Kevin Willard’s arrival at Villanova was enough to discourage anyone in his position. His first task was to replace virtually the entire roster, a challenge he has yet to complete.
Kevin Willard Feels Pride for the Job Done
Of course, there is a sense of pride in the fact that he faced that challenge and came out on top. Willard put it this way in an interview with CBS College Sports Basketball:
“Really proud of my staff and everybody that jumped. Just tried to put the best roster together and I think we put a really good roster together.”
The Wildcats’ head coach made no secret of how much the transfer portal is currently helping to resolve situations like the one he faced when he took over:
“I think it’s definitely easier now, John…The transfer portal makes it…although it’s made everything crazy, and it’s made everything really difficult, it does give you a chance to immediately solve some issues that you have with your roster.”
“You probably wouldn’t lose as many kids if the transfer portal wasn’t here, so it’s probably a little bit different, because maybe not as many kids are leaving your team. With everyone just being able to transfer at any time, you know, if in the past…if someone had transferred already, they wouldn’t have been able to leave, and so, you probably only going after four or five guys instead of signing 10.”
After the 2024-2025 season, Villanova’s top players announced one by one that they would not be returning next season. The most obvious decision was that of senior Eric Dixon, who entered his name in the 2025 NBA Draft, but eight other players followed him through the transfer portal.
Kris Parker has already committed to play for UCF next season, while Malcolm Thomas has done the same for Dayton, Aleksandar Gavalyugov for Santa Clara and Josiah Moseley for Texas Tech.
Jordann Dumont, Nnanna Njoku, Enoch Boakye and Jordan Longino have yet to declare their next NCAA destination, which they must do by May 29.
However, Willard and his staff have not been idle and have already signed Grand Canyon’s Malcolm Flaggs and Duke Brennan, Long Beach State’s Devin Askew, James Madison University’s Bryce Lindsay, Maryland’s Braden Pierce and Malachi Palmer, and Temple’s Zion Stanford.
KEEP READING: “What Jay Expects” Kevin Willard Predicts Villanova To Be A Championship Contender In the Long Term
Only three players will return from one season to the next, but the Wildcats have higher hopes for their new recruits as well as Acaden Lewis, Chris Jeffrey and Nico Onyekwere, their three high school class of 2025 signees.
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