Villanova Incoming Transfer Class Ranks Among Nation’s Best

Villanova Men’s Basketball suffered through a transfer portal onslaught that saw them lose seven of ten players with eligibility remaining, but head coach Kevin Willard and his staff still managed to put together one of the nation’s top transfer classes.

247Sports ranks the Wildcats’ incoming class, which currently includes forwards Kwame Evans Jr. and Devin Royal along with guards Jake Fiegen, Elijah Crawford and Darryl “Buddy” Simmons II as the 12th best in the nation.

Royal and Evans both earned four-star ratings — they made the ESPN Top 100 in their graduating class — while each of the guards garnered three stars. On3 ranks the Wildcats’ transfer class at No. 19, dinging Villanova for their portal losses. Rising sophomore Acaden Lewis marks a big loss for the Wildcats, as he’s going to play in the NBA someday, while other outgoing transfers like Bryce Lindsay, Malachi Palmer and Chris Jeffrey — all of whom have plenty of room to grow — also sting.

College basketball analyst Evan Miyakawa ranked the Wildcats’ incoming transfer class at No. 6 as of April 22, although the losses they’ve suffered led him to rank their portal activity as No. 273 overall. Villanova has six open roster spots remaining and still needs a backup point guard and a starting center, so they’ll have room to move up the rankings as the offseason continues. M