Big 5 transfers: Villanova’s Patterson moving on, Drexel’s Moore heading to the A-10, and more

Forward Trey Patterson intends to leave Villanova and enter his name in the transfer portal, he announced Wednesday afternoon on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Patterson will become the first Villanova men’s basketball player to enter the portal following a disappointing finish to the 2023-24 season. Patterson, a senior, missed the entire basketball season after undergoing shoulder surgery. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining. Patterson, a Somerset, N.J., native, was recruited to Villanova by Jay Wright in the class of 2020. He was ranked 56th nationally by 247Sports, but struggled to get on the floor and battled through multiple injuries.

It’s likely Villanova couldn’t guarantee him much playing time in 2024-25 as it looks to retool its roster to get back in the NCAA Tournament conversation. Leaving Villanova gives Patterson a fresh start and allows Villanova to bring in some more talent in the portal.

It’s unclear if any more Wildcats intend to enter the portal. Villanova now has two open scholarship spots, and could have a third assuming Eric Dixon does not return to campus and moves on to the professional ranks.

Villanova is in need of a few things, especially a rim-defending center, a forward to bridge the gap to their trio of incoming freshmen forwards, and a ball-handling guard that can score.

The departure of Patterson makes checking those boxes a bit easier.

» READ MORE: Sizing up a crucial Villanova offseason for Kyle Neptune after another missed NCAA Tournament

With an Instagram post late Tuesday night, Drexel transfer Justin Moore, an Archbishop Wood graduate, announced he was heading to Chicago.

Moore, who just finished his sophomore season at Drexel, committed to Loyola-Chicago. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

Moore, a point guard, scored 12.4 points and added 3.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 31 games this season for the Dragons, who were the second seed in the Coastal Athletic Association and fell in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

While Moore improved his scoring numbers from his freshman season at Drexel, he wasn’t extremely efficient offensively and it will be interesting to see how he progresses moving forward in the Atlantic 10. Loyola, under coach Drew Valentine, surprised many prognosticators when it finished tied atop the A-10 standings this season with Richmond.

Moore entered the transfer portal on March 25. He was the third Drexel player to enter, following Amari Williams, the three-time CAA defensive player of the year, and Lamar Oden Jr. Williams, who is also testing the NBA draft process, has a long list of suitors, including Villanova.

The 6-foot-10 center, according to On3 Sports, has scheduled visits to Creighton, Florida, Indiana, and St. John’s.

» READ MORE: Lucy Olsen has Villanova in line for a trophy. The Wildcats have the resources to keep her on the Main Line.

St. Joseph’s picked up its first portal commitment Tuesday from Simpson, a transfer guard from Rutgers by way of Medford’s Lenape High School.

Simpson posted averages of 8.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 32 games (25 starts) as a sophomore. He is a versatile defender, which the Hawks needed after Greer entered the portal, but has struggled a bit with his shooting percentages in college. St. Joe’s shoots a lot of three-pointers, and it’s possible the way the Hawks space the floor, combined with a step down from the Big Ten, leads to cleaner looks for Simpson and improved efficiencies.

Later Wednesday, On3 reported that redshirt freshman center Christ Essandoko planned to enter the portal. Essandoko missed time during the season due to a toe injury. The 7-footer had an up-and-down first year of college basketball, but showed a lot of potential. Essandoko, who originally committed to Providence before ending up at St. Joe’s, has three seasons of eligibility remaining. He scored 8.2 points and grabbed 5.7 rebounds in 21.1 minutes per game across 25 games played while shooting 36.8% from three-point range.

The big question remaining for St. Joe’s is Erik Reynolds II, whose presence on next year’s roster would make St. Joe’s among the A-10 favorites, and whose departure would force Billy Lange and his staff to fill a big hole through the portal.

Hysier Miller only entered the transfer portal officially on Monday, but 24/7 High School Hoops reported Wednesday that his list had been cut to four schools. Miller, however, said on X that his recruitment was still open.

Miller’s reported list: Providence, Seton Hall, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. So it appears the Neumann Goretti grad, who led Temple in scoring, is garnering interest from the likes of the Big East and the ACC.

Miller was the fourth Owls player in the portal when he entered Monday, the previous three being little-used reserves. But Miller was joined in the portal Tuesday by Temple junior Jahlil White, the Owls’ third-leading scorer at 10.1 points per game.

La Salle’s men’s team saw its four leading scorers — Khalil Brantley, Jahmir Brickus, Daeshon Shepherd, and Anwar Gill — enter the transfer portal.

On the women’s side, eight players are in the portal. One of them, leading scorer Nicole Melious, is off to the Big East after committing to Seton Hall.

On the men’s side, none of the four Explorers has made a commitment yet, but La Salle reportedly has one commitment, from Penn State transfer Demetrius Lilley, who attended Lower Merion High School.

Lilley’s commitment would seem to indicate that La Salle isn’t going through a coaching search and that Fran Dunphy will see the Explorers through this rebuild and open the new arena in the fall.

There were nearly 1,400 men’s basketball players in the portal Wednesday morning and more than 1,000 women. ... Temple’s Ines Piper committed to South Florida. ... Villanova’s women’s team is playing for a WBIT title Wednesday night, but the Wildcats have two players already in the portal: Abby Jegede and Kylie Swider. ... The women’s teams at Drexel and St. Joe’s were the only two of the 12 Big 5 teams without a player in the portal as of late Wednesday afternoon. ... Penn’s women’s team has two players in the portal, Michaela Stanfield and Jordan Obi, both graduate transfers who are not eligible to stay at Penn because of Ivy League rules.