NCAA Basketball: Preseason top 25 power rankings for 2022-23 season

The main storyline of the offseason for the Wildcats was supposed to be replacing a pair of key starters and former national title winners in Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels, as well as the recovery process for returning leading scorer Justin Moore. Instead, Hall of Fame head coach Jay Wright suddenly retired, replaced by former assistant Kyle Neptune, who was the HC at Fordham last season and had a successful overall campaign in his lone year there.

Coach Neptune was able to keep all but one player on the roster, as well as the entire incoming recruiting class. That includes five-star forward Cam Whitmore, a 6’7 offensive juggernaut and star freshman that’s a projected lottery pick in many mock NBA Drafts. He can play and defend multiple positions as well and will have a huge role early on.

Among the key returning players are 5th-year combo guard Caleb Daniels, who’ll likely return to the starting lineup, big man Eric Dixon and veteran forward Brandon Slater. There are also six other former four-star underclassmen players on the roster that’ll look for larger roles as well, including true center Nnanna Njoku and point guard Angelo Brizzi. Villanova will need to find a true point guard in absence of Gillespie but Daniels is capable of running the offense.

Moore, who averaged 14.8 ppg and 2.3 apg last season, suffered an injury in the NCAA Tournament and had to undergo surgery. He’s not expected to play at the start of the season but the hope is that he’ll be around November/December. How long it takes for Moore to get back to normal will determine this team’s ceiling but even without Coach Wright, expect the culture that he left in place to keep the team in the top 25.