Analyzing where Villanova’s roster stands after Lance Ware, Trey Patterson hit the transfer portal

Villanova center Lance Ware put his name in the NCAA men’s basketball transfer portal Friday morning, becoming the second Wildcats player this week to do so after forward Trey Patterson entered Wednesday.

Ware, a Camden grad who started his college career at Kentucky, struggled during the 2023-24 season when Villanova needed to give Eric Dixon some rest. He scored 1.2 points and grabbed 2.3 rebounds in 10.5 minutes per game. After playing 17 minutes during a late-February blowout win over Georgetown, Ware did not see double-digit minutes over the final six games. It was a disappointing conclusion after Villanova committed a lot of NIL dollars to Ware when it made him part of a four-player transfer haul that was supposed to push Villanova to the NCAA Tournament.

And so another roster makeover of sorts is underway ahead of Kyle Neptune’s third season.

Ware hitting the portal leaves Villanova with three open scholarships, and a fourth could be available if Dixon forgoes his final year of eligibility to play professionally, or moves on to another college program (the latter seems like the unlikeliest result).

Here’s a look at where Villanova’s roster stands and where the Wildcats are probably looking to fill holes.

» READ MORE: Kyle Neptune has to make some changes to resurrect Villanova. The boosters will have to get used to them.

The departures of Patterson and Ware shouldn’t come as much of a surprise in the modern college basketball universe. Patterson has dealt with a lot of injuries, the most recent being a shoulder surgery that kept him out of this entire season, and has struggled to get on the court when healthy.

Ware’s shortcomings have been addressed plenty. The Big East just wasn’t his level.

The season ended with another early NIT exit, and roster evaluation started. In an ideal world, Villanova didn’t have minutes for Patterson and Ware and would rather spend its NIL dollars elsewhere. Fresh start for you, probably with some more playing time; win for us, we’ll go buy a better player.

If that sounds dirty, well, welcome to the open market business that major college sports have become. There’s a reason Villanova hired a general manager, Baker Dunleavy, and it’s to help navigate these things.

You can have qualms about fixing a roster via the transfer portal, especially after this past season, but it’s hard to envision Villanova not getting more production out of the two players it replaces Patterson and Ware with.

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

Six out, three in, one question mark, three openings.

Villanova lost four players to expiring eligibility: Justin Moore, Chris Arcidiacono, Tyler Burton, and Hakim Hart. The Wildcats have a three-player recruiting class coming to campus this summer. And then there’s Dixon.

Scholarship players on Villanova’s 2024-25 roster as of Friday afternoon:

Guards: Mark Armstrong, TJ Bamba, Brendan Hausen, Jordan Longino

Forwards/centers: Dixon, Nnanna Njoku, Jordann Dumont, then the three-player freshmen class of Matthew Hodge, Josiah Moseley, and Malcolm Thomas.

Dixon, of course, has a decision to make about his future.

Notice something? It’s a very depleted frontcourt. Njoku showed flashes of defensive intensity, but another injury (knee surgery) ended his season.

With Ware’s departure, Villanova is in the market for a big man with size, preferably a starter who can protect the rim, even if Dixon makes his unlikely return to campus. There’s a world where Dixon returns and plays the four, which would make some sense considering he’s not an NBA center. The Wildcats could also use an experienced four-man to provide a bridge to the incoming freshmen class.

Villanova also needs another guard who can handle the ball and score (preferably with a proficient three-point shot).

» READ MORE: Is Eric Dixon the last vestige of the Villanova Way? Villanova hopes not.

Like every other team looking for portal additions, Villanova has been in contact with a lot of players since the portal opened nearly three weeks ago. More than 1,400 players were in the portal as of early Friday afternoon.

One of Villanova’s targets, Penn transfer Tyler Perkins, reportedly has a visit planned to Villanova next week. Perkins is an interesting player for Villanova at an interesting time.

He played well during his freshman year at Penn and has three years of eligibility remaining. Is he ready to play Big East basketball at a high level? That remains to be seen. But he would add to a barren 2023 class and give Villanova a player it can develop and keep around rather than a rental for one season.

That’s why more spots opening up from players who weren’t going to provide major impact minutes is better for Villanova. The Wildcats could take a guard like Perkins, pair him with, for example, Princeton wing Matt Allocco, who has one year of eligibility left, and then address other needs in the frontcourt. That combination would give Villanova an experienced plug-and-play piece in Allocco, and Perkins could be a valuable reserve player who could blossom in the future.

Villanova has been in contact with other guards, too, like Furman’s JP Pegues, Lynn Greer III from St. Joseph’s, Skyy Clark of Louisville (who was recruited by Villanova out of high school), and others.

As for the frontcourt, Villanova has contacted rim protectors Amari Williams (Drexel) and Cliff Omoruyi (Rutgers), and they’ve also been in contact with two Belmont forwards: Malik Dia and Cade Tyson.

If all of this feels a little like fantasy football, that’s the game Villanova and others are playing. But as the exits of Patterson and Ware show, the Wildcats are all-in on playing it.