ADVERTISEMENT

Zayden High Expected to Take Official Visit to Nova This Week

2023 PF target Zayden High is expected to be on campus for an official visit this week. High recently blasted into the Rivals150, making his debut at No. 40 while picking up a fourth star. At 6-10, High would provide some legitimate size to the Villanova rotation should coach Neptune and company eventually secure a commitment. It appears that High is becoming a priority target in the 2023 class.

Nova Offers 2023 F Amani Hansberry

Per his Twitter page, the 6-8 forward has received an offer from Villanova. Hansberry plays at Mount St. Joseph in Baltimore. This is an intriguing offer and Hansberry is an intriguing prospect, but there's a bit to unpack here so let's dig in.

The first thing to check is his rating/ranking, and yes, he is currently just a 3-star prospect who hasn't cracked the Rivals150 yet. Don't let that alarm you. First, Hansberry is drawing plenty of interest, including programs like Kansas, Miami, Maryland, LSU, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Michigan, UConn, Virginia Tech, Florida State and Ohio State.

Second, and more important, is Hansberry's skill set and potential fit at Villanova. Much of the film available on Hansberry is still from his freshman and sophomore seasons, so there is certainly some rawness to his game in those clips. But his talent is also apparent.

First and foremost, he already has the ability to score on all three levels. He's elite in the post, showing the ability to score with either hand. In the mid-range, he can operate both with his back to the basket or facing up. He's displayed a clean, consistent jump shot and shown the ability to hit a turnaround jumper. He's also shown mastery of his hook shoot, and both the hook shoot and the jumper display an impressive amount of touch for a young prospect. The 3-point shot is a work in progress but he can hit it and it looks good, so there's no reason to doubt that he can become a reliable, consistent threat on the perimeter. He's also shown good basketball IQ and the ability to move without the ball and find open space around the 3-point arc. Furthermore, he competes on both ends and will work on defense, isn't afraid to use his size and strength and does so intelligently and has an excellent motor.

While making comparisons can be a dangerous game, it's hard not to see flashes of Eric Paschall and Omari Spellman in Hansberry's film. At the very least, it's another name to keep an eye on in the 2023 class.

Villanova offers 2023 PF Zayden High

Some movement in the 2023 class on Tuesday as Villanova has offered 2023 PF Zayden High. High is listed at 6-10, 225 pounds and is from Texas. He is currently ranked as a 3-star recruit who hasn't cracked the 2023 Rivals150 yet, but I'd expect that to change, possibly as soon as the next update. Regardless, it's nice to think about some big-time size getting injected into the program.

It's also interesting to see Villanova return to Texas after Jay Wright was able to secure a commitment from Brendan Hausen and Kyle Neptune was able to hold the commitment following Wright's retirement.

Running Tab on Nova's 2024 Interests

It's that time of year again. Wednesday marked the first day that coaches could have full contact with 2024 prospects and as usual there was a flurry of activity. Like we've done the past few years, we'll use this thread to keep track of Villanova interests/contacts. As usual, official offers will get there own thread. As always, be sure to check this thread every once in a while as it will be updated as new info comes in and I'm still not sure if the thread will appear as "new" when updates are made. Let's get to it.

First, we had info on a couple of 2024 prospects before Wednesday thanks to reports of visits...

Johnuel "Boogie" Fland - PG, 5-stars, 12th in class, Archbishop Stepinac High School (NY)
Malachi Palmer - SG, 4-stars, 35th in class, Hillcrest Prep (AZ)

Now on to players the staff reached out to with the opening of communication...

