Villanova freshman Jahvon Quinerly has issued an apology for his Instagram post that criticized his own program following the Wildcats' loss to Penn on Tuesday.
After Quinerly played just one minute in Villanova's 78-75 loss, he took to Instagram and wrote "Was my 2nd choice for a reason" in his story. He deleted it quickly, but it had already spread via social media.
"After suffering a disappointing loss to Penn Tuesday night, I briefly posted a controversial comment on Instagram," Quinerly wrote in a Twitter statement Thursday. "I knew it was a mistake as soon as it posted, and immediately removed it. I want to apologize to my fellow students, the Villanova Alumni, the fans, my coaches and my teammates for the embarrassment and the controversy I have caused our program. I regret what I said, and have learned an important lesson about the power and reach of social media and the impact of having an impulsive reaction in a public forum. I will work hard to regain your trust and support."
Quinerly watched from the bench Saturday as visiting Villanova lost to No. 1 Kansas.
Quinerly, a former five-star recruit in the 2018 class, originally committed to Arizona over Villanova in August 2017. He reopened his recruitment two months later, following the FBI pay-for-play investigation that named Arizona and Wildcats' assistant coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson. Quinerly ended up committing to Villanova last winter.
He's struggled to make an impact through one month of the season, playing fewer than 10 minutes per game and not getting off the bench in three of the team's first 11 games. Quinerly is averaging 2.4 points and 1.0 assist per game, but he hasn't scored since the Wildcats' Nov. 22 win over Canisius.
Coach Jay Wright has preferred sophomore Collin Gillespie at the point guard spot, with senior Phil Booth sliding over when Gillespie goes to the bench.