2025–26 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

2025–26 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
2025–26 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	0–0 (0–0 Big East)
Head coach	Kevin Willard (1st season);
Assistant coaches	David Cox; Kevin Norris; Ashley Howard; Greg Manning Jr.; Ricky Harris;
Home arena	Finneran Pavilion; Xfinity Mobile Arena

2025–26 Big East men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Butler	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
UConn	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Creighton	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
DePaul	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Georgetown	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Marquette	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Providence	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
St. John's	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Seton Hall	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Xavier	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–

† 2026 Big East tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 2025–26 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by coach first year head coach Kevin Willard, they played their home games at the Finneran Pavilion on the school's campus in the Philadelphia suburb of Villanova, Pennsylvania and Xfinity Mobile Arena as members of the Big East Conference.

Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2024–25 season 21–15, 11–9 in Big East play to finish in sixth place. They defeated Seton Hall in the first round of the Big East tournament before losing to UConn in the quarterfinals. They accepted a bid to the inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament where defeated Colorado in the first round and USC in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to UCF.

On March 15, 2025, the school fired head coach Kyle Neptune.^[1] Assistant coach Mike Nardi was named interim coach for the postseason tournament.^[1] On March 30, the school named Maryland head coach Kevin Willard the team's new head coach.^[2]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Josiah Moseley	0	F	6'6"	185	Freshman	Round Rock, TX	Transferred to Texas Tech
Kris Parker	1	G	6'9"	195	Freshman	Tallahassee, FL	Transferred to UCF
Jhamir Brickus	2	G	5'11"	205	GS Senior	Coatesville, PA	Graduated
Wooga Poplar	5	G	6'5"	197	Senior	Philadelphia, PA	Graduated
Aleksandar Gavalyugov	7	G	6'2"	195	Freshman	Sofia, Bulgaria	Transferred to Santa Clara
Jordann Dumont	10	F	6'8"	200	Freshman	Montreal, QC	Transferred to VCU
Collin O'Toole	12	G	6'1"	180	Senior	Rye, NY	Walk-on; graduated
Enoch Boakye	13	C	6'11"	250	Senior	Brampton, ON	Transferred
Jordan Longino	15	G	6'5"	215	Senior	Doylestown, PA	Transferred
Malcolm Thomas	20	F	6'8"	195	Freshman	Mitchelville, MD	Transferred to Dayton
Nnanna Njoku	21	F	6'9"	260	Junior	Newark, DE	Transferred to Delaware
Eric Dixon	43	F	6'8"	255	GS Senior	Willow Grove, PA	Graduated/undrafted in 2025 NBA draft; signed with the Los Angeles Lakers

Incoming transfers

Name	Num	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Zion Stanford	1	G	6'6"	205	Junior	Philadelphia, PA	Temple
Bryce Lindsay	2	G	6'3"	195	Sophomore	Baltimore, MD	James Madison
Devin Askew	5	G	6'5"	195	GS Senior	Sacramento, CA	Long Beach State
Tafara Gapare	6	F	6'9"	215	Senior	Wellington, New Zealand	Maryland
Malachi Palmer	7	G	6'6"	212	Sophomore	Harrisburg, PA	Maryland
Malcolm Flaggs	15	G	6'6"	200	Junior	Tuba City, AZ	Grand Canyon
Braden Pierce	17	C	7'0"	245	Sophomore	Woodstock, GA	Maryland
Duke Brennan	24	F	6'10"	250	Senior	Chandler, AZ	Grand Canyon

2025 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Acaden Lewis #7 PG	Washington, DC	Sidwell Friends School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	May 1, 2025
Acaden Lewis #7 PG	Recruit ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: (88)
Chris Jeffrey #33 PG	Brooklyn, NY	Mt. Zion Prep	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Apr 9, 2025
Chris Jeffrey #33 PG	Recruit ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: (81)
Nico Onyekwere #60 C	Glen Head, NY	Long Island Lutheran High School	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	240 lb (110 kg)	Apr 29, 2025
Nico Onyekwere #60 C	Recruit ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: (79)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2025 Villanova Commits". Rivals. "2025 Team Ranking". Rivals.

