As he walked off the floor, headed to the locker room and the Sweet 16, Villanova sophomore guard Scottie Reynolds caught sight of his mom. And he noticed the tears.

Which summed up his feelings as well as any words could.

“She’s seen me go through so much and work hard,” said Reynolds, a Herndon High graduate, “and seeing her face and knowing why she was crying, said it all.”

Two years ago at this time, Reynolds was headed to Oklahoma, lured by his relationship with then-coach Kelvin Sampson. That is, until Sampson bolted for Indiana. Thus started Reynold’s journey that included another intense, and too quick, recruiting period. Three months later Reynolds landed at Villanova.

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And now he’s in the Sweet 16, preparing to face Kansas on Friday. It hasn’t been easy. “You understand a lot more about what this is all about and you understand why people shed tears,” he said, “and why they’re so emotional after wins and losses.”

Reynolds joined a starting unit as a freshman that included four seniors. By season’s end he had established himself as the go-to player, scoring in double figures in the last eight games, averaging 14.8 ppg overall. But the transition was not smooth, partly because he did not know his new coach, Jay Wright, as well as he knew Sampson. Reynolds remains close with his high school coach, Gary Hall.

“We both wanted that, but you just can’t create it immediately,” Wright said. “We’re both at a point where we have great confidence in each other. It’s tougher doing it as you go through the season.

“Then we went through USA basketball and that wasn’t the easiest experience. I was the coach and I wanted him to be a leader, but he was with seniors and playing against 25, 30, 35-year old pros. He handled it like a star and that’s why he is where he is today. He takes responsibility on himself.”

Reynolds likes that responsibility, one reason he’s comfortable at point guard — a spot he was moved to permanently three weeks ago. In the postseason, Reynolds has averaged 20.3 points per game — four more than his season average — while shooting 61 percent from behind the 3-point arc.

“He’s meant everything to us,” Wright said. “He’s made the transition and completed the development of being a high school scoring point guard to a big-time college point guard. One of the most important things that our team has developed is leadership from the point guard position.”

Reynolds said, “[Wright] demands a lot of you ... . The process was tough, but you look back and see everything that happened and you know you made a good decision. I feel fortunate to be in this position.”