Sports

Villanova Forward Malachi Palmer Enters Transfer Portal

Dylan Johnson, Co-Editor-in-Chief

April 17, 2026

On Friday, Villanova sophomore forward Malachi Palmer entered his name into the transfer portal.

The news was first reported by Sam Kayser of League Ready.

Palmer, 6-foot-6, became a starter for Villanova after redshirt freshman Matt Hodge tore his ACL on Feb. 28 and missed the remainder of the season. He averaged 4.6 points and 1.7 rebounds while appearing in all 33 of Villanova’s games last season. He enters the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining.

In his four starts, Palmer averaged eight points and 2.8 rebounds a game, including an 11-point performance in the NCAA Tournament loss to Utah State.

Palmer followed Villanova head coach Kevin Willard over from Maryland last offseason. When he joined Villanova, he also returned to his home state of Pennsylvania. Born in Harrisburg, PA, Palmer watched Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, among other Wildcats, win two championships in the span of three years. He always wanted to possibly become a Wildcat.

There are now nine Wildcats in the transfer portal. Villanova is currently only returning two players from its entire roster last year – rising senior guard Tyler Perkins and rising redshirt sophomore Hodge. It is the same two scholarship players that returned the previous season, aside from walk-on Wade Chiddick.

The possibility of Palmer and guard Chris Jeffrey returning was high entering the offseason. However, both have entered the portal in the last two days.

At the time of this publication, Villanova has signed two transfers – Oregon forward Kwame Evans Jr. and Ohio State forward Devin Royal. This past week, Villanova hosted Arkansas transfer guard DJ Wagner and Cornell transfer guard Jake Fiegen.

However, it is leaning that Wagner will not end up at Villanova.

This upcoming Sunday, April 19, Villanova will host St. Mary’s transfer guard Mikey Lewis, who averaged 13.9 points and 40% from the field last season.

The transfer portal opened on April 7 and will close on April 21. The Villanovan will continue to provide updates on both the men’s and women’s basketball transfer portals.

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About the Contributors

Dylan Johnson, Co-Editor-in-Chief

Dylan Johnson has recently taken over one of the two Co-Editor-in-Chief roles for 2026. He is currently pursuing a major in Communications with a specialization in journalism. Dylan is a junior from Philadelphia, PA. Dylan’s passion for journalism is driven by storytelling. At The Villanovan, he wants to discover and tell the stories that might otherwise go untold. Outside of the paper, Dylan is currently working for The Philadelphia Inquirer as a Sports Intern. Dylan is a hard worker who is always looking for the next article to write. He is a diehard Philadelphia sports fan and will never miss an Eagles game. He can always be found at a Villanova game, whether it be in a press box, on the sidelines, or in the stands. When he is not spending hours in the Finn’s media room, Dylan can be found enjoying runs around campus.

Erick Quezada, Photography Editor

Erick Quezada is currently serving his third semester as The Villanovan’s Photography Editor. Erick is a sophomore majoring in Electrical Engineering. He is a passionate student when it comes to the internal parts of electronic components and wants to find a way of combining photography and electronic robots. Erick’s passion for photography started during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he first used his parents’ old camera to create images of mini figures and miscellaneous things lying around his house. When not watching the latest camera gear, you can catch Erick either playing or capturing photos of sports. Erick is a very chill person to hang around with, but if you mention Manchester United, he can talk for days about how great the team is.