NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early top 25 power rankings for 2022-23 season
16. team. 479. . . . Wildcats
2021-22 season record: 30-7 (16-4 in Big East)
No team benefitted more from the extra year of eligibility than Villanova, who was able to get back both Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels, allowing them to make another Final Four. But no matter what, both of them will be gone this offseason, forcing Coach Jay Wright to find another point guard to lead the team.
The options arent’ great at the moment, with the candidates being Chris Arcidiacono, four-star freshman guard Mark Armstrong, and freshman Angelo Brizzi. It also could be Caleb Daniels if he comes back for a 6th-year, who did average over 3.0 assists as a sophomore at Tulane.
It’ll be important for Daniels to return, as 15 ppg scoring guard Justin Moore suffered a torn Achilles injury and likely won’t be ready for the start of next season. The status of former four-star recruit Jordan Longino is also up in the air. So five-star wing Cam Whitmore will have to have an immediate impact out the gate for the offense not to take a big step.
Villanova didn’t take in a transfer last offseason, as the roster was mostly set. They likely will add a guard and maybe another big alongside Eric Dixon to provide more frontcourt depth but this is a program and head coach that has always been able to make it work. It’ll be interesting to see how they make the point guard position work but betting against the Wildcats has proven futile so sliding them in the top-20 is a fair move.