Villanova Center Niko Onyekwere a Redshirt Candidate | Meet the Wildcats

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

Although largely unheralded as a recruit, freshman center Niko Onyekwere already stands 7-foot-1 and weighs 240 pounds, the type of frame one expects out of an old school center. 

Born in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, Onyekwere made stops in Serbia and Germany before coming to the United States, playing at Long Island Lutheran High School. Playing at a talented prep school, Onyekewere largely took a backseat, doing the little things one expects out of a center like setting screens, grabbing rebounds or throwing down the occasional dunk, but his height and reported 7-foot-6 wingspan caught the eye of college coaches willing to take on a developmental project.

Onyekwere originally signed with Florida State, but the Seminoles granted him a release from his commitment after longtime head coach Leonard Hamilton decided to step away from the program at season’s end. With new Villanova head coach Kevin Willard looking to refill a roster that retained just three players from last season, Onyekwere made a natural recruiting fit.

Lottery Pick Role Model

In an interview with Philadelphia Sports Now at the Wildcats’ media day, Onyekwere said that the location of Villanova’s campus, close to the Philadelphia 76ers and the athlete who got him into basketball, Cameroonian superstar Joel Embiid, helped sell him on the program — especially because the teams share a venue at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Onyekwere knows he’s more of a work in progress than the big center, who went one-and-done with the Kansas Jayhawks before the 76ers selected him third overall. He’ll almost certainly redshirt this season as he builds up the endurance and drills the fundamentals needed to play Division I basketball, but that lofty role model motivates him. Learning to use his size to his advantage will help Onyekwere graduate from a project into a diamond in the rough.