From now until Villanova’s first game in Rome on November 1 against Notre Dame, WBR’s Andrew Kresin will run down the 10 other Big East programs as a MISE EN PLACE series. You can check out the rest of the series here.
General Information
- Head Coach: Kevin Willard (Second season at Villanova, 24-9 record in Philadelphia, 359-258 record overall)
- 2025-26 Record: 24-9 (15-5)
- 2025-26 Postseason: Lost in the Big East Tournament Quarterfinals against Georgetown, lost in NCAA Tournament Round of 64 to Utah State
- Coaches’ Poll Placement: Third (81 points)
- Media Day All-Big East Members: First Team All-Big East selection Tyler Perkins, Second Team All-Big East selection Kwane Evans Jr., Second Team All-Big East selection Devin Royal
- 2026-27 Scoring Retention: ~28.4 percent of scoring across three players
Key Returners
Villanova kept two consistent starters from last season, one of whom earned a preseason All-Big East nod. Senior guard Tyler Perkins was a leftover piece from the Kyle Neptune era, having appeared in 36 with three starts for Villanova in Neptune’s final year. He was good in his first year with the Wildcats, improving on shooting percentages he established in his freshman season with the Quakers of UPenn, but had yet to unlock the scoring ability that made him stand out as a freshman. In his first year with Kevin Willard, Perkins proved that he was an All-Big East talent. He improved yet again on his shooting percentages with an effective field goal percentage around 53 percent, continuing to be one of the premier rebounding guards in the conference at 5.4 rebounds per game and scoring the basketball as much as he had with UPenn at 13.7 points per game.
He didn’t have to score an outlandish number of points to place on the preseason All-Big East First Team. This is primarily because he may be the best rebounding guard in the conference. Last season, the only guard with more total rebounds over the course of the season per Stathead was Butler’s Michael Ajayi; Butler’s own webpage didn’t list Ajayi as a guard. Not only did Perkins notch an All-Big East selection, both for last season and this preseason, but he also won the Big East’s Most Improved Player Award in 2025-26. It was a deserved award for Perkins, who had stuck with Villanova despite a coaching change and proved himself to be one of the best guards returning to the Big East.
Perkins is joined by redshirt sophomore forward Matt Hodge, a Belgian native who sat out in the 2024-25 season under Neptune. He was not quite the scorer or rebounder that Perkins was last season but showed off his range with 50 three point makes on a 36.8 percent clip. In his 800 minutes, 29 games and 29 starts, he was one of Villanova’s best three-point shooting options alongside Perkins and Devin Askew, averaging a solid 9.2 points per game at the power forward position. Unfortunately for Villanova and Hodge, he tore his ACL during a late-February contest at St. John’s and has not appeared in any of Villanova’s exhibition games to date.
Hodge’s ability to space the floor has been missed in the Wildcats’ three exhibition games so far. Perkins and graduate guard Jake Fiegen have combined for nearly half (49-of-89) of Villanova’s attempts from three and 60 percent (18-of-30) of Villanova’s makes. Hodge’s size and prowess from range will further help the distribution and efficiency of Villanova’s three-point shooting, which sits just 33.7 percent through three exhibitions.
Key Transfers
Villanova built around Hodge and Perkins in the transfer portal after also losing several starters to transfer themselves. Senior forward Kwame Evans Jr. had appeared in 100+ games for Oregon before transferring to Villanova to play for Coach Willard. Evans Jr. had started for much of his freshman season but fell back into a reserve role in his sophomore campaign, hurting his averages but improving his efficiency. When it came time for him to start again, Evans Jr. put up career highs in minutes played (926), points scored (400), total rebounds (223), blocks (39) and three-point percentage (30.4). In his move back to the starting lineup, his efficiency dropped just a few percentage points but did not drop below what he established in his freshman season.
Evans Jr. also finished the season strong after putting up a few poor performances to start February. After three consecutive games in early February where he had a combined 17 points, Evans Jr. had seven games with 10+ points in a row, including five games with at least eight rebounds. He also cut down on his personal fouls last season. Evans Jr. matched his sophomore season’s total in personal fouls despite playing around 350 more minutes last season. His defensive abilities as a player with nearly 40 blocks last season and his limited fouling will help propel Villanova’s frontcourt in the absence of Hodge.
Senior forward Devin Royal from Ohio State will also help bolster the frontcourt at Villanova despite not being quite the size of either Evans Jr. or Hodge. He’s been a strong scorer for the Buckeyes, but also profiles as a strong rebounder as well. In the past two seasons, Royal has combined for a defensive rebounding rate at 16.8 percent. This number dropped in his final season with Ohio State, but his rebounding rates across the board (offensive, defensive and total) were all top 15 in the Big Ten in his sophomore season.
