# 2023–24 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by coach Kyle Neptune in his second season as a head coach, the Wildcats played 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 2022–23 season 17–17, 10–10 in Big East play, to tie for sixth place. They defeated Georgetown in the opening round of the 2023 Big East tournament before losing to Creighton in the quarterfinals. The Wildcats received an at-large bit to the NIT, losing in the first round to Liberty. This season became the first time they missed the NCAA tournament since 2011–12, and first time since joining the Big East Conference.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Angelo Brizzi | 10 | G | 6'3" | 190 | RS Freshman | Warrenton, VA | Transferred to Davidson |
| Caleb Daniels | 14 | G | 6'4" | 210 | GS Senior | New Orleans, LA | Graduated/undrafted in 2023 NBA draft; signed with the Miami Heat |
| Cam Whitmore | 22 | F | 6'7" | 232 | Freshman | Odenton, MD | Declared for 2023 NBA draft; selected 20th overall by Houston Rockets |
| Brandon Slater | 34 | F | 6'8" | 220 | GS Senior | Centerville, VA | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| TJ Bamba | 0 | G | 6'5" | 215 | Senior | The Bronx, NY | Washington State |
| Hakim Hart | 13 | G | 6'8" | 205 | GS Senior | Philadelphia, PA | Maryland |
| Lance Ware | 14 | F | 6'9" | 235 | Senior | Camden, NJ | Kentucky |
| Tyler Burton | 23 | F | 6'7" | 215 | GS Senior | Uxbridge, MA | Richmond |

### 2023 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jordann Dumont #83 SF | Chattanooga, TN | Hamilton Heights Christian Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Nov 15, 2022 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 77 ||||||
| 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: "2023 Villanova Commits". Rivals.com. "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2023* 7:30 p.m., FS1 | No. 22 | American | W 90–63 | 1–0 | 15 – tied | 7 – Burton | 4 – tied | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| November 10, 2023* 6:30 p.m., FS1 | No. 22 | Le Moyne | W 83–57 | 2–0 | 21 – Moore | 13 – Burton | 4 – tied | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| November 13, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+/NBCSPHI | No. 21 | at Penn Big 5 Classic Pod 2 | L 72–76 | 2–1 | 25 – Moore | 9 – Dixon | 3 – Moore | Palestra (6,723) Philadelphia, PA |
| November 17, 2023* 8:30 p.m., FS1 | No. 21 | Maryland Gavitt Tipoff Games | W 57–40 | 3–1 | 15 – Burton | 8 – Dixon | 2 – tied | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| November 22, 2023* 2:30 p.m., ESPN | | vs. Texas Tech Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals | W 85–69 | 4–1 | 19 – Dixon | 6 – tied | 5 – Moore | Imperial Arena (612) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 23, 2023* 2:30 p.m., ESPN | | vs. No. 14 North Carolina Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals | W 83–81 $^{OT}$ | 5–1 | 34 – Dixon | 10 – Dixon | 2 – tied | Imperial Arena (1,500) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 24, 2023* 3:30 p.m., ESPN | | vs. Memphis Battle 4 Atlantis championship | W 79–63 | 6–1 | 13 – Bamba | 9 – Burton | 5 – Longino | Imperial Arena (1,201) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 29, 2023* 6:30 p.m., FS1 | No. 18 | Saint Joseph's Big 5 Classic Pod 2/Holy War | L 65–78 | 6–2 | 17 – Moore | 7 – Longino | 3 – tied | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| December 2, 2023* 2:00 p.m., NBCSPHI+/Peacock | No. 18 | vs. Drexel Big 5 Classic fifth-place game | L 55–57 | 6–3 | 21 – Dixon | 8 – Hart | 3 – tied | Wells Fargo Center (–) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 5, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Kansas State Big East-Big 12 Battle | L 71–72 $^{OT}$ | 6–4 | 16 – Longino | 11 – Burton | 4 – Bamba | Bramlage Coliseum (10,140) Manhattan, KS |
| December 9, 2023* 7:00 p.m., FOX | | UCLA | W 65–56 | 7–4 | 18 – Burton | 10 – tied | 3 – Armstrong | Wells Fargo Center (16,823) Philadelphia, PA |
| Big East regular season |||||||||
| December 20, 2023 9:00 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 12 Creighton | W 68–66 $^{OT}$ | 8–4 (1–0) | 32 – Dixon | 12 – Burton | 4 – Longino | CHI Health Center Omaha (17,333) Omaha, NE |
| December 23, 2023 4:00 p.m., FS1 | | at DePaul | W 84–48 | 9–4 (2–0) | 20 – Hart | 9 – Burton | 4 – Bamba | Wintrust Arena (4,523) Chicago, IL |
