College basketball 2017-18 preseason Top 25

No. 6 Villanova Wildcats

Notable departures: Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins, Darryl Reynolds
Notable returnees: Phil Booth, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, Eric Paschall
Notable newcomers: Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, Jermaine Samuels, Omari Spellman

For the Villanova Wildcats, the 2017-18 season will be about transition as a new era ushered in by the departures of seniors Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds will force the program to take on a new identity. That transformation will be spearheaded by point guard Jalen Brunson, a legitimate National Player of the Year candidate, who averaged 18.9 points, 5.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds per 40 minutes last season. As a junior, he will be tasked with maintaining his efficiency while likely taking on a larger offensive role.

The Wildcats will still need someone else to step into the role Brunson played last season as a secondary threat on the perimeter. Redshirt junior Mikal Bridges has shown flashes of ball-handling potential, but just 10.0 percent of his offensive possessions were created by himself via pick-and-rolls, isolations or post-ups last season, per Synergy Sports. Expecting a major leap in that department from a player who is already 21-years old may be too much to ask. Phil Booth, then, is the other likely candidate to take on some of that creation responsibility. The 6-foot-3 guard missed nearly all of last season with a knee injury, but he has more experience than Bridges at generating offense for himself off the dribble.

There will be fewer concerns about how the team will handle its frontcourt transition. Omari Spellman, a former 5-star recruit who was ruled ineligible last season, will bring a legitimate interior presence who should give the Wildcats a force at the rim on the defensive end that they lacked last season. Redshirt junior Eric Paschall will look to fill in for Jenkins offensively. He’s not the same marksman from behind the 3-point line, but he provides at least a credible threat that teams have to track.

Transitions are not always necessarily about replacing what has been lost. However, in Villanova’s case, it’s hard to ignore the trio of seniors who helped lead the school to its second national title in 2016. The Wildcats will be betting heavily that players like Bridges, Booth, Paschall and Spellman can compliment Brunson en route to another deep March run.

Read our full Villanova preview here.