# 2024–25 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2024–25 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represents Villanova University in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by coach Kyle Neptune in his third season as a head coach, the Wildcats play their home games at the Finneran Pavilion on the school's campus in the Philadelphia suburb of Villanova, Pennsylvania and Wells Fargo Center as members of the Big East Conference.

## Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2023–24 season 18–16, 10–10 in Big East play, to tie for sixth place. They defeated DePaul in the opening round of the 2024 Big East tournament before losing to Marquette in the quarterfinals. The Wildcats received an at-large bit to the NIT, losing in the first round to VCU.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| TJ Bamba | 0 | G | 6'5" | 215 | Senior | Bronx, NY | Graduate transferred to Oregon |
| Brendan Hausen | 1 | G | 6'5" | 205 | Sophomore | Amarillo, TX | Transferred to Kansas State |
| Mark Armstrong | 2 | G | 6'2" | 180 | Sophomore | South Orange, NJ | Declare for 2024 NBA draft; went undrafted/signed with the Brooklyn Nets |
| Trey Patterson | 3 | F | 6'9" | 225 | Junior | Somerset, NJ | Transferred to Rice |
| Chris Arcidiacono | 4 | G | 6'5" | 205 | GS Senior | Langhorne, PA | Graduated |
| Justin Moore | 5 | G | 6'4" | 210 | GS Senior | Fort Washington, MD | Graduated |
| Hakim Hart | 13 | G | 6'8" | 205 | GS Senior | Philadelphia, PA | Graduated |
| Lance Ware | 14 | F | 6'9" | 235 | Senior | Camden, NJ | Graduate transferred to UT Arlington |
| Tyler Burton | 23 | F | 6'7" | 215 | GS Senior | Uxbridge, MA | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Kris Parker | 1 | G | 6'9" | 195 | Freshman | Tallahassee, FL | Alabama |
| Jhamir Brickus | 2 | G | 5'11" | 205 | GS Senior | Coatesville, PA | La Salle |
| Tyler Perkins | 4 | G | 6'4" | 205 | Sophomore | Lorton, VA | Penn |
| Wooga Poplar | 5 | G | 6'2" | 192 | Senior | Philadelphia, PA | Miami (FL) |
| Enoch Boakye | 13 | C | 6'10" | 250 | Senior | Brampton, ON | Fresno State |

### 2024 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Josiah Moseley #7 SF | Round Rock, TX | Stony Point High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Oct 9, 2023 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 85 ||||||
| Matthew Hodge #26 PF | Belmar, NJ | St. Rose High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Nov 10, 2023 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 82 ||||||
| Malcolm Thomas #58 PF | Hyattsville, MD | DeMatha Catholic High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Oct 5, 2023 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 78 ||||||
| Aleksandar Gavalyugov PG | Bulgaria | N/A | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Jun 13, 2024 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, 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: "2024 Villanova Commits". Rivals.com. "2024 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 27, 2024* 12:00 p.m. | | Robert Morris | W 87–73 | – | 28 – Dixon | 10 – Boakye | 10 – Brickus | Finneran Pavilion (2,125) Villanova, PA |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 4, 2024* 8:00 p.m., FS1/Fox Sports App | | Lafayette | W 75–63 | 1–0 | 20 – Poplar | 11 – Boakye | 5 – Longino | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| November 6, 2024* 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Columbia | L 80–90 | 1–1 | 33 – Dixon | 7 – Poplar | 8 – Brickus | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| November 8, 2024* 8:30 p.m., FS2 | | NJIT | W 91–54 | 2–1 | 22 – Dixon | 10 – Dixon | 4 – Poplar | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| November 12, 2024* 5:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Saint Joseph's Big 5 Classic Pod 2/Holy War | L 76–83 | 2–2 | 24 – Dixon | 9 – Dixon | 3 – Tied | Hagan Arena (3,326) Philadelphia, PA |
| November 15, 2024* 5:00 p.m., TNT | | vs. Virginia Hall of Fame Series Baltimore | L 60–70 | 2–3 | 20 – Dixon | 8 – Tied | 3 – Brickus | CFG Bank Arena (4,868) Baltimore, MD |
| November 19, 2024* 7:00 p.m., Peacock | | Penn Big 5 Classic Pod 2 | W 93–49 | 3–3 | 23 – Dixon | 9 – Perkins | 8 – Brickus | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| November 24, 2024* 1:00 p.m., ESPN | | vs. Maryland Empire Classic | L 75–76 | 3–4 | 38 – Dixon | 6 – Tied | 4 – Brickus | Prudential Center (7,117) Newark, NJ |
| November 27, 2024* 7:00 p.m., FS2 | | Rider Empire Classic campus site game | W 72–48 | 4–4 | 16 – Dixon | 5 – Poplar | 5 – Dixon | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| December 3, 2024* 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | No. 14 Cincinnati Big East–Big 12 Battle | W 68–60 | 5–4 | 31 – Dixon | 10 – Poplar | 9 – Brickus | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| December 7, 2024* 4:30 p.m., NBCSP+ | | vs. Temple Big 5 Classic 3rd place game | W 94–65 | 6–4 | 24 – Dixon | 7 – Tied | 7 – Brickus | Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia, PA |