| January 3, 2024 8:30 p.m., FS1 | | Xavier | W 66–65 | 10–4 (3–0) | 14 – Hart | 9 – Dixon | 3 – tied | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| January 6, 2024 1:00 p.m., FOX | | St. John's | L 71–81 | 10–5 (3–1) | 23 – Bamba | 7 – Bamba | 4 – Armstrong | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| January 12, 2024 8:30 p.m., FS1 | | DePaul | W 94–69 | 11–5 (4–1) | 24 – Dixon | 10 – Burton | 4 – Burton | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| January 15, 2024 2:30 p.m., FOX | | at No. 17 Marquette | L 74–87 | 11–6 (4–2) | 24 – Armstrong | 10 – Burton | 3 – tied | Fiserv Forum (17,018) Milwaukee, WI |
| January 20, 2024 8:00 p.m., FS1 | | No. 1 UConn | L 65–66 | 11–7 (4–3) | 15 – tied | 7 – Dixon | 4 – Dixon | Wells Fargo Center (18,966) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 24, 2024 8:30 p.m., FS1 | | at St. John's | L 50–70 | 11–8 (4–4) | 16 – Dixon | 8 – Dixon | 5 – Armstrong | Madison Square Garden (12,859) New York, NY |
| January 27, 2024 3:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Butler | L 81–88 $^{2OT}$ | 11–9 (4–5) | 28 – Dixon | 10 – Burton | 5 – Dixon | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,237) Indianapolis, IN |
| January 30, 2024 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | No. 9 Marquette | L 80–85 | 11–10 (4–6) | 24 – tied | 8 – Armstrong | 6 – Moore | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| February 4, 2024 6:00 p.m., FS1 | | Providence | W 68–50 | 12–10 (5–6) | 12 – Dixon | 6 – tied | 5 – Hart | Wells Fargo Center (13,168) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 7, 2024 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Xavier | L 53–56 | 12–11 (5–7) | 15 – Hausen | 8 – Bamba | 5 – Armstrong | Cintas Center (10,285) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 11, 2024 12:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Seton Hall | W 80–54 | 13–11 (6–7) | 18 – Dixon | 6 – Burton | 5 – Armstrong | Wells Fargo Center (13,754) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 16, 2024 7:05 p.m., CBSSN | | at Georgetown | W 70–54 | 14–11 (7–7) | 14 – Bamba | 7 – Dixon | 8 – Dixon | Capital One Arena (9,406) Washington, D.C. |
| February 20, 2024 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | Butler | W 72–62 | 15–11 (8–7) | 22 – Dixon | 6 – tied | 3 – tied | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| February 24, 2024 8:00 p.m., FOX | | at No. 1 UConn College GameDay | L 54–78 | 15–12 (8–8) | 20 – Dixon | 8 – Dixon | 2 – Hart | Gampel Pavilion (10,299) Storrs, CT |
| February 27, 2024 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | Georgetown | W 75–47 | 16–12 (9–8) | 22 – Dixon | 8 – Burton | 6 – Armstrong | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| March 2, 2024 12:00 p.m., FOX | | at Providence | W 71–60 | 17–12 (10–8) | 15 – Moore | 5 – Burton | 5 – Armstrong | Amica Mutual Pavilion (12,525) Providence, RI |
| March 6, 2024 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | at Seton Hall | L 56–66 | 17–13 (10–9) | 14 – Dixon | 6 – Dixon | 2 – tied | Prudential Center (10,481) Newark, NJ |
| March 9, 2024 2:30 p.m., FOX | | No. 10 Creighton | L 67–69 | 17–14 (10–10) | 25 – Dixon | 5 – tied | 4 – Hart | Wells Fargo Center (13,422) Philadelphia, PA |
| Big East tournament |||||||||
| March 13, 2024 9:00 p.m., FS1 | (6) | vs. (11) DePaul First Round | W 58–57 | 18–14 | 21 – Dixon | 9 – Dixon | 4 – tied | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York, NY |
| March 14, 2024 9:30 p.m., FS1 | (6) | vs. (3) No. 10 Marquette Quarterfinal | L 65–71 $^{OT}$ | 18–15 | 19 – Dixon | 11 – tied | 6 – Moore | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York, NY |
| National Invitation Tournament |||||||||
| March 20, 2024 9:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (1) | VCU First Round - Villanova Bracket | L 61–70 | 18–16 | 21 – Dixon | 13 – Dixon | 5 – Armstrong | Finneran Pavilion (1,763) Villanova, PA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | 22 | 21 | RV | 18 | RV | — | — | RV | RV | — | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | — | — | |
| Coaches | 20 | 21 | RV | 15 | RV | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | — | — | |
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings.