NCAA Basketball: Gonzaga, Houston lead in updated way-too-early top 25 ranking
By Joey Loose
15. Villanova
Things will be drastically different this season at Villanova, and we’re not just talking about on the actual roster itself. Longtime Villanova head coach Jay Wright called it a career, retiring after more than two decades on the sidelines for the Wildcats, winning a pair of national championships along the way. Last year’s team marched to the Final Four, Wright’s fourth to finish off his career, but this year’s team will look quite a bit different.
Leading scorers Collin Gillespie, Justin Moore, and Jermaine Samuels are all gone, leaving players like Caleb Daniels, Eric Dixon, and Brandon Slater to pick up the slack this upcoming season. 5-star forward Cam Whitmore should make a splash, while Slater’s return from injury will be something to keep eyes on.
It will be interesting to see how Kyle Neptune handles the head coaching duties at Villanova and how this rotation comes together. There’s a lot of talent moving forward after last year’s deep run, but that also gave experience to some of those returning players. Can Dixon and Daniels do enough to maintain Villanova as one of the nation’s most efficient offenses?