Villanova fires coach Kyle Neptune after 3 years and no NCAA Tournament appearances

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Villanova fired Kyle Neptune on Saturday after a three-year run where he succeeded Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright and failed to ever make the NCAA Tournament.

Neptune went 54-47 overall and 31-29 in the Big East in three seasons with the Wildcats, including a 19-14 record this season. The Wildcats — who won two national championships under Wright — lost to UConn on Thursday night in a Big East Conference Tournament quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden.

It was the first major decision made by Eric Roedl, a Villanova alumnus hired earlier this season as the athletic director.

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

Neptune felt the heat this season as the Wildcats — once a perennial Big East winner and national title contender — slid into mediocrity and out of national prominence. Not even regular-season wins over St. John’s and UConn could offset the overall lack of consistency in a season that also included losses to Columbia and Saint Joseph’s.

The 40-year-old Neptune served under Wright on the Villanova coaching staff before accepting the head coaching position at Fordham in 2021. Neptune went 16-16 in his lone season at Fordham.

Wright, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021, guided Villanova to titles in 2016 and 2018 and led the Wildcats to two other Final Four appearances. He went 520-197 in 21 seasons at the school and has remained a steady presence at Villanova games. He now works for CBS.

The Wildcats will miss the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season for the first time since Wright’s first three seasons more than 20 years ago. Wright was given the grace period Neptune was not in large part because this was no rebuild on the Main Line — the program boasted healthy NIL coffers and had the nation’s leading scorer this season in Eric Dixon.

Villanova could still play in the new College Basketball Crown tournament later this month in Las Vegas.

Assistant Mike Nardi will serve as interim head coach.

The program that once anchored its success on the Villanova Way — a mini-dynasty built on NBA-ready upperclassmen — has become discombobulated under the roster chaos born of NIL money and the transfer portal. The yearly roster turnover has done little to build the culture — where senior stars once taught the new kids the concept of Villanova basketball — that was once a championship hallmark under Wright.

Well-liked and respected by all in the program, Neptune had downplayed criticism throughout his tenure, insisting over the last two seasons as fan unrest grew on the suburban campus that he didn’t hear fans who booed him at times during pregame introductions or the horde that chanted “Fire Neptune!”

Wright floored Villanova when he retired at 60 years old just weeks after leading the Wildcats to a Final Four in 2022. Neptune was hired the same month. He first came to Villanova in 2008, serving two seasons as video coordinator. Neptune returned as an assistant coach in 2013 and worked under Wright as Villanova rose into a perennial Final Four contender.

That success as an assistant never carried over once Neptune got the top job. Villanova now will look to hire only its fifth coach since 1973.

The question is, will ties to Wright even matter as the search for a new coach ramps up or will Villanova look outside the program for a fresh start?

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