NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early takeaways from 2021 recruiting classes

Villanova is officially a recruiting powerhouse

The national championships won in 2016 and 2018 by Villanova Basketball had solidified the program as an NCAA Basketball power. But whether the system would be able to land the top-tier prospects for longterm remained to be seen. It worked two years ago, with the Wildcats having the 5th best class, featuring five-stars Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Bryan Antoine.

With no seniors on last season’s roster, there was no need for the team to add any freshmen. But with three seniors and 1-2 others potentially going pro, there is a need for a large class filled with quality.

And that’s exactly what head coach Jay Wright did.

The Wildcats started out the offseason by shoring up the frontcourt, adding four-star center Nnanna Njoku and top-40 overall power forward recruit Trey Patterson. Four-star shooting guard Jordan Longino followed, as well as top-150 point guard Angelo Brizzi. These are all prospects scouts are high on and will be future impactful players for the program.

They’re not done yet though, hoping to add five-star shooting guard Trevor Keels before the season starts. Villanova is battling both Duke and Virginia for his services currently. Landing Keels would give the Wildcats a top-3 class overall by this time next year.

What makes the recruiting wins so important for the program is that many of these players aren’t projected as stars when they come in as freshmen. Players are willing to come and “wait” in front of the upperclassmen, which allows Villanova to have one of the more experienced rosters in the country. Add that benefit to an increase in overall talent, and the Wildcats are going to be in “blue blood” status nationally.