As you might expect in an exhibition game, particularly one in which the team is integrating a lot of new parts, there were some bumps along the way to Sunday's win over Robert Morris and some kinks still to be worked out. But there were also some encouraging signs as we got our first look at the new-look Cats. Here's the good, the bad and the ugly from the exhibition win.

Some early drama and uncertainty for Nova with the season just over a week away.

Nova secured the first member of its 2025 recruiting class.

Nova will be without its best player to start the season.

Villanova's position in the initial 2024-25 KenPom rankings raised some eyebrows.

A 2025 Villanova target is set to announce his college decision. Dante Allen, a Nova legacy and the No. 98 player in the 2025 class, will announce his decision on Wednesday, October 16.

Allen, a 6-4 guard, will choose between Nova, Tennessee and Georgia.

We now have the complete picture of Villanova's 2024-25 schedule.

Villanova will host a local prospect for an unofficial visit in the near future. 2026 SF Luca Foster is set to be on campus on October 4.

Foster, a 6-6 small forward, plays at Archbishop Carroll. A four-star prospect, he is currently ranked No. 108 in the Rivals150.

The seeming tradition of Villanova players dealing with summer/fall injuries will continue in 2024-25, as the school has announced a pair of injuries as Hoops Mania gets underway.

Nnanna Njoku is dealing with a stress injury in his left foot. Kris Parker is nursing a right foot toe fracture.

We now have dates and locations for all of Villanova's 2024-25 games.

A note on staff changes.

Some significant athletic department news on Thursday.

Villanova has made another addition to the 2024-25 roster, adding Alabama transfer Kris Parker.

Parker redshirted his first season at Alabama and comes to Nova with four years of eligibility.

The 6-9 guard was a key target for Villanova in the 2023 class and the Wildcats were a finalist for Parker's commitment before he ultimately chose Alabama. Parker was dominant during his final high school season, averaging 24.8 points, 14.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks en route to earning Florida Class 2A Player of the Year honors.

Parker essentially joins what is now a five-man freshman class for the Wildcats, joining Aleksandar Gavalyugov, Matthew Hodge, Josiah Moseley, and Malcolm Thomas.

Another step towards the 2024-25 season.

The Nova staff has been busy...first finalizing the 2024-25 roster and then working on the 2025, 2026 and even 2027 recruiting classes. Rivals' recruiting director Rob Cassidy recently highlighted a group of "must-get" prospects in the class of 2025 and included one for Villanova: Dante Allen. Allen, who is a legacy recruit whose father Malik played at Nova, is scheduled for a late September visit to campus. Allen is a four-star prospect currently ranked No. 90 in the class. You can read Cassidy's full write-up on Allen and Nova's need to land him at the link below.

Nova doing some early work in the 2027 class, getting an offer out to 6-2 guard Tyler Sutton. Sutton is a local prospect who plays at Roman Catholic. He holds offers from Miami, Penn State, St. John's, Iowa, Mississippi State, Washington and West Virginia, among others.

An offer in the 2025 class has gone out to small forward Ryder Frost. Frost plays at Phillips Academy in New Hampshire and is currently listed at 6-6, 205. He is currently a three-star prospect who is ranked 125th in the class. He holds offers from Boston College, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, N.C. State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech, among others.

Even as the 2024-25 college basketball season creeps closer, Kyle Neptune and staff are still exploring additions to the roster.

CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein reports that Villanova has expressed interest in Northern Illinois transfer David Coit. Coit recently received a waiver making him eligible to play in 2024-25. He has also received interest from Arkansas and Texas A&M.

Coit, a two-time All-Mac selection, averaged 20.8 points, 3.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds last season. He shot 40.7% from the field, 33.7% from three and 88.5% from the line. He hit 37.7% of his three-point attempts in 2022-23.

At 5-11, there is a bit of size concern...but Coit has played well against high-major competition. Last season, he scored 14 points against Marquette, 34 against DePaul, 12 against Northwestern and 23 against Iowa. He failed to reach double-figures just once in 29 games last season.

At the very least, a name to keep an eye on here in the dog days of summer.

A bit of scheduling news on Thursday as we get the dates for Villanova's two Big 5 pod games as well as for the Big 5 Classic.

Nova added some experience to the bench on Thursday.

A bit of a recruiting surprise on Thursday.

Nova has landed a priority transfer portal target, adding Miami transfer Wooga Poplar.


This is another important get for the Cats that significantly boosts prospects for next season. I still think there needs to be one more impact addition, but you can't argue this addition doesn't leave the program in a better spot than it was in prior.

Some big news on Tuesday as the school announced the return of Eric Dixon for the 2024-25 season.


Still work to do to round out the roster, but huge step in the right direction here.

The Cats have made another addition through the transfer portal...big man Enoch Boakye, a former 5-star recruit who played two years at Arizona State and one at Fresno State.

Nova already dealing with injuries.