The huge significance of Justin Moore’s return to Villanova

The news came the way college player movement news usually comes these days … the players like to announce it themselves. Justin Moore put it out on his social media. He’s coming back to Villanova.

Big news? Huge. It sends a signal in lots of directions, including internally, that Villanova still is a place worth being at after the Wildcats missed the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Of course, that miss was heavily due to the absence of Moore himself for so much of the season after his Achilles surgery.

» READ MORE: Justin Moore announces his return to Villanova

Whether it was advisable for Moore to return for 13 games, that’s debatable. Moore surely had a hard time watching his team struggling without him, and his work to return was beyond impressive. When he returned, he couldn’t quite turn the tide back toward March Madness. (News alert: This season’s Big East was as good as any league in the country.)

So what would Moore do? I wrote in early January before his return that of four NBA scouts I talked with, the prevailing opinion was, do what was right for him, but think about coming back next season at full health.

» READ MORE: In January, NBA scouts talked about Justin Moore's future

The NIL-induced transfer portal rumor mill is busier than the transfer portal itself this offseason. If you believe every rumor, every single Division I player of any significance is transferring.

Some of the rumors are even true.

When you see that Hunter Dickinson is into the portal from Michigan — yes, anything is possible. (Not speculating on his future in the least, since he will have all the Power 6 options in the hoops world, but Dickinson happened to play high school ball with Moore at DeMatha.) Lately, Moore’s name was big in those rumors. For a day or two, Moore was allegedly headed to North Carolina. Then he was headed closer to his DMV home, to Maryland or Georgetown.

We’ll fully believe that Villanova had to work hard on the NIL front to have Moore come back. The dollar figures are private. But his value is in six figures.

Why is this all so important? When Kyle Neptune took over for Jay Wright after the 2021-22 season, the message was continuity. Well, continuity didn’t produce an NCAA tournament appearance. And if Moore himself decided that his future was better elsewhere, that continuity could have been perceived as a mirage.

The message sent to potential recruits — especially the all-important transfer prospects — was that Villanova’s place among the top of the sport was past tense. Even current Villanova players could have looked around and wondered if their program was going to keep up.

Now, the Neptune era really begins. If the transition last year was too chaotic to fill any holes with transfers, that isn’t and won’t be the case this year.

» READ MORE: What's next for Villanova? Think transfer portal.

The changes for Year Two will include staffing changes. This week, George Halcovage, the top Villanova assistant, was named Buffalo’s head coach. Halcovage fully earned that gig by rising up every step of ‘Nova’s ladder. He once was the guy who had Jay Wright’s car running out in front of the Davis Center when Wright had to sprint to his next engagement. But when Wright retired, Halcovage was a legit candidate to replace his boss. In the end, Neptune got the job after coaching Fordham for a year.

I’m expecting a return to the past in filling the hole on the staff. Ashley Howard was Wright’s top assistant before Neptune and then Halcovage, before Howard coached La Salle from 2018-22. After La Salle let him go, Howard took last season off from coaching, but was at Villanova’s home games sitting across from the bench in the front row with Randy Foye, since the two have run Villanova’s NIL collective. Howard was never done with coaching, having turned down big-time assistant jobs last year. A return to Neptune’s staff makes sense from all sides.

Villanova news will continue in the weeks ahead … likely more about who is coming than who is going. Maybe that’s all possible because of the biggest offseason news of all, who is staying.