The man they call Wooga is on his way to being a very “poplar” player at Villanova.
Fresh off a sparkling debut, Wooga Poplar aims to lead the Wildcats to a second straight win on Wednesday when they host Columbia in non-conference action.
Poplar, a graduate transfer from Miami, registered 20 points, 10 rebounds and three steals Monday as Villanova (1-0) notched a 75-63 victory over Lafayette. He shot 8 of 13 from the field and 2 of 3 from long distance to lead five Wildcats in double figures.
“Wooga Poplar is arguably one of the best shooters we’ve had here,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “When you look at his numbers before getting here and now with us, they’re impressive. He’s also arguably one of the best athletes we have had here. He’s a great teammate as well.”
Other standouts for Villanova on Monday included Enoch Boakye (10 points, 11 rebounds) and Jhamir Brickus (13 points). The duo combined to shoot 9 of 12 from the field to make up for the absence of standout guard Eric Dixon, who was serving a one-game suspension.
“We all knew that he was going to be out, and other guys would have to step up,” Neptune said. “We’ve got a lot of confidence in the rest of our guys.”
Columbia (1-0) is feeling good after its season opener, as well. The Lions trailed by as many as 11 points against Loyola Maryland on Monday before rallying for an 81-78 overtime victory.
Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa scored 24 points and Kenny Nolan pitched in with a career-high 19 for the Ivy League squad.
De La Rosa is back after leading the team in scoring (14.4 points), assists (2.7) and steals (1.6) a season ago. He made 57 3-pointers in 2023-24, which was at least 20 more than any of his teammates.
“(De La Rosa) competes in such a great way and he really competes with himself,” coach Jim Engles said earlier this year. “He just doesn’t have a bad day.”