Villanova C Braden Pierce an Old School Rim Protector | Meet the Wildcats

This is one in a series of stories introducing the Villanova Wildcats’  2025-26 roster.

Villanova center Braden Pierce spent the first two years of his college career at Maryland under head coach Kevin Willard, who he followed to the Main Line via the transfer portal this offseason. 

Pierce is a 7-foot tall, 240 pound center who appeared in five games for the Terrapins last season, averaging 2.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.4 blocks in 7.2 minutes per game before an eye injury in late November shut him down for the year. Because of that abbreviated run, Pierce obtained a medical redshirt for the season and retains four seasons of eligibility.

Prototypical Rim Protector

Willard plans to emphasize versatility with this Wildcats team, deploying smaller, leaner athletes like Matt Hodge and Tafara Gapare at the five in addition to expected No. 1 Duke Brennan, a 6-foot-10, 250 pound senior. Pierce has more of the bulk one might expect for a rim protector, but he also has work to do in order to prepare for anything approaching significant minutes. 

If last season’s limited audition is anything to go off of, Pierce will need to learn how to use his size to his advantage: he picked up nine fouls in 36 minutes played during the 2024-25 campaign, including four in six minutes against Florida A&M. A three-star recruit out of Florida’s prestigious IMG Academy, Pierce was always going to be something of a project, but it’ll be interesting to see what kind of role he can carve out this season, how he can prepare himself for a larger share of minutes moving forward.

Willard has cited rebounding as a cause for concern for the Wildcats this season, so if that turns into a big problem, it could put Pierce in line for more playing time as Villanova tries to figure out how to best protect the rim. Even in a supplemental role, that could make him a critical piece for the Wildcats.