Villanova basketball: Acaden Lewis’ court vision, Bryce Lindsay’s versatility stand out in open practice

The Villanova men’s basketball team held a public practice Monday afternoon at Finneran Pavilion that served as an introduction of sorts to the few hundred fans in attendance.

It was the first public look at Kevin Willard wearing Villanova gear and an initiation to the new-look roster. The Wildcats are returning just one player, Tyler Perkins, who saw playing time last season, and another, Matthew Hodge, who redshirted. The rest of the players on the court Monday were playing in front of Wildcats fans for the first time.

Here are some takeaways from the session:

» READ MORE: Kevin Willard’s Maryland exit still follows him, but the Villanova coach moved on and has high expectations

Acaden Lewis’ commitment to Villanova in May arguably was the biggest addition of the offseason for Willard and the Wildcats. The roster was bolstered with several transfer-portal players, but Lewis, a 6-foot-2 point guard, is a consensus top-35 player in the 2025 recruiting class.

It was easy to see on Monday what scouts — and Willard’s staff — liked so much. Lewis has drawn comparisons to Jalen Brunson because he’s left-handed and committed to Villanova, but there was some Brunson-like craftiness on display Monday. Lewis knifed his way into the paint on multiple occasions, and he looked comfortable passing the ball or shooting from different angles. During a three-on-three session, Lewis threw a perfect one-handed, crosscourt pass to Hodge in transition for an open three-pointer.

Later, in a simulated game against a handful of Villanova alumni (more on that later), Lewis canned a deep triple over the outstretched hand of Omari Spellman, who is 6 inches taller than Lewis.

“I think the biggest thing for Acaden will be playing with so many other talented players and knowing when to put on the pizzazz and when to take it off,” Willard said after practice. “He has great feel for the game, he has great vision, and he’s really worked hard on his shot this summer, which has gotten much more consistent.”

» READ MORE: New Villanova coach Kevin Willard on summer workouts and the possibility of post-House stabilizing

Willard said he doesn’t have a ton of experience giving the keys to a freshman point guard, but he noted that Lewis will have plenty of backcourt help.

“He’s not going to have to be the only guy out there,” Willard said. “He’s going to have Devin Askew out there, Tyler Perkins, you go through the list of guards that are going to be out there and able to help him. He doesn’t have the pressure of having to just worry about doing everything all the time. That’s going to help him progress and grow.

“What I love about him most is he’s such a competitor. He hates to lose. That’s the thing, as a freshman that I think is going to get him over the hump.”

James Madison transfer Bryce Lindsay was a knockdown shooter last season — he made 40.8% of his 6.9 three-point attempts per game. But Lindsay looked like a much more versatile scorer during Monday’s workout. Three-pointers made up 68% of his shot attempts last season, but Lindsay showed some scoring touch when driving the ball.

There was a three-possession stretch in which Lindsay showed that versatility. He used a pump fake to create space before driving and scoring, then drilled a triple on the next possession before again scoring at the rim the next time down.

“I think the biggest thing for him is we’re going to put him in more ball screens,” Willard said. “That’s kind of what I meant about Acaden. He’s out there with Bryce, and he’s out there with two other guards — we’re going to play four guards at times — they’re all going to not have the pressure to have to be able to create. They’re all just going to have to learn to make the right plays.

“Bryce Lindsay … I love shooters, and he can flat-out shoot."

Villanova fans weren’t able to watch the Wildcats’ top recruit in the 2024 class. Hodge, who felt basketball at his “dream school” was being “taken away” from him, was deemed academically ineligible by the NCAA because of a transcript issue.

Hodge watched a disappointing Villanova season play out, but he had plenty of time to work on his game.

Hodge showed off his all-around game in stretches on Monday. He hit that aforementioned three-pointer off a feed from Lewis and later hit a tough fadeaway in the paint against Perkins.

What have Villanova fans been missing? Willard’s answer offered some insight on how Villanova might deploy Hodge.

“Matt’s probably the ultimate teammate, the ultimate competitor,” Willard said. “You’re going to see a guy who can play on the wing, he can play power forward, we’re going to play him at [center] and play small at times. I think they’re going to see a versatile, tough, hard-nosed player.”