The Wildcats ushered in a return to respectability last season under coach Kevin Willard, who returned Villanova to the NCAA Tournament after a three-year absence following the sudden retirement of Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright. The Wildcats lost consecutive games to end the season, in the Big East Tournament and in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Utah State. Like so many coaches in this era, Willard completely revamped his roster and is trying to get the Wildcats to take the next step on conference contention and with deep runs in March.
Look for the Italian Wemby: The Wildcats hope 7-foot-3 Italian center Luigi Suigo will have an elite season in what is expected to be his only season in the program. The 19-year-old is a projected lottery pick and played last season for Mega Basket in Serbia’s Adriatic League, where he averaged 18.3 minutes, 7.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 26 games. ... Guard Tyler Perkins is back after he earned Big East most improved player honors last season. He averaged 13.7 points and 5.4 rebounds while starting all 33 games.
It's nothing but departures and arrivals anymore in college basketball. The Wildcats lost: Duke Brennan, Bryce Lindsay, Acaden Lewis, Devin Askew, Malachi Palmer, Chris Jeffrey, Tafara Gapare, Zion Stanford, Braden Pierce and Malcolm Flaggs. ... Suigo highlights the newcomers. ... Arrivals include Devin Royal, a senior transfer from Ohio State who averaged 13.7 points and 5.7 rebounds; Jake Fiegen, a 6-4 graduate transfer from Cornell who averaged 17.1 points and 5.1 rebounds; and Elijah Crawford, a junior transfer from Illinois-Chicago who averaged 14.1 points and 4.9 assists. He played his first season at BYU.
The Villanova and Notre Dame men’s and women’s teams will meet Sunday in a doubleheader in Rome that will mark the start of the college basketball season. The event has been dubbed the Eternal City Tip-Off and there will be a Vatican component: Villanova alumnus Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to hold an audience with players and traveling fans. The Wildcats host Michigan on Nov 21 at the city's NBA arena where the 76ers play. Villanova has a Black Friday game at Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse. The Wildcats are set to play one of the other Division I city teams in the final Big 5 Class. Villanova said it was exiting the famed city series at the end of this season.
Perkins was named to the Jerry West Award watchlist. The award celebrates the top shooting guard in Division I college basketball. He was also named first team All-Big East. ... The Wildcats lost 10 of their top 11 scorers, including four starters, and nearly 5,000 minutes played from last season's lineup. ... Villanova was picked in the Big East preseason poll. ... The Wildcats have not won an NCAA Tournament game since Wright led them to the 2022 Final Four.
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FILE - Villanova head coach Kevin Willard reacts from the sideline during an NCAA college basketball game, March 20, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian drone hits 2 trains stopped at a station in central Ukraine, killing 13 people, officials say.
THIS IS AN APNewsAlert. Check back for updates. AP's earlier story is below.
Humanitarian aid is poised to roll into the stricken city of Oleshky on Friday, a Ukrainian official said, as a localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine stretched into a third day and military units cleared away landmines.
Moscow and Kyiv have observed the truce in and around the devastated southern Ukrainian city since Tuesday, despite remaining locked in war since Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor more than 4 ½ years ago. Previous efforts to secure ceasefires either never worked out or the truces quickly fell apart.
The planned six-day ceasefire around Russian-occupied Oleshky has also brought a rare and welcome stillness for civilians in the nearby city of Kherson, which is held by Ukraine and has also been wracked by the war.
Elsewhere, Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 1,214 Ukrainian drones overnight in one of the largest drone attacks launched by Kyiv. Around half of the drones were heading to the Russian capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
Ukraine said Russia fired 112 drones at seven locations across the country.
Both sides thanked U.S. first lady Melania Trump for what the White House said was her role in helping broker the temporary ceasefire so that food and medical supplies can reach some desperate 2,000 people trapped in Oleshky. Pope Leo XIV also pressed for a truce.
“The ceasefire has been in place for 54 hours now,” Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said Thursday, adding that aid deliveries were due to begin the following day. “The parties are fully adhering to the agreements, and no violations of the ceasefire have been reported.”
His Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, confirmed the truce was holding and that Russian engineers are working on de-mining Oleshky roads.
“Both sides are fully honoring their commitments, and no violations have been recorded,” she said. “This allows military personnel to continue clearing roads of mines and to prepare a safe passage for the humanitarian convoy.”
Local people will also be able to evacuate, either into Russia or Ukraine, officials say. The mechanics of how that might work were unclear.
Moscow and Kyiv are keen to curry favor with Washington ahead of possible three-way talks next month between Russia, Ukraine and the United States.
American military support is vital for Ukraine, but U.S. President Donald Trump has recently indicated that he is disengaging with Kyiv as he waived sanctions on Russia and publicly chided Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Tankers carrying Russian diesel are currently sailing to the United States, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to the U.S. for a G20 ministerial meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, starting Friday, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
European leaders, on the other hand, have been trying to diplomatically isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion and what they call a campaign of sabotage across the continent.
Ukraine earlier this month reported sudden and unexpected limits on Starshield, the military-grade version of the Starlink satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX that is the backbone of Ukraine’s drone operations and communications.
Putin said that Russia has been in contact with the American tech titan to coordinate their orbiting activities because it is building its own equivalent of Starlink.
“Elon Musk is a genius. Truly, a real genius,” Putin said late Wednesday.
“We and our American partners value this relationship, and despite all the political issues, we continue to work closely together,” he added.
AP journalists Vasilisa Stepanenko and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kherson, Ukraine and Susie Blann and Derek Gatopoulos in Kyiv, Ukraine contributed to this report.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A woman walks in front of a residential building damaged in a Russian attack during a local ceasefire related to a humanitarian aid mission in Oleshky, in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out a fire at the residential neighbourhood following a Russian air attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
A residential building is seen damaged in Russian attacks during a local ceasefire related to a humanitarian aid mission in Oleshky, in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A local man rides a bicycle beneath anti-drone nets stretched over a street during a local ceasefire related to a humanitarian aid mission in Oleshky, in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
