The first year

Bridges redshirted in his first season and helped the players.[7] In his first year
at Villanova, he appeared in all 40 games for the Wildcats. He said he needed to do
more heavy lifting and change his three-point shot.[8] He played an important role
coming off the bench in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, scoring 11 points in the Oklahoma
Sooners' final loss. Bridges won the NCAA championship with his team for the school
for the first time since 1985. He averaged 6.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals
per game as a freshman.[5] "It came as a high school scoring show, as they all do,
so I'm happy with how he opened up his game defensively," coach Jay Wright said.[9]

The second year

Bridges in 2017
Going into the 2016-17 season, Bridges was expected to be the team's sixth man, but
started every game after Phil Booth injured his knee in November. As a sophomore,
Joe Juliano of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, "If there are five tools in college
basketball, Mikal Bridges is the model." [8] He became a forward. who can score and
defend well and also protects the team's best players.[9] In the NCAA Tournament,
he scored 13 points to help Villanova to its first victory over Mount St. Mary's.
Bridges averaged 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while making 54% of his field
goal attempts and 39% of his three-point attempts.[5] He improved his scoring as
the season progressed, averaging 12.3 points in his last 12 games. Along with
Creighton's Khyri Thomas and teammate Josh Hart, Bridges was one of the Big East's
three defensive players of the year, ranking third in the conference in steals at
1.9 per game.[8]

the younger years

He was named to the 2017–18 preseason All-Big East Second Team. Bridges had six 3-
point attempts in a 24-point performance against Lafayette on November 17.[11] On
December 4, he scored a career-high 28 points to go with six rebounds and two
blocks in an 88–72 win over Gonzaga.[12] Bridges scored 23 points in an overtime
win over Seton Hall on March 2, 2018.[4] At the end of each season, he joined Jalen
Brunson on the All-Big East First Team.[13] He was named Big East Tournament MVP
after scoring 28 points in the title game, a 76–66 victory over Providence.[14]

As a junior, Bridges averaged 17.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game on 51%
shooting, including 43.5% on 3-pointers. He received the Julius Erving Award for
Small Forward.[15] On April 10, 2018, Bridges announced his intention to forgo the
final season of college eligibility and declare himself for the 2018 NBA Draft, as
he was the first-10 pick of the Philadelphia 76ers. He was later traded to the
Phoenix Suns in exchange for 16th pick Zhaire Smith in 2021 without a protected
first round pick.[16]