Tyler Perkins embraces his many roles at Villanova. This year, it’s about being a leader.

Tyler Perkins has a different point of view than the rest of his Villanova teammates.

The junior guard is one of three returning players on the Wildcats roster, and the lone returnee who played last season. Perkins has been a steady presence as the program went through a coaching transition and a total reboot entering the 2025-26 campaign.

But adapting to a new system isn’t the biggest challenge for Perkins — he’s done it every season of his college career. He played for Penn as a freshman, then transferred to Villanova ahead of the 2024-25 season. While most of his former teammates moved on after Kyle Neptune’s firing in March, Perkins elected to stay on the Main Line as Kevin Willard took the helm.

Perkins is focused on being a leader for Villanova (9-2), in addition to fulfilling Willard’s high expectations of his backcourt. Promoted to the starting five this season, Perkins is averaging 10.6 points and 4.3 rebounds through 11 games.

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“When you’re a college basketball player, you don’t really want to have three new coaches in three years,” Perkins said. “But it’s something you can’t control and have to learn from. Willard has definitely helped me understand that even on your good days and bad days, if you’re one of the leaders, you always have to keep a positive attitude. Even my teammates are holding me accountable.”

The process of building camaraderie among the new Villanova squad inevitably was difficult when summer training began. The Main Line was unfamiliar to most of the team, apart from Perkins, redshirt freshman forward Matt Hodge, and walk-on senior guard Wade Chiddick. But over the summer, Perkins made a jump in his own game as he got to know his new teammates and coaching staff.

“When you have 13 new guys, it’s hard and it takes a while, but ever since the summer, we’ve clicked, and it’s been fun,” he said.

Perkins was a consistent contributor early in the season, scoring eight points in each of the first four games. Against Old Dominion on Nov. 25, he scored 21 points — his most in a Villanova uniform — with seven rebounds at the Finneran Pavilion.

Two games later, under the bright lights of Xfinity Mobile Arena, Villanova defeated Penn, Perkins’ former program, for the Big 5 Classic championship on Dec. 6.

It was Perkins’ third year playing in the Big 5 Classic. But it was the first time that most of his Villanova teammates — and coaches — had competed in the annual tripleheader among the six Philadelphia teams.

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Perkins took it upon himself to emphasize the significance of the Big 5 rivalry to his teammates ahead of the event. Against Penn, he recorded six points and three rebounds as the Wildcats demolished the Quakers, 90-63, for their first Big 5 title in the revamped format.

“[The Big 5] is all about pride, to be honest,” Perkins said. “When I was at Penn and we had Villanova on our schedule, it was like our Super Bowl. It was a game where we could show everybody who we are. Being on the other side of that now, I was just trying to tell the guys that these games mean a lot to the Big 5 schools. So being able to finally win it and bring it back to the Main Line is definitely special.”

Upon arriving at Villanova, Willard noticed Perkins’ potential to fill his starting lineup as a versatile guard. In their first conversations, Perkins was eager to buy into Willard’s vision for the program.

“I thought my playing style and [Willard’s] coaching style meshed, both offensively and defensively,” Perkins said. “He likes his guards to get deflections and get steals. And I feel like that’s something that I’m naturally good at, and just my ability to rebound and play hard. So after talking with him and seeing how those things aligned, I was happy with the decision [to stay at Villanova].”

In Villanova’s win over Wisconsin on Friday night, Perkins was confident with the ball in his hands. He shot 6-for-17 from the field, including 4-for-10 from three, and scored a team-high 19 points in the 76-66 overtime victory.

“I like the fact that Perk’s looking to shoot the basketball. … He does all the little things that most people don’t see,” Willard said postgame in Wisconsin. “But when he’s aggressive out there, it gives us another scorer.”

When grappling with uncertainty after last season, Perkins turned to some of the former teammates he looked up to as role models, including 2025 graduates Eric Dixon and Jordan Longino. Both played their full careers at Villanova and helped shape Perkins’ understanding of the school’s basketball tradition and how to represent it.

Now, Perkins sees himself as a leader by example as the Wildcats get ready to open Big East play at Seton Hall on Tuesday (7 p.m., NBCSP, Peacock). Villanova enters the most crucial part of the season, and Perkins hopes to put the program back in the national spotlight.

“When you walk into the Finn and see [murals of] Jalen Brunson, Collin Gillespie, and all those other greats, they built this place,” Perkins said. “Villanova is Villanova because of them. Now, it’s just our turn to keep it going and play for those guys. That’s the main thing I’ve learned, is that it’s bigger than you.”