Villanova Preview, 2025-26

Villanova Wildcats

Saturday, January 10th, 2026 at Fiserv Forum / Tuesday, February 10th, 2026 at Finneran Pavilion, Villanova, PA

Head Coach: Kevin Willard (335-249 overall, 0-0 at Villanova)

Three-Year NET Average: 57.3

Three-Year kenpom Average: 48.0

Projected 2023-24 T-Rank: 50

Villanova hopes Kevin Willard will restore the program to Jay Wright levels

Photo from NJ Advance Media

State of the Program

Kyle Neptune's short tenure at Villanova is over. While he wasn't wildly unsuccessful (48.0 kenpom average, never lower than 56, zero losing Big East seasons, 56-48 overall and 31-29 in the Big East) the inability to make the NCAA Tournament and compete at the top of the league led to a change. Rather than risk a continued program decline, Villanova pulled the trigger on Kevin Willard. They went with someone familiar with the Big East from his time at Seton Hall and a proven floor raiser who took Maryland to the Sweet 16 and their best kenpom finish since Gary Williams won the National Championship in 2002. Willard's roster is a mix of returning players, veteran transfers yet to make their mark at the high-major level, and promising freshmen. It was a bit of a roller-coaster getting here, as Willard was answering questions about Villanova as his Maryland team prepared for the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but now Villanova fans at least know they have a proven high-major head coach at the helm.

Rotation

In terms of players to watch in the league, Acaden Lewis is one of the most intriguing. There's some discussion he could be a one-and-done player and will almost certainly have the keys to the offense from day one. He's a ball-dominant lead guard with excellent floor vision and a broad wingspan, but needs to improve his shooting, defensive commitment, and add strength to take that next step. Devin Askew and Bryce Lindsay will likely spend most of the time alongside Lewis. Askew is a one-time five-star talent who failed to break through in the high-major ranks but was able to rehab his career at Long Beach State last year. His availability is questionable as he's expected to miss the start of the season and possibly more with an injury. Buyer beware, while the Beach were 9.2 adjusted points/100 possessions better with him on offense, they were 11.1 points/100 worse on defense when he was on the court. Lindsay was an offensive sparkplug for the Dukes and may need to take a larger role depending on Askew's availability. Tyler Perkins was quietly one of 'Nova's best contributors last year. He was their best defender per EvanMiya.com and per Hoop-Explorer.com 'Nova was a mammoth +18.9 adjusted points/100 possessions (+8.0 offense/-10.9 defense) with him on the floor. Matthew Hodge sat out last year with academic eligibility questions but is highly regarded as someone who can contribute immediately. Up front may be the area with the most question marks as Duke Brennan was a serviceable mid-major role-player but pretty clearly the fifth option at GCU while Tafara Gapare struggled to get off the bench at Maryland but at least knows Willard's system. The bench is rounded out by freshman scorer Chris Jeffrey and Temple transfer wing Zion Stanford who does a bit of everything but wasn't really elite in any one area.

Style of Play

Willard likes to run a four-out offense around a big man that can serve as a lob threat and offensive glass cleaner. While they'll run four-out, those perimeter players are there to drive and score at the rim or make cuts to get open looks inside. In 18 years, he's had one top-50 3PFG% team (last year at Maryland) and two top-50 team in 3PFG attempt rate (2012-13 and 2013-14 Seton Hall). Ball movement happens on the perimeter to create driving lanes or to find ways to feed either post players or other perimeter cutters. The goal of the offense is to get everyone touches, to take the first good shot, and balance the scoring load. This will likely shift a bit this year. Strictly from a roster perspective, guys like Lewis, Askew, Hodge, Lindsay, Jeffrey, and Stanford are good at moving the ball and creating shots for their teammates. Unless Willard is actively trying to coach shot creation out of them, I expect less one-on-one, less driving with rim-only focus, and more flow to the offense simply because the roster is comfortable with it.

Maryland's 2024-25 defense is the goal for Villanova, but likely not yet reality

Shot chart from CBBAnalytics.com

The defensive end is where Willard has made his reputation. They play a pressure defense that chases teams off the three-point arc, aggressively challenges shots, and get shot-blocking not just from the big from from help-side defenders. Inside the arc, they excel at forcing teams into midrange. Last year's Maryland team had exceptional lateral movement and individual defenders that made up the #7 defense per kenpom. This Villanova team is too young and doesn't have the defensive range to replicate that but as Willard develops his system the hope is that level of defensive movement, aggression, help-side defense, and cohesion leads to those levels of success.

2025-26 Outlook 

The hope is that Villanova will bounce right back to the NCAA Tournament with a steady hand in charge. I'm not convinced. They'll be relying a lot on youth, with Lewis and Hodge playing major roles and Jeffrey likely to be counted on for significant minutes. While there's experience, it's either mid-major role players or guys that failed to break through at the high-major level. Getting to the bubble would be a big accomplishment but it feels like the NCAA Tournament field isn't quite big enough (yet) for this team to earn an at-large bid.

One Man's Opinion

Villanova checks in at #8 in the Big East. There isn't anyone on this roster who is a proven plus high-major player. Keep the freshmen together for a few seasons and I can see this working out, but until there's a higher investment either in the portal players (honestly Neptune brought in better on-paper transfer classes) or these youngsters get the chance to develop, the top half of the Big East and NCAA Tournament likely remain outside their reach.