Villanova Basketball 2023-24 player preview: Jordan Longino

Jordan Longino

Hometown: Doylestown, Pa.
High school: Germantown Academy
Height: 6-5
Weight: 215

Jordan Longino player preview:

There’s been an unfortunate streak of nagging injuries for the 6-5 guard, dating back to his freshman season.

Back in the 2021-22 campaign, Longino came on strong towards the end of the regular season, gradually earning a larger share of minutes and becoming a piece off the bench.

His athleticism, energy and ability to contribute on both ends of the court was a promising glimpse of his future. Unfortunately, he sustained a season-ending meniscus injury just days before the start of the NCAA Tournament Final Four run, one that required surgery.

There were hopes that he’d be able to make the big freshman-to-sophomore jump last season, especially with minutes up for grabs as Justin Moore was recovering and the Wildcats were trying to figure out how to piece together a solid rotation in his absence.

He started off his sophomore season well, logging back-to-back double-digit scoring performances while shooting a combined 9-of-12 (75.0%) rate across the first two games of the season against La Salle and Temple.

Longino had another great showing in a home game against St. John’s on Dec. 21, where he logged 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting, with two boards, an assist and two steals.

However, Longino suffered a hamstring injury that hampered him for most of last year, and couldn’t find a consistent groove.

He still managed to play in 20 games, and even started in eight contests last season and averaged 5.0 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.

“Whatever I had, I wanted to give to the team,” Longino said, also noting coach Kyle Neptune had asked him to play a more defensive role as well.

Now back at full strength, is Longino finally cleared to take off?

He’s shown flashes here and there throughout his first two seasons, but this winter is looking like one where he can finally piece it together if he can stay healthy.

“Mark Armstrong, Jordan Longino and Brendan Hausen, those three guys have took a big jump from last year and got a lot better over the summer,” said Justin Moore. “... Jordan is finally healthy. He’s gonna downhill drive, he can shoot the ball and is a versatile defender.”

Best-case scenario: It’s looking like a crowded depth chart and we still don’t know how or where the experienced transfers will fit in the minutes and rotation equation, but Longino is able to be an energy player off the bench and helps make Villanova a deep team. Longino remains a key piece in the rotation, but with injuries behind him, he’s able to enjoy his best season yet and gets back on track with a positive career trajectory and starts to fulfill the potential he showed early on.

Worst-case scenario: Longino is unable to put it together or carve out a niche for himself on a competitive roster that has plenty to prove. He still gets to see game action, but he stagnates and we only get to see a slight improvement from last year, rather than the big breakout we’d been hoping for since November 2022 before he had hamstring troubles.