Villanova fires coach Kyle Neptune after 3 seasons, failing to reach the NCAA tournament

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Kyle Neptune didn’t make the NCAA tournament once after he took over for Jay Wright. (Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images)

The Kyle Neptune era at Villanova is over.

The Wildcats have fired their head coach, the school announced on Saturday. The move comes after they fell to UConn in the Big East tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, which all but ensured that the team would miss the NCAA tournament for a third straight season.

“Since coming to Villanova, I have been struck by Kyle’s tireless work ethic and his dedication to the student-athletes he served,” said Villanova Vice President and Director of Athletics Eric Roedl. “We are grateful to Kyle for his long service to Villanova and his mentorship to the many outstanding young men he has coached.”

Assistant Mike Nardi will serve as interim head coach until a replacement is found.

Neptune took over for Jay Wright at Villanova when the longtime coach retired after the 2021-22 campaign. He was the coach at Fordham for one season before being hired for the job with the Wildcats, though he was Wright’s longest-tenured assistant at Villanova before landing his first head coaching job.

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Once he took over, however, the program plummeted almost immediately. The team, which reached the Final Four in Wright’s final season at the helm after winning a pair of national championships in the past decade, failed to make the NCAA tournament at all or win at least a share of the Big East regular season titles — which is something Wright did consistently.

The team had at least a .500 record in all three years, but suffered horrific losses along the way. The Wildcats lost at least eight times to teams ranked outside the KenPom top 100, which is something Wright did just two times in his last nine seasons. They went just 19-14 this season and finished in sixth in the Big East standings, though well behind the top tier of teams like St. John’s, Marquette and Creighton. They also…

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Author : Ryan Young

Publish date : 2025-03-15 15:07:00

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