Villanova Offseason Rankings: Middle of the Pack in the Big East

With the transfer and recruiting cycles wrapped up ahead of the 2026-27 season, Villanova Men’s Basketball boasts the nation’s No. 24 transfer class according to 247Sports. Four-star transfers like Kwame Evans Jr. and Devin Royal are the chief drivers for the Wildcats’ rank, while three-star guards Jake Fiegen, Elijah Crawford and Buddy Simmons II help round the Wildcats out.

St. John’s (No. 9), Providence (No. 10), UConn (No. 19) and Xavier (No. 21) all finished ahead of the Wildcats, placing them in the middle of the pack in the Big East. 247Sports didn’t give 7-foot-3 Italian center Luigi Suigo a star rating, so they dropped Villanova into triple digits for their recruiting class; he earned a three-star rank from On3, on the other hand, who list the Wildcats’ recruiting class at No. 51, good for No. 3 in the conference.

Taking transfers and recruiting (but not Suigo) into account, 247Sports says the Wildcats had the 60th-best offseason of any team in Division I, behind UConn (No. 25), Creighton (No. 41), Xavier (No. 43), and Marquette (No. 50); they finished immediately in front of the Friars (No. 61) and the Red Storm (No. 62). 

With just three returning players from last season, starters Tyler Perkins and Matt Hodge — the latter of whom is recovering from an ACL tear and will likely slide to the bench — and redshirt freshman Nico Onyekwere, Villanova will rely heavily on their new additions this season. They’ll also face much higher expectations in year two under Kevin Willard, especially with an expected NBA lottery pick like Suigo on the roster.