CHARLESTON, S.C. — “Damn. We really got my dog over here.”

It’s Day 2 of training camp at McAlister Field House on The Citadel’s campus, and as head coach Tom Thibodeau runs through offensive and defensive philosophies, Josh Hart can’t help but get nostalgic.

Hart’s relentless pursuit of Mikal Bridges — clowning him from across the Manhattan Bridge — paid off when the Knicks sent five first-round picks and Bojan Bogdanovic to the Nets, reuniting the Villanova trio that led the Wildcats to the 2016 NCAA title.

Seven years had passed since Hart, Bridges, and Jalen Brunson last shared the floor as teammates. Now they were back — not at Villanova, but on an NBA roster, with training camp unfolding on a military campus in the South.

“I was thinking about that earlier today,” Hart said. “It’s definitely cool. It’s gonna take some time getting used to because we’ve been away from each other for so long, but there’s a certain level of comfort and familiarity that you never get in the league.”

For Hart, seeing his Villanova brothers wasn’t just about old memories — it was a reminder of their journey from campus to the pros. Their bond had grown deeper, from boys with dreams to men fulfilling them under basketball’s brightest lights.

Brunson became the 36th Knicks captain in team history, ascending to superstardom on the biggest stage. Bridges, once a complementary piece, had become a legitimate two-way force and Brooklyn’s No. 1 option before his trade.

As for Hart?

Well, Hart’s the same.

Unfiltered. Unrelenting. Unable to dial it down, whether it’s practice or game time.

But at the heart of it, these are three friends who get to live out their dream of playing basketball — and now, for the first time in nearly a decade, they’re doing it together again.

“Josh, you’ve got to watch out for him,” Bridges said. “I can’t look him in the eye sometimes — he’s just going to make me laugh, thinking about back in the day. But Jalen, he’s still the same. The only thing that’s changed is how much better he’s gotten as a player. He’s always been a winner.”

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“Bully.”

It’s the word both Bridges and Brunson used to describe how Hart, then a sophomore at Villanova, welcomed the freshman forward angling for minutes in the Wildcats’ rotation.

Bridges was a redshirt freshman during the 2014-15 season, Hart’s first year as a fixture in the lineup.

“I had nothing wrong with him. He didn’t like me,” Bridges said. “I think it was a little fear of a 6-6 lanky kid who was looking pretty solid. But after that, we’ve been close ever since.”

Brunson joined the team the following season.

“Mikal was a year before me. And so I kind of saw it,” he recalled. “I didn’t see the brutal battles, but I saw a little bit.

“Yeah, Josh is just a bully. That’s just who he is.”

Hart, as expected, disagreed.

“Wasn’t a bully,” he laughed. “At Nova, we had the ‘Villanova Way.’ Guys had to figure it out, and for me, I was just like, let’s keep it moving. We don’t want people slowing up the process.

“I’m the same way with rookies now. I’m just a little more tempered. I got kids now.”

Tempering his intensity doesn’t mean Hart has lost his edge. It’s more refined now, under control, channeled in a way that’s become the backbone of his NBA career.

The Knicks feed off of it, too.

The grit, the passion — it’s all still there, only focused. What binds this trio is that edge, alongside Brunson’s leadership and Bridges’ two-way versatility.

And as chance would have it, what the trio built eight years ago in Philadelphia was more than just chemistry — it was a foundation.

“I think all the adversity that we had with Mikal and Jalen back in college, that’s where relationships are really formed: in adverse situations,” Hart said. “I feel like we all went through it together, and I feel like that’s why we have the close bond that we have now.

“And I think that’s gonna translate onto the court, off the court, and we’re extremely excited to be all on that court at one time.”

———

This isn’t college ball.

It’s the pros — where nothing is guaranteed, and on any given night, any team can knock you down.

Even these Knicks, anchored by their Villanova trio and now bolstered by OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns, can get caught in a trap game.

Getting on the same page won’t be a cakewalk.

“We’re gonna have to figure it out,” Brunson said. “We’ve all grown as players since then, and the league is totally different from college. But the chemistry is there. On the court, it’s just easier for us to make sure we’re all in the right headspace and the right mindset.”

For as close as these three are off the court, this is the NBA — not the NCAA.

And while their bond gives them a leg up, Brunson, Hart, and Bridges know there’s no shortcut to success at this level.

“It’s different now,” Brunson said. “The game’s different, we’re different as players, but the mindset’s still the same — we want to win, and we’ll figure it out.”

Brunson is right.

The NBA is a different beast: the speed, the talent, the stakes — everything is elevated, especially under the microscope that comes with playing in this city.

Yet, the principles of winning basketball don’t change. And this trio won it all in 2016.

Why can’t they do it again eight years later?

“Yeah, I think we can replicate it,” Hart said. “The execution — obviously in a different system, but to win, you have to be on a string, and you have to have a really good connection. You have to have execution. You have to sacrifice. And I think that’s something we’ve all done before.”

The work doesn’t stop when training camp ends.

The Knicks will grind through the Oct. 22 opener in Boston against the Celtics. It will be the night the reigning champs receive their rings — a ceremony this Knicks trio has set their sights on replicating at Madison Square Garden in 2025

Doing so would mark the first Knicks championship in over 50 years, but as Brunson, Hart, and Bridges know all too well, that journey begins and ends with sacrifice — the same sacrifice they learned under Villanova’s demanding culture.

Their past is the foundation.

As for the rest?

“We’re gonna have to figure it out,” said Brunson. “I think we’ve all grown as players since then. We have a great chemistry off the court, so on the court, it’s just easier for us to make sure we’re all in the right headspace and the right mindset.

“But the league is totally different from college. I’m happy with the success we had in college but … what happened in college was in college, and we did have a bond that will never be broken, but this is totally different.”

This isn’t about what they did back then — it’s about what they’re ready to build now. The lessons are the same, but the stage is bigger, the stakes higher.

For Brunson, Bridges and Hart, the road ahead won’t be easy, but together, they know exactly what it takes.

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