Roster

2025–26 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Chris Jefferey	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Mount Zion Prep	Brooklyn, NY
G	1	Zion Stanford	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	Temple	Philadelphia, PA
G	2	Bryce Lindsay	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	RS So	James Madison	Baltimore, MD
G	4	Tyler Perkins	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	212 lb (96 kg)	Jr	Penn	Lorton, VA
G	5	Devin Askew	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	GS	Long Beach State	Sacramento, CA
F	6	Tafara Gapare	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Maryland	Wellington, New Zealand
G	7	Malachi Palmer	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	212 lb (96 kg)	So	Maryland	Harrisburg, PA
G	14	Wade Chiddick (W)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	Westtown School	King of Prussia, PA
G	15	Malcolm Flaggs	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	212 lb (96 kg)	RS Jr	Grand Canyon	Tuba City, AZ
C	17	Braden Pierce	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	RS So	Maryland	Woodstock, GA
C	21	Nico Onyekwere	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Fr	Long Island Lutheran HS	Abuja, Nigeria
F	24	Duke Brennan	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Sr	Grand Canyon	Chandler, AZ
F	33	Matthew Hodge	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS Fr	St. Rose HS	Belmar, NJ
G	55	Acaden Lewis	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Sidwell Friends School	Washington, D.C.

Head coach

Kevin Willard (Pittsburgh)

Assistant coach(es)

David Cox (William & Mary)
Kevin Norris (Miami (FL))
Ashley Howard (Drexel)
Greg Manning Jr. (Loyola (MD))
Ricky Harris (UMass)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 19, 2025* 5:00 p.m.	VCU	Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
October 24, 2025* 7:00 p.m.	at Virginia	John Paul Jones Arena Charlottesville, VA
Non-conference regular season
November 3, 2025* TBA, TNT	vs. BYU Hall of Fame Series	T-Mobile Arena Paradise, NV
November 8, 2025* TBA	Queens (NC) Villanova Challenge	Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
November 11, 2025* TBA	Sacred Heart Villanova Challenge	Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
November 15, 2025* TBA	Duquesne Villanova Challenge	Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
November 19, 2025* TBA	at La Salle Big 5 Classic Pod 1	John Glaser Arena Philadelphia, PA
November 25, 2025* TBA	Old Dominion	Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
December 1, 2025* TBA	Temple Big 5 Classic Pod 1	Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
December 6, 2025* TBA	vs. TBA Big 5 Classic	Xfinity Mobile Arena Philadelphia, PA
December 9, 2025* TBA	at Michigan	Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI
December 13, 2025* TBA	Pittsburgh	Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
December 19, 2025* TBA	vs. Wisconsin Milwaukee Hoops Showdown	Fiserv Forum Milwaukee, WI
Big East regular season

Big East tournament
March 11–14, 2026 TBA	vs.	Madison Square Garden New York City, NY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b "Neptune out as Villanova coach after 3 seasons". ESPN.com. 2025-03-15. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
^ "Kevin Willard leaves Maryland for Villanova in messy departure following Terrapins' Sweet 16 run". CBSSports.com. 2025-03-30. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
^ "2025–26 Men's Basketball Schedule". villanova.com. Retrieved 2024-08-15.

[:0-1] "Neptune out as Villanova coach after 3 seasons". ESPN.com. 2025-03-15. Retrieved 2025-04-01.

[2] "Kevin Willard leaves Maryland for Villanova in messy departure following Terrapins' Sweet 16 run". CBSSports.com. 2025-03-30. Retrieved 2025-04-01.

[3] "2025–26 Men's Basketball Schedule". villanova.com. Retrieved 2024-08-15.

[1]

[2]

[3]

Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	Jake Nevin Field House (1932–1986) William E. Finneran Pavilion (1986–2017, 2018–present) Spectrum (alternate; 1967–2009) Xfinity Mobile Arena (alternate; 1996–present)
Rivalries	Saint Joseph's
Culture & lore	Will D. Cat City 6 Philadelphia Big 5 Big 5 Classic Robert V. Geasey Trophy "V for Villanova"
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics