After an underwhelming 2023-24 campaign, head coach Kyle Neptune and the Wildcats are looking to get the 2024-25 season off to a fast start. Villanova will test its stamina by playing three games in five games at the Finneran Pavilion against Lafayette, Columbia and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).
The first matchup will be against Lafayette on Nov. 4 at 8 p.m.. The ‘Cats have never lost to the Leopards in program history, with six wins since the first matchup in 1999. Their last meeting was a lopsided 104-57 victory for Villanova in Allentown. Lafayette has not made the NCAA tournament since a 2015 16-seed berth, when it was bounced out in the first round by one-seed Villanova.
Last season marked a poor performance overall for Lafayette, which started the season 1-12 and finished with a dismal 11-21 record. A bright spot arrived in Patriot League conference play with a 10-8 record, including a 7-0 start.
Lafayette started last season 1-12, with its only non-conference win coming against DIII Wilkes. The Leopards were able to finish 11-21 after going 10-8 in Patriot League play. Lafayette was third in the Patriot League.
This season, Lafayette’s second-year head coach Mike McGarvey is hoping for better results, as the Leopards were picked to come sixth place in the Patriot League. The Leopards lost two starters but returned all-Patriot League third team selections senior center Justin Vander Baan and senior guard Devin Hines, their leading scorers from a season ago at 9.8 and 9.3 ppg respectively along with several talented freshmen.
Next on the docket for the ‘Cats is Columbia, out of the Ivy League. The game will take place Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. Villanova has won its past four meetings with the Lions. Its singular loss occurred 55 years ago in the 1969-70 campaign.
Columbia is coming off an up-and-down season that featured a solid start, but the Lions faded as conference play came around (4-10 record and six consecutive losses to end the year). The Lions do return both of their leading scorers and minute-getters, including graduate student Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa, who put up 14.4 ppg on 44% shooting from the floor and 40% from beyond the arc.
If the Wildcats’ issues in defending three-point shooting rear their head, as they did in the first half of their exhibition against Robert Morris, De La Rosa might be a problem to stop offensively. Ninth-year head coach Jim Engles will try to lead the Lions to the Ivy League tournament for the first time in school history, and the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1968.
Finally, for Villanova, it’s the NJIT Highlanders, led by former Seton Hall player and Kevin Willard disciple Grant Billmeyer. The Wildcats last played NJIT in 2014, and have a pristine 2-0 record against the Highlanders. They hope to make it 3-0 this Friday at 8:30 p.m.
NJIT is coming off a disappointing campaign in the 2023-24 season, when it won just seven of its 29 games and finished dead last in the America East conference. This season, it hopes to surpass expectations of being picked second-to-last in the preseason conference poll.
The Highlanders return their leading scorer from a season ago, ‘23-24 America East Rookie of the Year Tariq Francis. While just starting 11 of 27 games, Francis averaged 14.8 ppg, 4.1 rebounds per game and 2.6 assists per game. Billmeyer also brought in a solid 2024 recruiting class, with five freshmen joining the Highlanders’ ranks.
While three games in just five days is a tall task for any team, Neptune’s roster has a balance of experienced veterans, talented newcomers and developing freshmen to hopefully kick off the year in impressive style.
