Just some quick bullet points/takeaways from Wednesday's media day. We'll have some more comprehensive coverage with quotes from players and coach Neptune throughout the rest of the week, but wanted to just note some highlights/give a sense of the day in the meantime.

-Eric Dixon summed up the coaching change succinctly..."Same message, different voice." We heard similar sentiments throughout the day from multiple players. Surely there will be some differences that emerge, but culturally and in terms of the core tenets, it's business as usual.

-One of those possible changes is that coach Neptune said the team will likely look to run a little bit more. This was one of the biggest questions I personally had after processing the shock of the change, and it sounds like the team will indeed look to play with a bit more pace at times and look to take advantage of opportunities to run. Certainly something we'll be keeping an eye on early in the season.

-Jordan Longino is 100% and has been fully participating in basketball activities for a month now. He's ready to go and to build on the rhythm he started to develop late last season before his injury.

-Eric Dixon looks great physically.

-Mark Armstrong is fully buying in. Our interview with Mark was peppered with phrases like "Villanova basketball," "playing hard," and "attitude."

-Neither Caleb Daniels or Cam Whitmore were available to the media. There was no explanation for Daniels' absence while we were told that Whitmore had to go back with the trainer. It will be interesting to see if either participates in Thursday's Blue/White scrimmage.

-Overall the mood and atmosphere were great. The guys sounded excited, focused and confident.

Tracking recruits expected to attend Hoops Mania...

Christian Bliss (2024 G)
Luke Bevilacqua (2025 PF/C)
Mathew Gilhool (2024 PF)
Deuce Ketner (2024 G/F)

Nova has recently been in to see all three players. We'll update this thread as appropriate. Hoops Mania will take place on Saturday.

Just a quick update on some key preseason dates...

October 1 - Hoops Mania
October 5 - Media Day
October 6 - Blue/White Scrimmage

A sign that the college hoops season is right around the corner.

2023 guard Bryce Lindsay will be on campus for an unofficial visit this weekend. Lindsay hasn't received an official offer from Nova, but it seems likely that one will come during the visit. Kyle Neptune has been in to see Lindsay at IMG Academy recently. Certainly something to keep an eye on as Villanova looks for its first commit in the 2023 class.

More work on the 2024 class as Villanova has offered five-star small forward Bryson Tucker. Tucker is currently ranked 7th in the class by Rivals. The 6-8 forward attends IMG Academy.

In addition to getting another 2024 offer out to five-star prospect Bryson Tucker, Villanova also spent the weekend checking out 2024 guard Christian Bliss. Bliss attends the George School in Newtown, PA and is a New York native. He hasn't cracked the Rivals 150 yet, but is starting to draw interest from higher profile programs, including Xavier and Notre Dame in addition to Villanova. At the very least, another name to keep an eye on in a 2024 class with which Villanova has been busy.

Villanova remains in the mix for 2023 PG Elmarko Jackson, who cut his list from 11 to 7 on Wednesday.

Joining Nova in Jackson's top 7 are Kansas, Miami, Notre Dame, UCLA, Virginia and Texas.

Jackson is currently ranked 63rd in his class by Rivals.

With the quiet period ending on September 9 and coaching staffs once again allowed to observe prospects on their high school campuses, Kyle Neptune and staff have been back on the road.

First stop was IMG Academy in Florida. There are reports that the program is looking at 2023 G Bryce Lindsay. I don't have a read at the moment on whether Lindsay was in fact the, or one of the, targets during the stop at IMG, but considering the fact that the 2023 class remains empty at this time and the program's top two targets expected to wait until late fall/early winter before making a decision, it wouldn't be surprising to see Neptune and company expand the search a bit. Other potential recruits of interest at IMG include 2023's Eric Dailey Jr. and Jayden Hastings and 2024's Bryson Tucker and Amier Ali.

