Villanova Men’s Basketball: Jon Rothstein Projects ‘Cats Starting 5

CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein visited Villanova Men’s Basketball for a practice session on Tuesday, July 22, later giving his takeaways from viewing.

After viewing the Wildcats in practice, Rothstein listed his projected starting five as guards Acaden Lewis, Devin Askew and Tyler Perkins alongside forwards Matthew Hodge and Duke Brennan.

First and foremost, Rothstein said that “small ball is coming back to the Main Line,” an interesting takeaway given the Wildcats’ focus on adding size to their current roster and upcoming recruiting classes. With Niko Onyekwere and Braden Pierce, Villanova has two players clearing the 7-foot barrier for the first time in more than three decades. Fellow big men Duke Brennan (6-foot-10) and Matthew Hodge (6-foot-8) are excellent bets to receive major playing time, while former Top 100 recruit Tafara Gapare (6-foot-9) is another likely contributor.

Onykewere, a true freshman, will need time to develop. Pierce might need the same after missing much of last season, his first in college, due to injury. Even with Brennan, a redshirt senior with plenty of experience, there to eat up minutes, Rothstein described the frontcourt as “the big question mark” for the 2025-26 Wildcats and that “at some point, somebody is going to have to get a rebound.”

Rothstein complimented Hodge, who spent time between Belgium and New Jersey growing up and missed all of last season after a resulting transcript issue affected his academic ability, saying he “looked the part”. He gave the same appraisal of incoming freshman Acaden Lewis, a five-star recruit and Top 40 player at guard. Other players to catch Rothstein’s eye include freshmen Malachi Palmer and Chris Jeffrey.

The Wildcats season will begin on Monday, Nov. 3 in Las Vegas against BYU, a likely top ten matchup. Click here for more Villanova Men’s Basketball news.