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Between being ruled academically ineligible in his freshman season and tearing his ACL this past February, Matt Hodge has been through a lot in a short amount of time. That resilience and commitment to Villanova basketball is going to be key, as his recovery and role for the upcoming season is crucial to the Wildcats’ success.
Hodge suffered his season-ending injury on Feb. 28 at St. John’s, and Kevin Willard has implied on a number of occasions that that injury essentially ended Villanova’s hopes of an NCAA-Tournament run. Since that time, Willard has said that Hodge is progressing well in his recovery. Though, in recent interviews, Willard has insinuated that he could potentially be out until December or later. One thing is for certain: Hodge will not be rushed back from his injury. Even a return by the New Year would be less than nine months since his surgery.
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The absence of Hodge, against Michigan especially, would put more pressure on both Kwame Evans Jr. and Luigi Suigo to start the year, as the only remaining players above 6’6″ on the roster would be redshirt freshman Nico Onyekwere and Towson transfer Abdou Samb. Neither of those players are sure to be part of the rotation, better yet able to give legitimate minutes against a frontcourt like the Wolverines have.
But as much as those early games are important, getting Hodge back healthy is more so. In his first official collegiate campaign, Hodge showed his ability to defend and hit the three from the power forward spot. Playing alongside Duke Brennan hurt his rebounding stats, but he’s likely better on the glass than the raw numbers depict. The good news is that with this roster, Hodge will be able to play more of his natural role on both offense and defense.
Offensively, Hodge’s versatility will allow Willard to use him in bigger lineups with both Devin Royal and one of Evans Jr. or Suigo, as well as in smaller lineups featuring three guards (with Tyler Perkins back at small forward like he was a year…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/player-preview-matt-hodge-140000898.html
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Publish date : 2026-09-02 14:00:00
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