On Tuesday, a Nova contingent that reportedly included both Neptune and an assistant, was in Connecticut at South Kent. The obvious reason for this visit was for Elmarko Jackson, one of the aforementioned 2023 priorities. Nova appears to be in a decent position with Jackson and are looking to solidify it. In addition to Jackson, 2023 big man Papa Kante is a notable prospect at South Kent.

Hey all, exciting day as the 2022-23 schedule is out. Having an issue with our photo acquisition process and can't publish articles without a photo so there's going to be a delay with getting our article on the schedule release published to the site. Apologies for the inconvenience. In the meantime, here are some highlights.

Opener is 11/7 vs. La Salle at 6:30 (FS1)
Big East opener is 12/21 vs. St. John's at 6:30 (FS1)
Regular season ends 3/4 vs. UConn 7:30 (FS1)
Big East Tourney runs March 8-11

Wells Fargo Center games are...
Oklahoma 12/3 12:30 (CBS)
Providence 1/29 noon (FS1)
Seton Hall 2/11 8:00 (FS1)
Creighton 2/25 noon (Fox)
UConn 3/4 7:30 (Fox)

Big 5 games are...
11/7 vs. La Salle 6:30 (FS1)
11/11 at Temple TBD (ESPN2)
12/7 Penn 7 (CBSSN)
12/17 at St. Joe's TBD (TBD)

TV quirks...
Delaware State 11/14 (6:30, FS2)
Penn 12/7 (7, CBSSN)
DePaul 1/10 (9, CBSSN)
Butler 2/14 (8, CBSSN)
The other games (pending St. Joe's) are all on Fox, FS1, CBS, or ESPN family. No streaming service exclusive games like last year's Penn game (ESPN+) so that's nice.

Two tough stretches that stand out...
Jan 20-Feb 4
at St. John's, Providence, at Marquette, at Creighton

and the five-game stretch to end the season
Feb 18-March 4
at Providence, at Xavier, Creighton, at Seton Hall, UConn

Details on the matchup between Nova and Boston College at the Never Forget Tribute Classic were released on Tuesday.

No surprise here, but Nova target DeShawn Harris-Smith has committed to Maryland. It's been trending this way for at least a few weeks and now it's official.

Cats will shift attention to Zayden High and Elmarko Jackson, and we'll have to wait and see if they get any new 2023 offers out.

2023 G/F DeShawn Harris-Smith, who has been Nova's top target in the class, will reportedly announce his decision on Wednesday night at 6 p.m.

Officially, Harris-Smith is choosing from a list of five finalists that includes Villanova, Maryland, Indiana, Penn State and Xavier. However, he has been seeming to lean Maryland in recent weeks and that buzz has only intensified over the last few days. At this point, it would be a shock if Maryland wasn't the choice, but we almost always include the disclaimer that you never know in recruiting until the announcement is made. Having said that, it clearly looks like this one will be a miss for Villanova.

At the very least we'll have a bit more perspective on the 2023 landscape come Wednesday.

2023 PG Elmarko Jackson dropped his top 11 schools Wednesday evening and included Villanova.

Joining Nova are Kansas, Virginia, Maryland, Louisville, Notre Dame, VCU, Texas, UCLA, Miami and Michigan.

Jackson is currently ranked 141st in the class of 2023.

Nova getting a pretty sizeable head start on the 2025 class, getting an early offer out to G/F Dante Allen.

Allen is the son of former Nova player Malik Allen. Dante plays at Riviera Prep in Florida. Rivals hasn't released any official rankings for the class of 2025 yet, but Allen has garnered attention with a strong summer circuit showing and he certainly comes with an impressive pedigree as well.

The early offer is a bit of a deviation from the approach under Jay Wright, who typically waited until prospects were heading into their junior seasons in high school before officially offering. However, it never hurts to be involved early and it can go a long way in certain player's recruitments.

At the very least, we have our first 2025 name to keep an eye on.

Some more Nova representation on the international level in both the men's and women's game.

