Less than three weeks after pledging to play for the Villanova Wildcats, guard Max Shulga announced he will instead return to VCU for his fifth and final season of college basketball eligibility.
Shulga reportedly never wanted to leave VCU in the first place, having played all four college seasons under coach Ryan Odom – three at Utah State and last season with the Rams in the A10. When VCU was able to up their NIL offer, the 6’4 Ukrainian guard opted to return instead – leaving Villanova coach Kyle Neptune without his projected lead guard.
Shulga averaged 14 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists last year for the Rams, shooting 41.5% from three on nearly six attempts per game. His return should help VCU compete for the top seed in the A10 and an NCAA Tournament berth.
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For Villanova, they are now looking at a roster with only one returner who averaged more than one point per game last year in Jordan Longino (6.6) unless Eric Dixon opts to return from the NBA draft process.
Neptune landed a pair of local transfer guards in Tyler Perkins from Penn and Jhamir Brickus from La Salle, but for this team to even finish in the top half of the Big East they’ll need to make a big splash – potentially in the form of former Miami guard Wooga Poplar, a Philadelphia native who was on campus recently.