| December 11, 2024* 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 86–72 | 7–4 | 27 – Dixon | 10 – Boakye | 10 – Brickus | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| Big East regular season |||||||||
| December 17, 2024 7:30 p.m., Peacock | | Seton Hall | W 79–67 | 8–4 (1–0) | 25 – Dixon | 7 – Poplar | 7 – Brickus | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| December 21, 2024 4:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Creighton | L 79–86 | 8–5 (1–1) | 27 – Dixon | 10 – Poplar | 4 – Brickus | CHI Health Center Omaha (17,125) Omaha, NE |
| January 1, 2025 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | at Butler | W 73–65 | 9–5 (2–1) | 28 – Dixon | 15 – Poplar | 4 – Tied | Hinkle Fieldhouse (8,284) Indianapolis, IN |
| January 4, 2025 12:00 p.m., FS1 | | DePaul | W 100–56 | 10–5 (3–1) | 25 – Dixon | 14 – Boekye | 11 – Brickus | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| January 8, 2025 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | No. 9 UConn | W 68–66 | 11–5 (4–1) | 23 – Dixon | 5 – Moseley | 5 – Brickus | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| January 11, 2025 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at St. John's | L 68–80 | 11–6 (4–2) | 22 – Poplar | 6 – Brickus | 3 – Tied | Madison Square Garden (18,178) New York, NY |
| January 14, 2025 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | at Xavier | L 63–69 | 11–7 (4–3) | 18 – Tied | 9 – Boakye | 5 – Brickus | Cintas Center (10,077) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 17, 2025 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | Providence | W 75–73 | 12–7 (5–3) | 23 – Dixon | 13 – Poplar | 4 – Brickus | Wells Fargo Center (10,253) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 20, 2025 6:00 p.m., FS1 | | Georgetown | L 63–64 | 12–8 (5–4) | 29 – Dixon | 12 – Boakye | 7 – Brickus | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| January 24, 2025 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 10 Marquette | L 74–87 | 12–9 (5–5) | 27 – Longino | 9 – Dixon | 7 – Longino | Fiserv Forum (17,542) Milwaukee, WI |
| February 1, 2025 1:00 p.m., FOX | | Creighton | L 60–62 | 12–10 (5–6) | 24 – Poplar | 5 – Tied | 4 – Brickus | Wells Fargo Center (13,124) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 5, 2025 9:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at DePaul | W 59–49 | 13–10 (6–6) | 17 – Longino | 10 – Boakye | 3 – Brickus | Wintrust Arena (3,789) Chicago, IL |
| February 9, 2025 12:00 p.m., FS1 | | Xavier | W 80–68 | 14–10 (7–6) | 24 – Dixon | 8 – Poplar | 7 – Brickus | Wells Fargo Center (8,462) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 12, 2025 6:00 p.m., FS1 | | No. 9 St. John's | W 73–71 | 15–10 (8–6) | 22 – Poplar | 7 – Boakye | 5 – Brickus | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| February 15, 2025 6:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Providence | L 62–75 | 15–11 (8–7) | 18 – Tied | 9 – Tied | 3 – Longino | Amica Mutual Pavilion (12,444) Providence, RI |
| February 18, 2025 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | at UConn | L 59–66 | 15–12 (8–8) | 19 – Poplar | 7 – Perkins | 3 – Tied | XL Center (15,684) Hartford, CT |
| February 21, 2025 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | No. 16 Marquette | W 81–66 | 16–12 (9–8) | 23 – Dixon | 9 – Poplar | 5 – Poplar | Wells Fargo Center (10,862) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 26, 2025 8:30 p.m., FS1 | | at Seton Hall | W 59–54 | 17–12 (10–8) | 32 – Dixon | 12 – Poplar | 3 – Brickus | Prudential Center (8,697) Newark, NJ |
| March 1, 202 12:00 p.m., FOX | | Butler | W 80–70 | 18–12 (11–8) | 34 – Dixon | 9 – Poplar | 4 – Poplar | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| March 4, 2025 8:00 p.m., Peacock | | at Georgetown | L 73–75 | 18–13 (11–9) | 24 – Dixon | 11 – Boakye | 7 – Brickus | Capital One Arena (5,144) Washington, D.C. |
| Big East tournament |||||||||
| March 12, 2025 9:00 p.m., Peacock | (6) | vs. (11) Seton Hall First Round | W 67–55 | 19–13 | 19 – Dixon | 10 – Poplar | 3 – Tied | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York, NY |
| March 13, 2025 10:18 p.m., FS1 | (6) | vs. (3) UConn Quarterfinal | L 56–73 | 19–14 | 25 – Poplar | 6 – Perkins | 2 – Brickus | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York, NY |
| College Basketball Crown |||||||||
| April 1, 2025* 8:30 p.m., FS1 | (3) | vs. (14) Colorado First round | | | | | | MGM Grand Garden Arena Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||
Source