Jimmy Jackson speculated that Matt Hodge may have gone down with an Achilles injury in tonight’s game vs St. John’s. Having had some personal experience with this injury, that’s what it looked like to me too. Without Hodge, I think that Villanova is toast in the Big East Tournament. Whoever gets the 6-seed may become an unexpected factor in the tournament.

(02-28-2026 10:05 PM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  Jimmy Jackson speculated that Matt Hodge may have gone down with an Achilles injury in tonight’s game vs St. John’s. Having had some personal experience with this injury, that’s what it looked like to me too. Without Hodge, I think that Villanova is toast in the Big East Tournament. Whoever gets the 6-seed may become an unexpected factor in the tournament.

If Hodge is indeed done for the season it is a massive loss for Villanova. They already don't have a ton of frontcourt depth and Hodge was one of the best redshirt freshmen in the country

TWill, who do you expect to take his minutes? I'm not sure a lineup with 2 bigs like Brennan and Pierce will be effective against most teams

(03-01-2026 09:01 AM)Nameless Wrote:  

(02-28-2026 10:05 PM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  Jimmy Jackson speculated that Matt Hodge may have gone down with an Achilles injury in tonight’s game vs St. John’s. Having had some personal experience with this injury, that’s what it looked like to me too. Without Hodge, I think that Villanova is toast in the Big East Tournament. Whoever gets the 6-seed may become an unexpected factor in the tournament.

If Hodge is indeed done for the season it is a massive loss for Villanova. They already don't have a ton of frontcourt depth and Hodge was one of the best redshirt freshmen in the country

TWill, who do you expect to take his minutes? I'm not sure a lineup with 2 bigs like Brennan and Pierce will be effective against most teams

I'm guessing most of Hodge's minutes will go to Askew and Palmer. They're 6'5 and 6'6 respectively. Nova has played with a pretty short bench for most of the season, there's not a lot of depth. To be honest, although you hate to see a player go down, Nova has always had a very limited upside this season. They can't compete against big strong physical teams. Michigan blew them out, and both St. John's and UConn manhandled them too. You saw that last night in the first half, when Hodge was on the floor, and the game was still over by halftime.

Willard has done a great job this season, and getting into the tournament is a terrific accomplishment after the Neptune disaster. But the upside for this team is probably getting in as a 7 seed, hopefully winning one game, and then being sent home in the second game by a 2 seed. With or without Hodge, that's probably the destiny for this years Wildcats.

(03-01-2026 10:05 AM)Traderwill Wrote:  

(03-01-2026 09:01 AM)Nameless Wrote:  

(02-28-2026 10:05 PM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  Jimmy Jackson speculated that Matt Hodge may have gone down with an Achilles injury in tonight’s game vs St. John’s. Having had some personal experience with this injury, that’s what it looked like to me too. Without Hodge, I think that Villanova is toast in the Big East Tournament. Whoever gets the 6-seed may become an unexpected factor in the tournament.

If Hodge is indeed done for the season it is a massive loss for Villanova. They already don't have a ton of frontcourt depth and Hodge was one of the best redshirt freshmen in the country

TWill, who do you expect to take his minutes? I'm not sure a lineup with 2 bigs like Brennan and Pierce will be effective against most teams

I'm guessing most of Hodge's minutes will go to Askew and Palmer. They're 6'5 and 6'6 respectively. Nova has played with a pretty short bench for most of the season, there's not a lot of depth. To be honest, although you hate to see a player go down, Nova has always had a very limited upside this season. They can't compete against big strong physical teams. Michigan blew them out, and both St. John's and UConn manhandled them too. You saw that last night in the first half, when Hodge was on the floor, and the game was still over by halftime.

Willard has done a great job this season, and getting into the tournament is a terrific accomplishment after the Neptune disaster. But the upside for this team is probably getting in as a 7 seed, hopefully winning one game, and then being sent home in the second game by a 2 seed. With or without Hodge, that's probably the destiny for this years Wildcats.

Yes, T’Will. All good points. Hodge is a big strong guy (6’8”, 220) who can shoot 3’s. Great all-around player. I really like his game. It’s his size and strength that Villanova can’t afford to be without, which is what makes me think this is so devastating for them. I have a grandson who was an All-New England soccer player in high school who lost his junior year to a torn ACL. So, when I saw him go down like that, I said “Oh, no.”

I agree that Willard has done a great coaching job this year. He has really gone up in my estimation. I hadn’t realized just how good a coach he is. You guys sure picked a winner when you hired him. Regardless of hoe this season ends, things will only get better from here. Best of luck with the rest of the season.

(03-01-2026 10:05 AM)Traderwill Wrote:  

(03-01-2026 09:01 AM)Nameless Wrote:  

(02-28-2026 10:05 PM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  Jimmy Jackson speculated that Matt Hodge may have gone down with an Achilles injury in tonight’s game vs St. John’s. Having had some personal experience with this injury, that’s what it looked like to me too. Without Hodge, I think that Villanova is toast in the Big East Tournament. Whoever gets the 6-seed may become an unexpected factor in the tournament.

If Hodge is indeed done for the season it is a massive loss for Villanova. They already don't have a ton of frontcourt depth and Hodge was one of the best redshirt freshmen in the country

TWill, who do you expect to take his minutes? I'm not sure a lineup with 2 bigs like Brennan and Pierce will be effective against most teams

I'm guessing most of Hodge's minutes will go to Askew and Palmer. They're 6'5 and 6'6 respectively. Nova has played with a pretty short bench for most of the season, there's not a lot of depth. To be honest, although you hate to see a player go down, Nova has always had a very limited upside this season. They can't compete against big strong physical teams. Michigan blew them out, and both St. John's and UConn manhandled them too. You saw that last night in the first half, when Hodge was on the floor, and the game was still over by halftime.

Willard has done a great job this season, and getting into the tournament is a terrific accomplishment after the Neptune disaster. But the upside for this team is probably getting in as a 7 seed, hopefully winning one game, and then being sent home in the second game by a 2 seed. With or without Hodge, that's probably the destiny for this years Wildcats.

Thanks for the response. I kind of figured Askew would slide in as a starter and they would run more of a 4 guard lineup. I kind of forgot about Palmer though, so perhaps he is the guy to slide in their since he's a bit bigger than Askew.

I know what you mean about the lack of depth. Nova has been running a rotation similar to UConn in '24, with 7 guys playing good minutes and an eighth guy getting 5-7. For Nova though, that 8th man is Pierce who doesn't have the versatility that Stewart brought to '24 UConn as a freshman. At first I was kind of thinking the other 6 guys got a slight bump in minutes, Pierce saw a slight bump as well (to maybe 10mpg) and Gapare would slide into Pierce's 5-7 minute role. But I realized Gapare hasn't played since the Wisconsin game and then saw he left the team after Willard made comments about him sitting out, "because his toe hurts."

I agree Nova's ceiling was probably a S16 at best and more likely a round of 32 exit with or without Hodge. But I do wonder if they don't win a game in the tourney if Willard will feel that comment bit him in the ass a bit.

Gapare had issues that make me doubt he was going to be a factor this year. He himself said he was going through some emotional issues in addition to his injury. I felt bad for him, but I'm not sure it was going to work out for him at Nova, and who knows what will happen at his next stop. But Willard probably should have kept it more in house, it wasn't the ideal break up.

Thanks, Stever. A torn ACL is exactly what it looked like. Having been through this with my grandson, I feel bad for this kid. Hodge is looking at 6 months of surgery & rehab at a minimum.