Villanova forward Nnanna Njoku enters NCAA transfer portal

Villanova forward Nnanna Njoku has entered the NCAA transfer portal, On3 has learned. Njoku is a former top-100 prospect in the 2021 recruiting class.

Njoku was on the Wildcats’ roster for four seasons. He played in 34 games during his career, but never made a start. He finished his career with Villanova averaging 0.6 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.

The redshirt junior’s transfer comes shortly after the Wildcats fired head coach Kyle Neptune following the 2024-25 season. Players on the Villanova roster have 30 days following his departure to enter the transfer portal, regardless of the transfer window. Neptune was fired on March 15.

Neptune had a winning record overall during his tenure, finshing 53-46. However, he failed to lead Villanova to an NCAA Tournament in that span. Neptune’s contract was through 2028, the school will owe him a buyout as a result. That is estimated to be in between the $6.6-8.8 million range.

This past season, the Wildcats finished 18-13 (11-9 Big East) during the regular season to earn the No. 6 seed in the Big East Tournament. Unfortunately, though that tied Neptune’s win total from a season ago, he still fell just shy of receiving an NCAA Tournament bid.

Prior to Neptune taking over, Villanova had made nine straight NCAA Tournament appearances under Wright. That included national titles in 2016 and 2018 as well as a Final Four finish in 2022. Njoku was a part of that Final Four roster.

However, the Wildcats made the NIT the past two seasons under Neptune and lost in the first round both times. Prior to taking over at Villanova, he was the head coach at Fordham for one season, leading the Rams to a 16-16 finish in 2021-22.

Before college, Njoku was a four-star recruit in the 2021 recruiting class, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was the No. 91 overall recruit in his cycle, as well as the No. 1 player coming out of the state of Delaware.

According to Njoku’s On3 recruiting page, he also held offers from Marquette, NC State, Miami and La Salle, among others. He will have one season of eligbility remaining.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.