Sir Mohammed - SG, 4-stars, 64th in class, Myers Park (NC)
Jacob Theodosiou - PG/SG, Waterloo, Canada/Western Reserve Academy (OH) (Nova has had interest in Theodosiou for over a year, looks like Neptune will continue that purusit)
Isaiah Abraham - SF, Highland (VA) (Same HS as Angelo Brizzi)
Toby Ojukwu - PG, Roman Catholic (PA)

Quick note on lack of stars/rankings on some of these prospects...remember that the current Rivals rankings for the class of 2024 is limited to 70 players in its current iteration, not the standard 150. Generally I don't really like to put a ton of stock into the rankings until at least after players' junior seasons, but we should start to get a clearer picture of the class after the July live periods and especially once the 2022-23 high school season gets underway. For now we'll keep an eye on these players throughout the live periods and start the work of forming our own opinion and evaluation, but don't put a ton of stock in rankings (or lack thereof) at this juncture.

Early 2024 Name to Keep an Eye On

While much of the attention at the moment is focused on work in the wide-open 2023 class, we have a name of interest that has emerged in the 2024 class.

2024 point guard Johnuel "Boogie" Fland is expected to visit Villanova this month, as reported by Rivals' basketball recruiting director Rob Cassidy. Cassidy notes that Fland is also expected to visit Seton Hall and UConn. Fland is already considered an elite prospect, holding five stars and sitting at No. 12 in the early class of 2024 rankings. Fland plays at Archbishop Stepinac in White Plains, NY. He recently put forth a strong showing at the Pangos All-American camp, showing a well-rounded game and vision and an understanding of pace beyond his years.

Obviously, it's incredibly early in the process here and Fland's recruitment is expected to become a hotly-contested affair, but it never hurts to get in early and having him in for an early visit is a huge plus. He already holds a handful of offers including Maryland, Miami, Illinois, Pitt, Seton Hall and St. John's.

Neptune 3-3 as Brendan Hausen Reaffirms Commitment to Nova

More good news Tuesday night as Brendan Hausen has reaffirmed his commitment to Villanova, via his Instagram page.

With the announcement, new head coach Kyle Neptune has now retained all three commitments in Villanova's 2022 class and the Wildcats will have an elite group heading to the Main Line for the 2022 season.

It's hard to overstate just how important this is and how incredible a job it is by Neptune. Most immediately, Nova brings in an incredibly talented class with three players who compliment each other beautifully in terms of skill sets and fit. Just as importantly, keeping the class intact sends a strong message to future recruiting classes and sets the tone for recruiting going forward.

With this incredibly important task successfully completed, coach Neptune can put full focus on the live periods and continue the work on the 2023, 2024 and 2025 classes before it's time to get to work on preparing for the 2022 season.

Caleb Daniels Seemingly Confirms Return to Nova

Caleb Daniels seemed to confirm his return to Nova on social media Tuesday evening. I'm not going to post the Twitter exchange because the seeming confirmation came as a refutation of a report about Daniels possibly leaving, and I don't feel the need to throw that reporter or analyst or whatever their title is under the bus. Anyway, that reporter tweeted that it there was a possibility that Daniels would be leaving the program. Collin Gillespie responded to the tweet, saying "talking to the wrong people my boy." The response from Gillespie was in itself a pretty strong indication of Daniels' plans, but Daniels took things a step further but responding to Gillespie's tweet simply with "Clearly" followed by laughing emojis. It's hard to take the exchange in any other way than Daniels returning.

There were already indications that Daniels was staying, from Jay Wright hinting at it following Justin Moore's injury to a social media post from Daniels a few weeks ago with a Nova picture captioned to the effect of more work to do. It's been our belief that this Daniels would be staying, and we know have a decent amount of evidence in support of that belief. It's entirely possible that Daniels doesn't feel the need to come out and outright say he's staying, considering he's already on the roster and generally the assumption would be that he's staying unless he announced news to the contrary. Regardless, we know have plenty of hints pointing to him staying, and this latest exchange seems to put the question to rest. It feels like a pretty safe bet to assume Daniels will be on the Main Line next season at this point.

