It is a new era of college basketball with the transfer portal and NIL becoming king.
This means coaches have to think differently as well, especially with the NCAA bringing in the new fifth-year rule.
Villanova’s Kevin Willard has done this and that includes passing on recruiting high school players this year in hopes of bringing back his players eligible for a fifth year.
“We’re not recruiting a high school kid this year… just because of the fifth-year rule,” Willard said at Big East Media Day. “We have six guys that can come back for a fifth year. So, I’d much rather have one of my players come back, than bring in a high school kid.”
The new age-based model gives athletes five years of eligibility to play in five years. This window begins when the athlete begins college or during the academic year after they turn 19 years old.
“I think moving forward, this kind of reminds me of what happened with COVID,” Willard said. “A lot of high school kids, a lot of high school players, got penalized, and it wasn’t their fault. So I think after a year or two, this system will flush out and I think coaches will go back to recruiting high school players.”
It was a busy offseason for Willard and the Wildcats.
After losing the entire roster minus Tyler Perkins and Matt Hodge, Willard was tasked with retooling in hopes of competing in the Big East. Safe to say he did that in the transfer portal along with bringing in Adam Oumiddich from the high school ranks. When looking at the roster, led by Luigi Suigo and Kwame Evans Jr. in the frontcourt, it is clear that Villanova is set to compete this year.
Willard made it clear that this is not a longterm plan but with the way this team is built, it makes more sense to focus on the portal and re-recruiting his own players rather than hitting high schools. Unfortunately, this is the bed that the NCAA made — not Willard and Villanova.
It is important for the Wildcats to get back to winning and after year one, Willard as the team going in the right direction.