Villanova MBB Offseason Primer: Who Stays? Who Goes?

Villanova Men’s Basketball has at least five spots to fill on their roster ahead of the 2026-27 season: check back here for updates as their offseason outlook changes with new additions or transfers. 

When Villanova head coach Kevin Willard built his roster for the 2025-26 season, he did so with an eye toward players he could retain for multiple seasons.

Wildcats’ starters Acaden Lewis, Bryce Lindsay, Tyler Perkins and Matt Hodge all retain eligibility heading into next season, as do bench players Chris Jeffrey, Malachi Palmer and Braden Pierce. Former walk-on and current full scholarship athlete Malcolm Flaggs, and 7-foot-1 center Niko Onyekwere, who took a redshirt year this season, are also in the mix. 

The Wildcats earned the commitment of ESPN Top 100 recruit Adam Oumiddoch, taking up another spot and filling a position of need along the wing, but the graduation of Devin Askew, Duke Brennan and former walk-on Wade Chiddick, as well as the departure of Tafara Gapare and Zion Stanford, leaves five openings before the transfer portal officially opens on April 7 — players can announce their intention to leave before that date, however. It will remain open until April 21, half the length of last year’s transfer window.

Who Stays? Who Goes?

Lewis likely needs another season or two to develop before heading to the NBA and should earn preseason All-Conference attention next season. He’ll also draw plenty of attention from opposing programs, meaning Villanova may need to shell out to keep him on the Main Line. That said, the Wildcats should be able to compete with just about any NIL offer when it comes to their flagship program, especially with a future pro.

Perkins stuck with the Wildcats through last season’s head coaching change, a strong indicator of his loyalty to the program; Lindsay bounced from Texas A&M to JMU to Villanova during his first three seasons in college, which suggests that he’s more likely to test the waters than his teammates, but he also found a good fit with the Wildcats and enjoyed his best college season yet. Hodge’s season-ending ACL tear likely makes staying put the best idea and, like Perkins, a coaching change didn’t scare him off last year.

Palmer, who started in Hodge’s absence, could take on a bigger role next season, as could Jeffrey. Pierce and Onyekwere have room to grow, but Villanova got exposed down low as the season went on, so an offseason jump from either of them could pave the way to major playing time. Flaggs stuck with Brennan through their first four college seasons but retained two years of eligibility due to injuries: he could stick around or look for a fresh start as Brennan ages out.

Potential Replacements

The Wildcats also have a pair of 2026 recruits they could target in the coming weeks, as both ESPN Top 100 wing Aiden Derkack and four-star center Moustapha Diop reopened their recruiting after coaching changes at their prospective programs. Diop makes more sense given Villanova’s need to shore up down low; Derkack fits a similar profile to Oumiddoch, and the Wildcats may want to focus on retaining Hodge and Palmer on the wing instead.

Villanova entered the 2025-26 season with just 14 players on the roster, leaving them with an extra spot to fill. Unless there are other late recruiting shifts — last year, Onyekwere committed out of nowhere in late April — expect them to attack the transfer portal as they attempt to build on an NCAA Tournament berth in their first season under Willard.