2025–26 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

2025–26 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
2025–26 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
Big 5 Classic champions
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	8–2 (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
Creighton	2	–	0	1.000	7	–	5	.583
No. 5 UConn	1	–	0	1.000	11	–	1	.917
Seton Hall	1	–	0	1.000	11	–	1	.917
No. 22 St. John's	1	–	0	1.000	7	–	4	.636
Butler	1	–	1	.500	9	–	3	.750
Xavier	1	–	1	.500	9	–	4	.692
Georgetown	1	–	1	.500	8	–	4	.667
Villanova	0	–	0	–	9	–	2	.818
DePaul	0	–	1	.000	8	–	4	.667
Providence	0	–	2	.000	7	–	6	.538
Marquette	0	–	2	.000	5	–	8	.385

† 2026 Big East tournament winner As of December 20, 2025 Rankings from AP poll

The 2025–26 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represents Villanova University in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by coach first year head coach Kevin Willard, play 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 they 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^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 19, 2025* 5:00 p.m.	VCU	W 70–51		15 – Lewis	7 – Tied	3 – Tied	Finneran Pavilion (4,799) Villanova, PA
October 24, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	at Virginia	L 72–75		16 – Lewis	6 – Perkins	5 – Lewis	John Paul Jones Arena (13,751) Charlottesville, VA
Non-conference regular season
November 3, 2025* 9:30 p.m., TNT/truTV	vs. No. 8 BYU Hall of Fame Series – Las Vegas	L 66–71	0–1	22 – Lindsay	15 – Brennan	3 – Lewis	T-Mobile Arena (16,704) Paradise, NV
November 8, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Queens (NC) Villanova Challenge	W 94–74	1–1	25 – Lindsay	20 – Brennan	4 – Tied	Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA
November 11, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Sacred Heart Villanova Challenge	W 94–60	2–1	27 – Lindsay	11 – Brennan	8 – Lewis	Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA
November 15, 2025* 8:00 p.m., truTV	Duquesne Villanova Challenge	W 87–77	3–1	19 – Lewis	13 – Brennan	6 – Lewis	Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA
November 19, 2025* 7:00 p.m., CBSSN	at La Salle Big 5 Classic Pod 1	W 70–55	4–1	17 – Hodge	17 – Brennan	6 – Lewis	John Glaser Arena (2,653) Philadelphia, PA
November 25, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Old Dominion	W 89–75	5–1	21 – Perkins	7 – Tied	4 – Lewis	Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA
December 1, 2025* 6:30 p.m., FS1	Temple Big 5 Classic Pod 1	W 74–56	6–1	19 – Perkins	8 – Brennan	8 – Lewis	Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA
December 6, 2025* 7:00 p.m., NBCSP/Peacock	vs. Penn Big 5 Classic Championship	W 90–63	7–1	18 – Lindsay	10 – Brennan	7 – Lewis	Xfinity Mobile Arena (10,361) Philadelphia, PA
December 9, 2025* 6:30 p.m., FS1	at No. 2 Michigan	L 61–89	7–2	18 – Askew	6 – Tied	3 – Lewis	Crisler Center (12,707) Ann Arbor, MI
December 13, 2025* 4:30 p.m., TNT/truTV	Pittsburgh	W 79–61	8–2	24 – Tied	9 – Brennan	7 – Lewis	Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA
December 19, 2025* 8:00 p.m., FOX	vs. Wisconsin Milwaukee Hoops Showdown	W 76–66 ^OT	9–2	19 – Perkins	11 – Brennan	4 – Tied	Fiserv Forum (7,328) Milwaukee, WI
Big East regular season
December 23, 2025 7:00 p.m., Peacock	at Seton Hall						Prudential Center Newark, NJ
December 31, 2025 6:00 p.m., FS1	DePaul						Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
January 3, 2026 12:00 p.m., TNT/truTV	at Butler						Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
January 7, 2026 7:30 p.m., Peacock	Creighton						Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
January 10, 2026 2:30 p.m., TNT/truTV	at Marquette						Fiserv Forum Milwaukee, WI
January 13, 2026 6:30 p.m., FS1	at Providence						Amica Mutual Pavilion Providence, RI
January 17, 2026 8:00 p.m., Peacock	St. John's						Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
January 21, 2026 7:00 p.m., Peacock	Georgetown						Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
January 24, 2026 12:30 p.m., FOX	at UConn						PeoplesBank Arena Hartford, CT
January 30, 2026 7:00 p.m., FS1	Providence						Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
February 4, 2026 6:30 p.m., Peacock	Seton Hall						Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
February 7, 2026 12:00 p.m., TNT/truTV	at Georgetown						Capital One Arena Washington, DC
February 10, 2026 7:30 p.m., TNT/truTV	Marquette						Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
February 14, 2026 2:30 p.m., FOX	at Creighton						CHI Health Center Omaha Omaha, NE
February 17, 2026 6:30 p.m., FS1	at Xavier						Cintas Center Cincinnati, OH
February 21, 2026 5:30 p.m., TNT/truTV	UConn						Xfinity Mobile Arena Philadelphia, PA
February 25, 2026 7:00 p.m., FS1	Butler						Xfinity Mobile Arena Philadelphia, PA
February 28, 2026 8:00 p.m., FOX	at St. John's						Madison Square Garden New York, NY
March 4, 2026 8:00 p.m., Peacock	at DePaul						Wintrust Arena Chicago, IL
March 7, 2026 12:00 p.m., TNT/truTV	Xavier						Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
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]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP^[4]	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV
Coaches	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—

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.
^ "AP Top 25 Men's College Basketball Poll". AP News. Retrieved 2025-10-14.

[: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.

[4] "AP Top 25 Men's College Basketball Poll". AP News. Retrieved 2025-10-14.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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 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 2025–26
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics