The era of Kyle Neptune in Villanova is over.
The Wildcats pulled their head coach, The school announced on Saturday. This decision comes after that they fell in Uconn in the quarter -finals of the Big East Tournament on Thursday, which almost assured that the team would miss the NCAA tournament for a third consecutive season.
“Since my arrival in Villanova, I have been struck by the tireless work ethics of Kyle and his dedication to students-athletes he served,” said Vice-President and Director of Villanova Athletics Eric Roedl. “We are grateful to Kyle for his long service in Villanova and his mentoring to the many exceptional young men he has trained.”
The assistant Mike Nardi will serve as an temporary head coach until a replacement is found.
Neptune took over for Jay Wright in Villanova when the longtime coach retired after the 2021-222 campaign. Neptune was the Fordham coach for a season before being hired as the Wildcats head coach, although he was the oldest assistant in Wright in Villanova before winning his first job as a head coach.
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Once he took over, however, the program dropped almost immediately. The team, which reached the Final Four in the last season of Wright at the helm after winning a pair of national championships in the last decade, failed to make the NCAA tournament or to win at least a part of the title of the regular season of Big East – which is something that Wright did regularly.
The team had at least one 0,500 file in the three years, but suffered horrible losses along the way. The Wildcats have lost at least eight times against the teams classified outside the Kenpom Top 100, which Wright has only done twice during his last nine seasons. They went 19-14 this season and finished in sixth in the Big East ranking, although behind the upper level of teams like St. John’s, Marquette and Creighton. They also lost against Virginia, Maryland, Saint Joseph and even Columbia – who finished near the Ivy League and pulled his head coach – before the conference.
In total, Neptune went 54-47 to Villanova. It is now the worst basketball section that the program has seen since the arrival of Wright, when the Wildcats missed the tournament for a period of five years.
Wildcats will now start to look for a new head coach immediately. While the dominant era of basketball has brought is clearly behind them, the replacement of Neptune will be responsible for bringing this back as quickly as possible – which simply starts with the NCAA tournament next spring. Nothing less than this brand, just or not, will be disappointing for the old power of Big East.
(Tagstotranslate) Jay Wright (T) Villanova (T) NCAA Tournament (T) Head coach (T) Kyle Neptune (T) NCAA (T)
