Villanova men’s basketball picked up its fourth transfer of the offseason in redshirt freshman center Braden Pierce. On Thursday, April 17, Pierce announced he was transferring from Maryland to Villanova.
Pierce announced his commitment on his Instagram page.
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Since Kevin Willard left Maryland to become Villanova’s next head coach, Pierce is the third Maryland player to follow him.
In the 2024-25 season, Pierce averaged 2.4 points and 2.4 rebounds. He shot 56% from the field. After playing in just five games early in the season, Pierce was forced to medical redshirt the rest of the season after a serious eye injury.
Pierce also redshirted for the 2023-24 season as a true freshman.
According to 247Sports, Pierce was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2028 out of the IMG Academy post-graduate national team in Bradenton, FL. Pierce averaged a double-double in points and rebounds, along with four blocks during his final season at IMG.
The center is also listed as seven feet tall, which will make him Villanova’s tallest player and first seven-footer since Chris Charles (7-0) in 2005-06.
Pierce only started playing basketball competitively in the last few years.
“The visit process really helped me learn what I valued most,” Pierce told ZAGSBLOG. “I’ve been through a lot since I did this coming out of High School and it helped me understand that I want to challenge myself to play basketball at the highest level possible and I trust Coach Willard and the rest of the staff to help get me to the next level with my development while also winning a lot of games. I also know that basketball will end someday, and I want to challenge myself academically.”
Pierce also noted to ZAGSBLOG the legendary Villanova to NBA pipeline that has included former Wildcats such as Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges.
“The community that Villanova has in the NBA/basketball world is second to none, and I’m excited about the opportunities Nova provides in the business world for life after basketball– whether that’s in four years or 20.”
He joins two other Villanova commits who transferred from Maryland — rising sophomore Malachi Palmer and rising freshman Chris Jeffrey. Willard only has one transfer not from Maryland so far which is rising junior Zion Stanford. Stanford is transferring from Temple.
As of Thursday, April 17, six Wildcats have entered the transfer portal. The most recent to enter the portal was freshman Malcolm Thomas on Wednesday, April 16.
Pierce has four years of eligibility remaining.
