Top 3 transfer portal targets for Kevin Willard, Villanova basketball

A new era of Villanova basketball is on the horizon as the Wildcats hired Kevin Willard from Maryland to be the new head coach of the program. The Wildcats were arguably in dynasty mode after winning a couple of national championships under Jay Wright, but after he decided to retire, the program has been heading in the wrong direction. Villanova failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament this past season, and they instead competed in the first-ever College Basketball Crown. That is not where Wildcats fans want to be, and it’s Willard’s job to change things. The college basketball transfer portal should be a big help.

The end of Kevin Willard’s tenure at Maryland was filled with drama as there were rumors spiraling about the Villanova basketball opening. Willard was linked to the job, and it was clear that he knew that he was going to leave before the Terrapins lost in the NCAA Tournament. Maryland fans weren’t happy about it as they made a run to the Sweet 16, and sure enough, Willard left for Villanova shortly after the Terrapins were eliminated.

Since Willard came over to Villanova, he has been looking in the transfer portal, and he certainly has his work cut out for him as the Wildcats have lost eight players to the portal. This Villanova team already wasn’t very strong, so Willard is going to have to completely rebuild the roster in the offseason. But hey, that’s what the transfer portal is for.

The transfer portal is important for every college basketball team, but it’s especially crucial for first-year head coaches like Willard that have a lot of rebuilding to do. There are a lot of experienced players with a lot of potential, and Willard needs to bring a good chunk of them to the Villanova basketball team.

Who Villanova has already landed

So far, the Villanova basketball team has landed commitments from three transfer portal players. Willard has landed a commitment from one Maryland transfer as Braden Pierce is coming to play for the Wildcats. Temple transfer Zion Stanford and James Madison transfer Bryce Lindsay are the other two commits. Lindsay received a lot of attention from top programs and he should be a key player for Villanova next year.

The Wildcats have picked up a few good commits, but there is still a lot of talent in the portal. Here are some more players that Villanova should keep an eye on:

PJ Haggerty, PG, Memphis

PJ Haggerty is currently the top available player in the college basketball transfer portal, and he is certainly worth a phone call. The Villanova basketball needs to completely rebuild their roster, and he is a player that can have a big impact. Haggerty averaged just under 22 points per game last season, and he can score in a number of ways as he shot the three ball pretty well at 36.4%. He has a bright future and he is a hot commodity in the portal right now.

RJ Luis Jr., G, St. John’s

RJ Luis Jr. was a big part of St. John’s big season as he averaged over 18 PPG. If he wants to stay put in the Big East, the Villanova basketball team would be a good fit for him. He needs to work on his three-point shooting a bit as he shot just 33.6% from deep this season, but he found other ways to score. He is also one of the best players currently available in the portal.

Duke Brennan, C, Grand Canyon

If Villanova is looking to add some size from the transfer portal, they should be taking a look at Duke Brennan, who is transferring from Grand Canyon. Brennan has been with the Lopes for three years, and he has had a productive career. He nearly averaged a double-double last year as he averaged 10.4 PPG and 9.2 RPG. It’ll be interesting to see how his game translates to the power conference level if he does end up at a school of that caliber.

Transfer portal overview

The college basketball transfer portal opened up on March 24th, and it will be open for about a month as it closes on April 22nd. The final game of the season took place on April 7th as Florida won the national title over Houston, and the portal opening up before then does create issues for teams that are still dancing.

First of all, players that want to transfer had to make a difficult decision. They could either finish up their season with their current team and miss out on potential opportunities, or they can skip the NCAA Tournament so they can find their next home. We saw this happen during the tournament as Michigan freshman Justin Pippen left the program before the Sweet 16.

This also creates an issue for coaches as they are trying to devote 100% of their time to tournament preparation. A lot of coaches want to wait until their season is over before they explore the transfer portal. All in all, the opening date creates some issues.

The college basketball transfer portal is only open during this initial window, unlike football, which has two different windows. From now until the portal closes in late April, there will be a lot of transfer portal news in the college basketball world.