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Nnanna Njoku Cuts Weight, Enjoys Best Year | Meet the Wildcats

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Villanova Wildcats redshirt junior forward Nnanna Njoku

This is one in a series of stories introducing the Villanova Wildcats’ 2024-25 roster.

Another member of Villanova’s oft-snakebitten 2021 recruiting class, Nnanna Njoku landed at No. 93 on ESPN’s Top 100 list that season as a four-star recruit, but appeared in just 24 games for the Wildcats during his first three seasons as injuries took their toll.

Njoku put up 20.8 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks during his senior season at the Sanford School in Hockessin, Delaware, nailing 72 percent of his shots and converting on 73 percent of his trips to the charity stripe, an excellent scoring presence in the paint. Both the Big Five and the Big East recruited Njoku heavily, as he received offers from Temple, LaSalle, Providence and Marquette, as well as teams like Virginia Tech and Pitt.

Njoku appeared in at least one game during each of his four seasons at Villanova but is still just a redshirt junior, receiving a medical waiver for the 2022-23 campaign after illness and injuries limited him to just four games (and 7:54 of playing time) that season.

Njoku, a power forward, stands 6-foot-9 and weighs 245 pounds: he’s actually slimmed down this season, weighing 260 pounds in each of the past three years and tipping the scale at 270 during his senior year of high school. It’s a reverse of the typical trend for big men, many of whom have to bulk up in order to deal with the physicality of Division 1 basketball… and cutting weight could help him stay on the court.

Time With the Wildcats

It’s important to note that not all of Nnanna Njoku’s injuries stem from durability issues. Non COVID-19 illnesses kept him off the court during each of his first two seasons, as did a concussion that wiped out more than a month of his freshman year.

Njoku’s playing time dropped further during his second season, which ended up turning into a medical redshirt year, then he rebounded to appear in 11 games last season, to this point a career high… until knee surgery in late January queued a premature end.

With ten appearances in 12 games so far, the 2024-25 season should end up as Njoku’s best. He’s also averaging 9.4 minutes per game, more than double his career high, pulling down roughly 2.1 rebounds in the time he does appear, primarily as a defensive stalwart.

Given his injury history, it makes sense for Villanova’s coaching staff to ease him into games, but with another year of eligibility remaining after this season, Nnanna Njoku has plenty of time to enjoy a late career renaissance, even with the Wildcats favoring a small ball lineup.

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