Villanova’s Devin Askew to Lead Up-Tempo Offense | Meet the Wildcats

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

A sixth year super senior, Devin Askew began his college career as the No. 26 player in his recruiting class despite reclassifying to graduate a year early, joining John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats for the 2020-21 season.

The 6-foot-5, 195 pound point guard started 20 of 25 games and finished second on the team in assists, but Askew hit the transfer portal following a disappointing season for Kentucky, ending up at Texas. Askew later transferred to Cal, where he spent two injury-marred seasons before reviving his career at Long Beach State during the 2024-25 campaign.

Injuries could turn into a problem again for the veteran point guard, as he suffered a knee injury in practice that Villanova head coach Kevin Willard said will cause him to miss regular season games. When Askew manages to make it back on the court, however, he’ll provide the Wildcats with a veteran scoring option who hustles on defense and knows how to spread the ball around.

Askew attempted 484 shots at Long Beach State last season, an average of more than 15 per game, making 40.1 percent of shots from the floor and 37.3 percent of those from three. Serving as the lead guard for the Beach, Askew put up 18.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game, although he also committed an average of 3.7 turnovers. 

Transitioning to the Big East

Playing on a team that went 7-25 last season and allowed 6.9 more points per game than they scored, Askew was able to put on a star performance after four up and down college seasons. Now, he’ll need to prove that he can do that against Big East competition in the final season of his college career. Willard said during Villanova’s media day that when Askew returns to the court, he expects the veteran guard to play a pivotal role in the team’s desired up-tempo offense.

Another element of the game where Devin Askew can provide invaluable contributions is as a leader. Villanova has a young group of guards this season, including freshmen Acaden Lewis and Chris Jeffrey. According to Willard, Askew stepped up to help those young players develop while he isn’t able to take the court alongside them.

“I think  what’s been great with Dev is he’s really taking Acaden and Chris under his wing, and trying to help them when they’ve struggled in practice, when they’ve done good in practice,” Willard said. “So Dev’s been a great leader, even though he hasn’t been on the floor.”

For a related story, click here for Philadelphia Sports Now’s film review of Devin Askew.