Nova Getting Early Look at 2025 prospects

The class of 2025 is a long way away. Not only is it impossible to predict how the class will progress in the coming years, there is also much more pressing issues at hand from working to retain the 2022 commits, working to lock in a 2023 class and laying the ground work for the 2024s. However, it never hurts to get in with a prospect early and it's obviously advantageous to get a feel for future classes as early as possible. Villanova has been working to that end this weekend, as they took in some action involving 2025 prospects. Again, it's way to early to be ranking the class as there will be all kinds of changes over the next few years, but some notable names that Nova saw were Cameron and Cayden Boozer, twin sons of former NBA player Carlos Boozer, and Cooper Flagg.

Again, way to early to put a ton of stock into this, but just something to be aware of and some names that might be worth noting and paying attention to going forward. At any rate, it's nice to see Kyle Neptune getting an early jump on the class.

Nova Linked to Tampa Transfer Max Jones

Villanova has been linked with another transfer, this time DII transfer Max Jones. Per Tampa's athletic site, Jones averaged 22.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.6 rebounds per game last season, shooting 48.2% overall and 35.1% from 3. Some other high majors that have been connected to Jones are Alabama, LSU, Virginia, Iowa, Texas A&M and Wisconsin. Jones is listed at 6-5, 205.

Jones was a freshman last season, and that combined with his DII pedigree makes one wonder if in house options like Angelo Brizzi or incoming freshman Mark Armstrong wouldn't be as good or better options. Up to this point, all of the transfers Nova has been linked to have been experienced guards who have competed at higher levels, and you'd have to think that those options would be preferable to Jones. Still, something else to keep an eye on as we move into an uncharted offseason.

Live Period Tidbits

Some rumblings and info from the current live period...

Neptune is in fact in Indy for Nike EYBL.

Appears to be interest in reigniting pursuit of DJ Wagner. After things had appeared to have cooled between Nova and Wagner, the staff has had a strong presence watching the elite prospect. A heated battle between Kentucky and Louisville is going on for Wagner, but he mentioned Villanova among a handful of other teams when discussing the state of his recruitment.

Nova putting in time with current targets Justin Edwards and DeShawn Harris-Smith.

2023 four-star guard Jacoi Hutchinson is a new name that has emerged. Hutchinson currently plays for IMG Academy in Florida but is from the DMV, an area Nova has had incredible success recruiting. Hutchinson noted the DMV-Nova connection in recent comments. Those comments were made prior to Jay Wright's retirement, but with Wright having known for a while he would make this decision and having made clear his desire to ensure continuity with the transition, you'd have to believe the staff was heavily involved with whatever work has been put in with Hutchinson. Whether Neptune elects to continue that work and whether Wright's departure impacts Hutchinson's view of the program remain to be seen, but at the very least another name to keep an eye on.

Mark Armstrong Reaffirms Commitment, Wright Expects Class to Stay Intact

Mark Armstrong has reaffirmed his commitment to Villanova after Jay Wright's retirement, with NJ Advance Media's Adam Zagoria first confirming the news.

Jay Wright said "We've got outstanding recruits coming in and they're staying."

New head coach Kyle Neptune says he's talked to each of the recruits and will continue those talks over the next few days.

Villanova's 2022 class is an elite one and keeping it intact would be huge. Having one member on record confirming his commitment is a great start.

We'll await official word from Cam Whitmore and Brendan Hausen. As we reported last night, Whitmore was at Thursday night's 2021-22 season banquet, along with Armstrong.

Cam Whitmore, Mark Armstrong Attend Villanova 2021-22 Banquet

Two members of Villanova's 2022 recruiting class were in attendance at Villanova's 2021-22 banquet Thursday night as Cam Whitmore and Mark Armstrong were in the building with members of their families. With uncertainty surrounding the coaching change, this is an incredibly encouraging development. Not only is it encouraging that the pair made the appearance, but it gives them an opportunity to get a taste of what the program is about. You'd have to assume they'll also spend some time with Kyle Neptune while in town. This certainly doesn't set anything in stone, but again, very encouraging to have to two in attendance Thursday night.
ADVERTISEMENT

Filter

ADVERTISEMENT