In an exclusive with VUHoops.com, Perkins shares his initial impression and vision for the future
The Villanova Wildcats have officially landed their first commitment of the offseason, bringing in talented guard Tyler Perkins after a standout freshman season with the Pennsylvania Quakers.
Perkins averaged 13.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 29 games for the Quakers last season, including 22 points and six rebounds in a 76-72 win over Villanova. He started in 27 of the 29 games he played in in his first year.
“The culture is great obviously, we have ‘attitude’ above every door frame,” Perkins said. “That just speaks to how invested they are in everyone being bought-in. Everybody knows Villanova basketball, it has made a great name for itself over the years.”
Perkins also made an immediate connection with the coaching staff.
“I feel like I can talk to them about anything, personal or basketball-wise,” Perkins said. “They were nice. I liked them a lot. I feel like I can connect with any of them, it took half of a day for me to really be comfortable with them and trust them.”
Perkins started all but two games in his freshman year at Penn. Whether he continues that role at Villanova, or comes off the bench is yet to be seen, but Perkins is excited for the challenge and to contribute at any capacity.
“They are not going to promise me anything, but they said if you do what you are supposed to do, there is a great opportunity for you to play a lot and mean something to the rotation and this team, which I liked, because I do not want to be given anything, I want to earn it,” Perkins said. “If I earn it, being able to play and produce is definitely huge for me.”
Last season, Kyle Neptune relentlessly preached the emphasis this team puts on defense and rebounding. For those who have not been able to catch a lot of Perkins games, he will fit right in that mold.
“I’m not going to let anybody walk over me, I am not going to bow down to anyone in between the lines,” Perkins said of his approach. “All I know is to play as hard as possible, rebound, defend, make the right play. That is what I pride myself on. That is why I feel like I fit in with Villanova basketball.”
Perkins was very good shooting a jumper off the dribble, boasting an impressive 47.5% effective field goal percentage in 101 attempts last season. His catch and shoot ratings were not as impressive, but Perkins said he is putting extra emphasis on that this summer.
“My catch and shoot percentages weren’t the best this past year,” an inspired Perkins said inwardly. “My off the dribble was really good, but my catch and shoot wasn’t the best so getting that up, doing more and more reps of that just feeling comfortable stepping in and knocking it down without having to take a dribble.”
Justin Moore and Josh Hart are two shining examples of DMV-area recruits that participated on the AAU Team Takeover who found success on the main line. Perkins is more than ready to follow in their footsteps, and the many before them. The DMV-area pipeline still flows well to Villanova.
“Its amazing to follow their footsteps, they laid the path and I just have to find my own way through it,” Perkins said. “But we see how Josh Hart is doing right now in the league, and Justin Moore was a great Villanova basketball player and he has a bright future ahead of him too. They laid the foundations, and I have to walk through it myself. It is good to see guys like that coming where I came from, playing on teams I’ve played on and them having that type of success it makes you feel better, definitely.”
The Ivy League has been on the upswing of late, finding post season success of recent years like Yale over Auburn this year, and Princeton over Arizona the year before. They rank thirteenth on KenPom in conference rankings, which is a four spot jump from where they finished in 2021. The Big East however is a different beast, and Perkins is ready for the challenge.
“[The Big East] could have easily had way more teams in the tournament this year, and they should have,” Perkins said, enthusastically. “Big East basketball kind of has its own name. Everyone plays hard, everyone competes, everyone is tough. But yeah, I’ve heard Providence and Creighton are probably the hardest places to play at and you know the culture there. But that’s what it comes down to, basketball, so I am excited to witness that and experience that.”
Although Perkins is a transfer, he still has three years of eligibility remaining, which will be immensely beneficial for the Wildcats, especially if he continues to progress at the rate he has. Luckily for Villanova, Perkins has already gotten his feet wet and will take some lessons he learned at Penn into his sophomore year.
“I definitely learned how to be mentally tougher,” Perkins said. “A lot of times in college basketball, it doesn’t matter how much you’re up or how much you’re down, anybody can come back and win and the game is not over until that final whistle blows. So just learning that and playing through those times when we’re up a lot, when we’re down a lot, we came back or we lost it. Just being more mentally solid, not getting too high or not getting too low, I definitely learned to take that with me in the next years.”
There is still a lot of work to do filling roster spots, but the addition of Tyler Perkins is as solid of a contribution to the roster as Kyle Neptune could have asked for in his second full offseason at the helm.