When trying to score, Royal operates primarily at the rim or in the paint. He took 9.9 field goal attempts per game last season, and according to CBB Analytics, over 50 percent of those shot attempts were either while attacking the rim or working in the painted area. Royal also shot just 31.6 percent from three on 98 attempts last season. It should also be noted that while this percentage is not necessarily elite, Royal has steadily improved on his percentage year-over-year with an increasing number of three-point attempts.
Senior guard Darryl Simmons II comes to Villanova after over 1,200 minutes played with St. Bonaventure last season. Across 34 games and 33 starts, Simmons II was not just able to lead St. Bonaventure in made threes but also the Atlantic 10 Conference with 94 made threes last season. It is his second consecutive year leading his conference in made three pointers, also leading the Big South in 2024-25 while a member of the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs. Across these last two seasons with Gardner-Webb and St. Bonaventure, Simmons II shot a combined 40.7 percent from range with 432 attempts. Despite his abilities from three, he also took nearly seven shots a game inside the arc and averaged 16.4 points per game. In the most recent Villanova exhibition against Virginia, he did not start, but contributed six points and six assists.
Junior guard Elijah Crawford missed most of November and December last season as a member of the UIC Flames, but went and played his way into the national spotlight with a massive performance at Arch Madness. In three games over three days, Crawford put up 59 points shooting 46.4 percent from the field, 14 assists to just nine turnovers and had 12 rebounds at the guard spot for the Flames. These games were part of an 11-game stretch where Crawford had 10+ points through the end of the season, where he arguably saved the best games for last. With an NCAA Tournament berth on the line, he put up 28 points on 29 shots with five assists. While that game did not go the Flames’ way, he followed it up with a 14-point, 12-assist game at California in the first round of the NIT. His averages of 14.1 points and 4.9 assists per game show that he can score and distribute when needed, and he already has 12 assists through three exhibition games.
Villanova’s last major transfer is a player mentioned earlier: Jake Fiegen has been hoisting three-point shots in the exhibitions. For Fiegen to launch as many shots as he has is a good thing, at least it was at Cornell. Fiegen led the Ivy League last year in effective field goal percentage with a 64.9 percent mark and averaged 17.1 points per game. He was just a solid shooter from all over the floor at Cornell, hence the high effective field goal percentage, also shooting 67.6 percent from inside the arc. A strong scorer and rebounder, Fiegen has appeared in all three exhibitions with one start and a combined 26 points.
Key College Newcomers
Freshman center Luigi Suigo from Italy is Villanova’s sole international prospect, and I mention him first because he is immediately sliding into the starting center position for the Wildcats. Before arriving stateside, Suigo averaged 18.3 minutes, 7.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in 26 games for BC Mega Basket in the Adriatic League, but he has also impressed in the exhibitions. In their three exhibitions, Suigo played a combined 79 minutes with 29 points and 18 rebounds. He fouled out of the George Mason game, but that only limited his time on the court with just 20 minutes that game. He may not be the best big man in the conference, but I think Suigo’s size at 7-foot-3 will be a problem for many of the Big East centers.
Freshman guard Adam Oumiddoch is a former top-75 four star in the Class of 2026. He played for Overtime Elite in Atlanta, where he averaged 28.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists. In OTE, he also shot nearly 50 percent from the field and 38.6 percent from three. He is joined in the freshman class by guard Carter Fisk, an unranked recruit in the 247Sports system. While playing in the Baltimore Catholic League, he averaged 17.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Oumiddoch has been starting in a few of the exhibitions with a 12-point outing in his game against George Mason, while Fisk has been a reserve with a combined 24 minutes played.
Others
Villanova returns three players with minimal roles or no role from last season. Graduate guard Brady Muller had hip surgery last season and did not play but was an end of rotation player for Bucknell in 2024-25. Graduate guard Wade Chiddick appeared in just two games for Villanova last season, scoring a combined three points. Redshirt freshman center Nico Onyekwere also sat out last season but was rated as a three star in the 247Sports service as part of the Class of 2025.
Villanova also obtained a transfer from redshirt senior Abdou Samb. He averaged 1.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in his last full season of college basketball in 2024-25 with Towson.
Outlook
Coach Willard kept a few important pieces from the NCAA Tournament appearance he made last year and is supplementing those pieces with strong transfers. I think Villanova’s size will cause a lot of teams issues: Suigo is big at that center position, Evans Jr. and Royal play strong interior basketball and Perkins is a great rebounder at the guard position. I do worry that some pieces might not be able to translate to the Big East right away, but if they do, this is a team that will compete for a first round bye in the Big East Tournament.
Credits
Villanova’s player information (demographics, player stats from high school, et cetera) found on the Villanova’s athletics webpage. Player stats from other schools found on Sports-Reference. Advanced statistics found on CBB Analytics. Lists made with Stathead. Player rankings from high school found on 247Sports. Charts made in Microsoft Excel.