BIG EAST TEAM PREVIEW #10 VILLANOVA WILDCATS

Villanova will have a new head coach in 2025 after they fired Kyle Neptune after three unsuccessful seasons. They were able to poach Kevin Willard from Maryland for the same position, which Maryland fans were very upset about. Willard had a very successful tenure there. Last season, in just his third year as the head coach, they finished with a 27-9 record, losing in the sweet sixteen to the eventual national champion in Florida. Villanova fans hope that Willard can get the program back to where it was when Jay Wright was at the helm. He retired after the 2021-22 season, which was the last time Villanova was in the tournament.

Projected Lineup:

G Devin Askew (Long Beach State transfer)

G Bryce Lindsay (James Madison transfer)

G Tyler Perkins

F Zion Stanford (Temple transfer)

C Duke Brennan (Grand Canyon transfer)

Villanova filled out this year's roster with a handful of transfers from the mid-major level. They brought in 6-foot-5 Long Beach State transfer Devin Askew to play the point guard next season. Askew is a former top recruit, but that was years ago. He originally committed to Kentucky out of high school and has also played at Texas, Cal, and Long Beach State since then. Last year was the best season of his college career. He was one of the best players in the Big West conference, averaging 18.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists while earning first-team all-conference honors. This could finally be Askew's year to be the guy for a power conference program in his final season of eligibility. Head coach Kevin Willard also brought in 6-foot-3 James Madison transfer Bryce Lindsay to be another big part of Villanova's new backcourt. Lindsay was one of the top shooters available in this season's portal cycle. Last year, he shot 40.8 percent from three while averaging 13.4 points per game, earning third-team all-conference honors and winning Sun Belt freshman of the year. 6-foot-4 shooting guard Tyler Perkins is Villanova's top returner from last year's team. He played in 25.8 minutes per game last year, averaging 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds. Four-star 2025 recruit Acaden Lewis should also have a big impact during his freshman season. Lewis is the 48th best overall recruit and the 5th best combo guard in the class by 247 Sports.

Villanova will likely have one of the most undersized teams in the conference next year. The tallest guy in their starting lineup will be 6-foot-10 Grand Canyon transfer Duke Brennan. He will be arguably the most important player on the Villanova roster next season due to the lack of size and experience they have in their frontcourt. Brennan was a huge part of Grand Canyon's success last year. He averaged 10.4 points per game and was the team's leading rebounder with 9.2 rebounds per game. He also earned second-team all-conference honors in the WAC. Villanova doesn't really have another proven big man to start alongside Brennan in the frontcourt. They brought in 6-foot-5 Temple transfer Zion Stanford who should start at the four next season. Stanford had a good season last year, averaging 13.1 points and 4.5 rebounds, but he's definitely undersized. Villanova also brings in two bigs that followed Kevin Willard from Maryland, in Braden Pierce and Tafara Gapare. Pierce is 7-foot, but he only played in 5 games during his sophomore season. Gapare, who's 6-foot-9, only played in 10.3 minutes per game last year.

Villanova has an intriguing roster next season. It will be really interesting to see how Devin Askew is able to adjust to the Big East next year. I also wonder how Duke Brennan will be able to handle such a huge workload this season. My overall opinion on next year's team is that it's just too thin a roster to be able to compete in the Big East. Kevin Willard is an excellent head coach, though, so I wouldn't totally count them out to be competitive in his first season.