous current set of college teammates, the Knicks' trio of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges won an NCAA championship together at Villanova in 2016, with Brunson and Bridges winning an additional title in 2018 after Hart graduated.

Their path to becoming teammates in the league was a little more serendipitous. The process started in the summer of 2022, when Brunson signed with New York. Hart joined Brunson in the Big Apple in a February 2023 deal with the Portland Trail Blazers (prompting a memorable reaction from Brunson), and Bridges joined the duo over a year later as part of a blockbuster trade following the 2024 season. That trio was actually briefly united with a fourth Villanova teammate, Donte DiVincenzo, but DiVincenzo was dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves that fall as part of the deal that brought Karl-Anthony Towns to Madison Square Garden.

With the Knicks in this year's NBA Finals, currently leading the San Antonio Spurs 1-0 in the series, the Villanova alumni group has already joined at least one historic short list — per ESPN Research, New York is the second team in NBA history to have started three players from the same school in an NBA Finals game, joining the 1948-49 Minneapolis Lakers' trio of DePaul grads in George Mikan, Johnny Jorgensen and Whitey Kachan.

But a different short list could be in play for the Knicks' former Wildcats as well. Just four sets of teammates have won both NCAA and NBA championships together (at least among players who played in at least one NCAA tournament game and at least one NBA playoff game).

The Knicks' Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart could