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.

Some intriguing 2023 scheduling rumblings.

2024 G Malachi Palmer took an unofficial visit to Villanova on Tuesday.

Palmer is a four-star prospect who is currently ranked No. 35 in the class. He plays at Hillcrest Prep in Arizona.

it was quite a showing from the two future Wildcats.

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.

A little scheduling news on Wednesday.

The duo will take part in an U18 training camp in a few weeks.

Some roster news on Friday morning.

A bit of 2023 news Thursday evening as elite 2023 prospect Justin Edwards has dropped a top 7, including Villanova.

Edwards, currently ranked No. 8 in the class, is a 6-6 wing. He is a local prospect, playing at Imhotep Charter in Philadelphia. Joining Nova in Edwards' top 7 are Kentucky, Auburn, Tennessee, Maryland, Kansas and the G League.

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 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.

Following news of Cam Whitmore confirming his commitment to Villanova, another confirmed member of the class, Mark Armstrong, took to social media to both celebrate his classmate and to nudge the other member of the class to join them.

Top 10 2022 recruit Cam Whitmore has confirmed his commitment to Villanova, via his Instagram page. Whitmore posted a photo of him in a Villanova uniform with the caption "I'm coolan nth changing" as well as a video of coach Neptune posing in front of the Finn. Hard to overstate how big this news is.

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.

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.

Some good news on Saturday evening.

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.

Working on confirmation on this, but Neptune was reportedly spotted in Indianapolis for the Nike EYBL session less than 12 hours after his introductory press conference. Several specific Nova 2023 targets in action.

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.

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.

A stunning turn of events on Wednesday night.

Social media exploded Wednesday night with reports that Jay Wright was considering retirement. Those rumors quickly turned into reports that he was, in fact, retiring and that a team meeting would take place tonight to inform the team. Reports have even surfaced that former Nova assistant Kyle Neptune will be named Wright's replacement.

I'm going to wait for official word from the school before touching this publicly, but felt the need to address here considering the implications.

Regardless, hard to ignore both the volume of reports and who they are coming from. At the moment, this appears to be an absolutely stunning development.

Again, if true, hopefully we'll have something from the school soon and some sort of explanation.

The bizarre world of the transfer portal took another turn Tuesday night as Princeton transfer Jaelin Llewellyn announced that he was reopening his recruitment after committing to Clemson a week ago. The fact that the Tigers lost two assistant coaches to other programs in the days since Llewellyn's commitment is believed to be what led to the decision to reopen things. Of course, Villanova was reported to have shown interest in Llewellyn prior to his commitment to Clemson, so this is worth keeping an eye on.

Whitmore impressed during the All-Star portion of the high school calendar and was rewarded with a jump into the top 10 of the Class of 2022 rankings at No. 9.