The 2021–22 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by head coach Jay Wright in his 21st and final year of coaching, the Wildcats played their home games at the Finneran Pavilion on the school's campus in the

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suburb of

Villanova, Pennsylvania Villanova is census-designated place in Pennsylvania, United States. A suburb of Philadelphia, the community straddles the border of Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County and Radnor Township in Delaware County. It is located at the cen ...

and Wells Fargo Center as members of the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

. They finished the season 30–8, 16–4 in Big East play to finish in second place. They defeated St. John's, UConn, and Creighton to win the Big East tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed in the South region. They defeated

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, and

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to advance to the Final Four. There they lost to eventual national champion

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. On April 20, 2022, head coach Jay Wright announced he was retiring effective immediately. Former Wright assistant and Fordham head coach Kyle Neptune was named the new head coach.

Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Wildcats finished the 2020–21 season 18–7 overall and 11–4 in Big East play to finish first place in the conference. As the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament, they lost in the quarterfinals 72–71 to eventual conference tournament champions Georgetown. In the NCAA tournament, the Wildcats received the 5 seed in the South Regional. They defeated Winthrop and

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to reach the Sweet 16, where they fell to eventual tournament champions Baylor 62–51. Villanova finished #11 in the final Coaches Poll.

Offseason

Departures

2021 recruiting class

Coaching changes

Following the 2020–21 season, longtime assistant coach Kyle Neptune left the Wildcats to become the head coach at Fordham. Wright subsequently promoted George Halcovage to Associate Head Coach and Dwayne Anderson from Director of Basketball Operations to Assistant Coach. Mike Nardi remained in his Assistant Coach position.

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, Big East tournament , - !colspan=12 style=, NCAA tournament Source

Rankings

*Coaches did not release a week 1 poll.

Awards and honors

Big East Conference honors

All-Big East Awards

* Player of the Year:

Collin Gillespie Collin Gillespie (born June 25, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Valley Suns of the NBA G League. He played college basketball fo ...

*Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Collin Gillespie

All-Big East First Team

*Collin Gillespie

All-Big East Second Team

Justin Moore Justin Cole Moore (born March 30, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter, signed to Big Machine Records imprint Valory Music Group. For that label, he has released seven studio albums: his self titled debut in 2009, '' Outla ...

National awards

Bob Cousy Award The Bob Cousy Award, sponsored by the College of the Holy Cross, is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate point guard. It is named after six-time National Basketball Assoc ...

: Collin Gillespie * Third Team All-American: Collin Gillespie (AP, NABC, Sporting News, USBWA)All-American selections from: * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2021-22 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team Villanova Wildcats men's basketball seasons Villanova Villanova NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons

Villanova Wildcats men's basketball The Villanova Wildcats men's basketball program represent Villanova University in men's college basketball and competes in the Big East Conference of NCAA Division I. Their first season was the 1920–21 season. Named the Wildcats, Villanova is a ...