Malachi Palmer followed his coach to Villanova. Now, he’s ready to show what he’s capable of.

Malachi Palmer grew up with a dream to play basketball at Villanova.

Born in Harrisburg, Palmer watched Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, among other Wildcats, win two championships in the span of three years. Palmer also witnessed their collegiate success translate to the NBA.

“When you think about Villanova, you think about the culture,” Palmer said. “You think about the NBA, the NBA players, and you think about championships.”

Palmer, a sophomore guard, transferred from Maryland to Villanova this offseason. He did not hesitate to follow his head coach, Kevin Willard, to the Main Line.

A week after it was announced that Willard would leave Maryland, where he spent three seasons as head coach, Palmer announced his commitment to Villanova.

“He’s a great coach,” Palmer said. “He’s a great basketball mind. He’s very passionate, and he’s also a players’ coach. So he lets us play through our mistakes, and just tries to teach us and correct us and practice.”

Palmer saw limited minutes at Maryland, averaging 8.5 off the bench. He’s been waiting for his moment to make an impact. Down five players due to injuries and illness, Palmer was installed into Villanova’s starting lineup for its exhibition against Virginia last weekend.

Despite the Wildcats’ 75-72 loss, Palmer dropped a career-high 13 points and five rebounds. Also, his 36 minutes of playing time led the Wildcats.

As Villanova’s season tips off on Monday against No. 8 BYU at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (9:30 p.m. ET, TNT), Palmer wants to show what he is capable of in blue and white.

» READ MORE: Villanova hired Kevin Willard to change course. ‘Rebuilding this program’ starts Monday.

“It’s a blessing,” Palmer said. “First and foremost, to have the opportunity to play the game I love and be at Villanova, such a prestigious program. I’ve been working all year, last year, all summer, just trying to get better, get smarter, get stronger, all of that. So it is starting to pay off.”

Despite Villanova’s roster having a brand-new look this season, Palmer is one of three Wildcats who Willard coached at Maryland.

Last season, Palmer, redshirt freshman forward Braden Pierce, and senior forward Tafara Gapare took part in Maryland’s Sweet 16 run.

“I think that’s something that is going to be evolving as guys get healthy,” Willard said of Palmer stepping up with injured starters. “Minutes are dispersed a little bit more early. But I think again, a guy like Malachi, who didn’t play a ton last year, to kind of get some early minutes against a really good Virginia team, was good for him.”

The transfer portal has taken a toll on continuity and relationships in college basketball. That was not the case for Palmer.

Fortunately, the Maryland coaching staff followed Willard, as well as a few Terrapins.

Palmer, who was a four-star recruit out of Mount Zion Prep, shared the court with Villanova freshman guard Chris Jeffrey in high school.

Pierce was Palmer’s roommate last year at Maryland.

“It feels great,” Palmer said. “I already had those connections, so it made the transition seamless.”

Junior guard Tyler Perkins is Villanova’s lone returnee who played minutes last season. He acknowledged what Palmer and other Wildcats on the bench have done while the team has battled injuries to start the season.

“It just starts with the work that they put in every day,” Perkins said. “They come in and get shots on their own workout, on their own day and night. So just that work that they put in is showing we all have confidence in each other, and the coaches have confidence in us.”

» READ MORE: How the ‘different personalities’ of Acaden Lewis and Tyler Perkins will guide Villanova

Redshirt freshman Matt Hodge, who will play in his first collegiate game on Monday, echoed what Perkins said about the depth of the roster.

“That’s exactly like how our team is,” Hodge said. “We got 12 to 13 players that could play 30 minutes a game if they really had to. So we’re really deep. We trust anyone on the team can come in and play great for us.”

The Wildcats may not be looked at as a top team entering the season, but Palmer and the team are using it as motivation.

“I know they put out the Big East preseason rankings,” Palmer said. “They had us ranked seventh. And that was motivation for a lot of us. It feels good to be an underdog, because we know that we want to come out and prove people wrong, so we’re excited about the opportunity to just come and show what we can do.”