Villanova picks up another guard in Illinois-Chicago transfer Elijah Crawford
The Wildcats’ roster is up to seven total players.
Villanova added its second guard in as many days late Sunday night.
The Wildcats are signing Illinois-Chicago point guard Elijah Crawford, he announced on social media.
Crawford, a 6-foot-3 former four-star prospect from Georgia, played his freshman season at BYU before transferring to UIC for his sophomore year. He missed time with an injury but played in 23 games (17 starts) and averaged 14.1 points, 4.9 assists, and 2.9 rebounds.
Notably, UIC was 16-6 when Crawford played more than one minute and 3-9 in games he missed. He had the fifth-highest assist rate — which measures the percentage of field goals a player assists while on the court — in the nation, according to KenPom.
Crawford struggled from three-point range, connecting on just 27.6% of his 3.3 attempts per contest, but made 53% of his two-point shots. Crawford has a similar player profile to outgoing point guard Acaden Lewis, who transferred to Miami, with high rates of assists and steals and inefficient three-point shooting.
Time will tell if Crawford’s skill set translates to the Big East. He played sparingly as a freshman at BYU (5.1 minutes per game).
» READ MORE: 2026 men’s college basketball transfer portal tracker: Latest Big 5 moves, where Philly-area recruits are heading
Crawford is the fourth addition of the offseason for Villanova, which has lost multiple players to the portal and graduation. Cornell shooting guard Jake Fiegen reached a deal with Villanova on Saturday, joining previous signees Kwame Evans Jr. (Oregon) and Devin Royal (Ohio State).
Crawford and Diegen give Villanova four guards on the roster, joining returning leading scorer Tyler Perkins and incoming freshman Adam Oumiddoch. More backcourt help could be on the way.
The addition of Crawford brings the roster total to seven.
The Wildcats still need a center and could use some more ball handling.
