City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2023-24 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 6. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season click here.)

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Big 5 Preseason Primers
MBB: Drexel | La Salle | Penn | Saint Joseph’s | Temple | Villanova
WBB: Drexel | La Salle | Penn | Saint Joseph’s | Temple | Villanova

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2023-24 Villanova Wildcats MBB Primer
Coach: Kyle Neptune, 2nd season (17-17, .500)
Last Year: 17-17 (10-10 Big East), lost in Big East quarterfinals (Creighton, 87-74), lost in NIT First Round (Liberty, 62-57)

The first year of the post-Jay Wright era was a stark reminder on the Main Line that success isn’t a given, that the hyper-successful previous decade wasn’t immediately going to carry over into Neptune’s tenure. It certainly wasn’t all the coach’s fault: multiple starters missed long stretches due to injury, and the program had to rely on a few untested underclassmen in larger roles than they were ready for, a lack of overall quality depth playing its own role. But there’s reason to believe that year was just a fluke and not the new normal: the Wildcats won six of their last eight regular-season games and played their NIT game shorthanded to avoid further injury woes. With a major influx of talent, Neptune has the pieces to bounce right back and get his Wildcats into the mix for a Big East title and deep run into April, but there’s work to be done.

Key Departures: G Caleb Daniels (14.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg), SF Brandon Slater (9.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg), SF Cam Whitmore (12.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg)

There’s no denying a good bit went out the door this spring. Daniels and Slater had a combined 11 years of college (and 10 seasons of hoops) between them — Slater played in 143 games (74 starts) in his five years at VU, while Daniels played in 154 games (91 starts) between two years at Tulane and three at ‘Nova; both started all 34 games last season. Daniels, a 6-3 combo guard, scored 1,083 points in his three years at Villanova while hitting .357 from 3-point range, while Slater, a 6-6 wing, improved his production every season, averaging 9.1 ppg in 72 starts in his final two years. Whitmore, a powerful 6-7 wing, came into his only season of collegiate basketball an expected one-and-done and while he might not have quite blown the doors off (a preseason thumb injury didn’t help), he showed enough to get picked No. 20 overall in the NBA draft in June.

New Faces: SG T.J. Bamba (Sr. | Colorado), F Tyler Burton (Gr. | Richmond), F Jordann Dumont (Fr. | Hamilton Heights Christian, Tenn.), SG Hakim Hart (Gr. | Maryland), F Lance Ware (Sr. | Kentucky)

Give Neptune and his staff credit — they put in some work in the transfer portal, landing a quartet of experienced high-major Division I players that should all come in and make a big impact, even though at least one or two are going to have to do so in a reserve role. Hart, a Roman Catholic grad, has started 85 games for Maryland over the last three years, coming in 37 points shy of 1,000 for his career; Bamba just averaged nearly 16 ppg at Washington State; Burton scored 1,600 points at Richmond, averaging 19.0 ppg as a senior; Ware, a Camden grad, played a valuable bench role for Kentucky for three seasons. It’s a group with a ton of length: Bamba’s 6-5, Burton’s 6-7, Hart’s 6-8, Ware’s 6-9, all them multi-positional, all good locker room presences. 

On top of all that, they brought in Dumont, a 6-8 combo forward from Canada who spent his last two years of high school in Tennessee. Dumont has FIBA experience, averaging 7.9 ppg and 3.1 rpg in the U-19 World Cup this summer, shooting 12-of-32 (37.5%) from 3-point range. It’s not clear what his role is immediately with all the experience in front of him, but he should be a good piece moving forward.

Projected Lineup: PG Mark Armstrong (5.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg), G Justin Moore (13.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg), SG T.J. Bamba (15.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg), F Tyler Burton (19.0 ppg, 7.4 rpg), F Eric Dixon (15.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg)

There are lots of ways that Neptune can go with his lineup, and it wouldn’t surprise us in the slightest if there are fluctuations throughout the season. But this seems the most likely starting five, giving them a mix of playmaking, scoring, rebounding, and versatility. Armstrong showed flashes in stretches last season, the 6-2 guard from St. Peter’s Prep expected to take a major step forward as a sophomore, like so many ‘Nova guards have done before him. Moore should be one of the leaders of this squad, now more than 18 months removed from the Achilles injury suffered in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, which cost him the majority of last season. It seems highly likely that Bamba, who’s proven himself as a scorer at the high-major level and brings real size and physicality to the perimeter, starts at the ‘3.’

The frontcourt will certainly feature Dixon, the 6-8 Abington grad who’s improved by leaps and bounds each year in college, entering his fourth year on the court with 933 career points. Dixon earned his first All-Big East honor last season, and shot 37.8% from the 3-point arc. If Burton can get his shooting form back — he hit just over 36% as a sophomore and junior but only 29.3% last year — those two would form a terrific pairing up front who can both post up, rebound, and stretch the floor. Of course, it’s possible that the Wildcats go with just one starting forward and have one of the guards listed below in Burton’s starting spot.

Key Reserves: G Chris Arcidiacono (2.8 ppg), G Hakim Hart (11.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg), G Brendan Hausen (3.1 ppg), SG Jordan Longino (5.0 ppg), Lance Ware (2.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg)

There’s a lot of different ways that Neptune can go with his bench — this group doesn’t even include Nnanna Njoku or Trey Patterson, both 6-9 forwards who’ve been with the program a few years but have yet to really break into the rotation, nor does it include Dumont. Hart figures to be one of the first bodies off the bench, with by far the most collegiate production under his belt; Arcidiacono has a lot of experience, but it would seem likely that Hauson and Longino pass him in the rotation if they can consistently produce and (in Longino’s case especially) stay healthy. Hausen, a bouncy 6-4 sophomore from Texas, showed some real flashes last year, like a 15-point outing at Oregon where he knocked down five treys. Ware’s length and athleticism in the frontcourt should help him serve as a defensive piece, but it would be good for ‘Nova if either Patterson or Njoku can step in there as well.

Biggest Strength: Depth

If it’s not clear by now, Neptune and his staff have no shortage of options, with a squad that’s got all sorts of interchangeable parts. Unlike last year, when the ‘Nova staff was clearly hurting for bodies, this year’s group doesn’t have anybody who’s irreplaceable: they have multiple options at point guard, multiple options for an off-ball scorer, multiple 3-and-D options, multiple combo forwards, multiple rebounding specialists. It’s why our estimates of what the roster looks like could be way off not just on opening day, but midway through the season, or at the end, or anytime in between. 

Area for Improvement: Chemistry

The biggest weakness on this Villanova roster is a lack of elite size — Ware and fellow 6-9 reserve forwards Trey Patterson and Nnanna Njoku are the tallest members of the Wildcats — but they’ve got enough bulk, and it’s not like anybody’s going to suddenly hit a growth spurt in the next six weeks. So the biggest challenge that Neptune and his staff have ahead of them is chemistry development: the downside of bringing in all that talent is that none of those transfers came to Villanova to sit on the bench. On top of that, players like Hauson, Longino and Patterson have been waiting to really show what they can do on the Division I level. Neptune’s going to have to find a way to keep his rotation happy and get all his newcomers to buy into the ‘Nova way, and that’s no guarantee; if this year goes downhill, there won’t be a do-over with most of the roster set to graduate and move on.