Villanova’s TJ Bamba plans to go portaling. Where does that leave the Wildcats’ roster?

Villanova guard TJ Bamba intends to enter the transfer portal for his final season of NCAA eligibility, a source confirmed a Tuesday afternoon report from On3.

Bamba, a 6-foot-5 guard who transferred to Villanova from Washington State, was the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer at 10.1 points per game.

Bamba will be the fourth Villanova player in the transfer portal, joining Brendan Hausen, Lance Ware, and Trey Patterson. Two other players, Mark Armstrong and Eric Dixon, are going through the NBA draft process. Armstrong is likely to return to college and has not entered the portal. Dixon, meanwhile, seems unlikely to use his final season of college eligibility, at Villanova or elsewhere.

With Bamba and others likely moving on, and the departure of four players whose eligibility was exhausted, this is a Villanova roster in need of a makeover, one that is already underway.

Where does Bamba’s pending departure leave the Wildcats?

» READ MORE: Does Tyler Perkins’ transfer from Penn represent a new Villanova way?

Assuming Dixon does not return for another season, and assuming Armstrong goes through the draft process and ends up back at Villanova (hardly a safe assumption), the top players returning from Villanova’s 2023-24 roster are Armstrong and Jordan Longino.

Yikes? Yikes.

The Wildcats will return just 21% of their scoring from last season in that scenario.

Yikes? Well, it depends how you look at it.

Villanova missed the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season — the first time that’s happened in 20 years — and needed to retool in order to improve. That much was known long before the Wildcats’ season ended with a dud at home in the National Invitational Tournament.

Was this kind of makeover expected? Maybe not to this degree — only three players, Armstrong, Longino, Nnanna Njoku, who scored a point in 2023-24 remain part of the program — but Villanova needed to bring new players in. It was expected that coach Kyle Neptune, general manager Baker Dunleavy, and Villanova’s staff would need to find about four players in the portal. Now? That number may be six.

» READ MORE: Christina Dalce becomes third Villanova starter to enter the transfer portal after WBIT run

While Bamba will become the fourth player in the portal, Villanova got its first portal addition Sunday when Penn guard Tyler Perkins committed to the Wildcats with three years of eligibility remaining.

Villanova also hosted Mount St. Mary’s guard Dakota Leffew Monday. Leffew posted averages of 17.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.9 assists while shooting 36.5% from three-point range during his fourth season with Mount St. Mary’s.

The Wildcats remain involved with many transfer targets, and have a three-player recruiting class (the third-ranked class in the Big East, according to 247Sports) coming to campus. But as recent seasons have shown, you can’t rely on youth to win in today’s college basketball world.

Neptune and Dunleavy still have a lot of work to avoid Villanova being at the bottom of the conference. Players have until May 1 to enter the portal, and Villanova’s 2023-24 roster wasn’t finalized until the end of May last year.

Part of a problem? Part of the landscape? Both?

It’s hard to say Bamba’s departure is a direct reflection of Neptune, who has guided Villanova to a 35-33 record in two seasons after replacing Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright. But it’s hard to ignore the possibility, too.

Bamba was likely to be among Villanova’s best players next season, and Villanova has plenty of NIL money available. So, why is he leaving? It’s a question that, for now, remains unanswered. But it’s also hard to view Bamba’s departure as a failure for Villanova. Sure, no one wants to lose talented players. But is Bamba the best player on a team that finishes in the top half of the Big East? Probably not.

In a way, Bamba leaving allows Villanova to try to recruit over him in the portal. It’s easier said than done, but this is Neptune and Dunleavy’s current landscape. There’s plenty of cause for concern for Nova Nation , but also plenty of reason to wait for this all to play out.

Again, welcome to the Wild West which is high-level college hoops.