Big East Basketball: St. John's, Villanova rise in updated 2024-25 WTE power rankings

7. Villanova Wildcats

If this article was written just a couple of weeks ago, Villanova may have had a case to be made to be around 10. Things weren’t going well for the program’s roster building, including the loss of former VCU transfer guard commit, Max Shulga. He committed to the team earlier in the offseason but elected to return to the Rams.

After missing out on multiple transfer targets, Villanova was able to land Wooga Poplar, a 6’5 guard from Miami. He averaged 13.1 ppg and shot 39% from deep, giving the team a proven power conference shooter alongside incoming transfer guards, Jhamir Brickus (La Salle), and Tyler Perkins (Penn). 

The most important news came via the frontcourt, with leading scorer/rebounder Eric Dixon (16.6 ppg and 6.5 rpg) coming back for an extra year. There’s little frontcourt depth overall so having him gives them a proven performer inside. Fresno State transfer Enoch Boakye could be their starting center and give them size up front, with freshmen Malcolm Thomas, Josiah Moseley, and Matthew Hodge competing for frontcourt minutes as well.

A lot of this will come down to how the mid-major transfers look in the backcourt. After last year’s issues involving that transfer class, there’s room for concern with how things will work out. But Poplar and Dixon alone gives them a shot.