Let’s just start with this — Kevin Willard and Villanova will be fine moving forward.
Now that we got that out of the way, we can discuss how the Wildcats are being impacted by this era of college basketball.
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Acaden Lewis and Bryce Lindsay announced on Sunday that they will be entering the transfer portal.
Lewis will enter the 2026 NBA Draft while maintaining his eligibility. He will enter the portal and begin looking for a new home.
“To my coaches, teammates, and Villanova community, thank you for your guidance and support in helping me reach this point,” Lewis said in his official statement. “It has been one of the most valuable years of my life and an instrumental chapter in a long journey.”
The loss of Lewis and Lindsay will be a blow to Villanova but it should not come as a surprise given the history of both players. And the goal is simple — to make money.
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Lewis was originally a Kentucky commit before re-opening his recruitment and landing at Villanova as a true freshman. He was handed the keys to the offense as the starting point guard right away and was able to successfully lead a team that got better and better over the course of the year. Lewis set two freshman program records for assists (176) and steals (63).
Despite Villanova reportedly making a lucrative NIL offer to Lewis, he decided to enter the portal anyway looking for more.
An early favorite floating around out there for Lewis has been Miami. Lewis averaged 12.2 points and 5.3 assists per game last season. While he showed some traits, the 6-foot-2 point guard has improvements to make before making the jump into the NBA. Lewis shot just 27% from three-point range and 58.% from the free throw line.
As for Lindsay, he will be looking for his fourth school in four years. He began at Texas A&M before transferring to James Madison and eventually landing at Villanova. His entry back into the portal should come as no surprise given the fact that he has done this twice before.
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What we are seeing is the problem many have with the current landscape of college sports. While players deserved to be paid NIL money, the transfer portal has become an issue turning each offseason into free agency. Players are allowed to transfer year after year without penalty. This leads to two players who were the leaders of a 24-win team in the NCAA Tournament to leave after just one year. There is no guarantee that the situation will be better where they go. Maybe the team is worse, maybe the fit just doesn’t work, but none of that matters when looking for the highest bidder.
As for Villanova, Willard knows how to navigate the portal. The Wildcats brought back just one contributor from the team two years ago. Lindsay was a portal addition along with Devin Askew and Duke Brennan. Malachi Palmer followed Willard over as well.
It was a new-look Villanova team this past season and that will be the case once again in 2026-27. The Wildcats will lose Askew and Brennan as they are out of eligibility while Lewis and Lindsay will enter the transfer portal. Willard will rebuild the team this offseason and while the portal has taken away, it will also bring new talent into the program for next season.