Four-star guard DeShawn Harris-Smith has cut his list to five schools and has included Villanova. Joining the Wildcats in the battle for Harris-Smith's commitment are Penn State, Indiana, Maryland and Xavier.

Not much of a surprise to see the Wildcats still in contention here as Harris-Smith as emerged as a priority for the Cats in the 2023 class. Still, it's encouraging to have some confirmation and good to get a look at who the competition is. The cutting of the list also indicates progress in terms of Harris-Smith making a decision, a welcome development as we await the development of Nova's 2023 class.

One less name to pay attention to in the 2023 class as 2023 forward Amani Hansberry has cut his list to five and eliminated Villanova. Hansberry will choose between Penn State, Auburn, Miami, Virginia Tech and Illinois.

This isn't a huge surprise, as there hasn't been much buzz between Nova and Hansberry for some time and indications are that Nova backed off in its pursuit of Hansberry.

DeShawn Harris-Smith and Zayden High, and to a lesser extent Elmarko Jackson, look to be the Villanova priorities in 2023 at the moment.

Addressing the rumblings of concern that have been rippling through certain parts of Nova Nation as the calendar turns to August and the Cats have yet to secure a commitment in the 2023 class.


Are you concerned?

Johnuel Fland, a five-star 2024 guard out of Archbishop Stepinac in New York, is planning an August unofficial visit to Villanova. An exact date/dates have not been decided on.

Fland hasn't officially been offered by Nova, but he was one of the first prospects connected to the Cats when communication with the 2024 class opened and it appears there is notable mutual interest between the parties. He is currently ranked 10th in his class.

2023 G and Nova target Elmarko Jackson updated his recruitment via a tweet on Tuesday. Jackson said he plans to cut his list in a few weeks and begin to take his official visits with the intention of announcing a commitment in the fall.

Jackson picked up a Nova offer just over three weeks ago. He holds offers from Kansas, Virginia, Michigan, Ohio State, Maryland, Seton Hall, Tennessee, Louisville, Syracuse, Miami, UCLA, Oklahoma, Cal, St. John's, Notre Dame and Indiana, among others.

It looks as though we'll have a clearer picture of his recruitment in a few weeks and with it a better idea of Villanova's 2023 recruiting outlook.

The opening matchups of the Phil Knight Invitational have been announced, with Nova drawing Iowa State.

We now have opponents and dates for the 11 non-conference games this season.

Some action in the 2023 class on Saturday as Villanova has offered 2023 PG Elmarko Jackson, per his Twitter page.

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Jackson plays at South Kent in Connecticut. He is currently ranked No. 144 in the 2023 class.

Jackson holds offers from Indiana, Texas, Michigan, Kansas, Maryland, Miami, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Seton Hall, St. John's, Virginia, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Syracuse, among others.

Another 2023 name to keep an eye on.

Some scheduling news on Monday night.

A new name of interest in the 2023 class has emerged in blossoming prospect Tyler Bey. Bey is a 6-8 wing who recently made his debut in the Rivals150 at No. 132, but some analysts within the network are already noting that he remains underrated at that spot. Bey recently spoke with Rivals' National Analyst Travis Graf and mentioned Villanova among a host of schools ramping up their recruitment of him. Here's what Bey said about Villanova:

“They’re really big on family. Most of the schools that are recruiting me are about family because I always tell them that. The majority of me looking for a school is family-like in how they treat their players and how they get their players ready for the next level, and Villanova is really driven on how they get their players in and out.”

Now, there are a couple of red flags here. Most glaringly, there doesn't appear to be an official offer on the table. Until that happens, it's hard to know how serious the interest is. In addition, Bey told Graf that he plans to make a decision after the EYBL season in late July, so there isn't a whole lot of time for an offer to get out. On the other hand, we usually see a flurry of activity on the recruiting trail in July, so maybe an offer is made. It's also possible that with his rising stock, Bey sees more schools get involved and decides to delay making a decision. For now, Bey becomes a name to keep an eye on as we await developments in the 2023 class.

You can read Graf's full article at the link below: