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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Villanova fired Kyle Neptune after a three-year run where he succeeded Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright and failed to ever make the NCAA Tournament, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Saturday.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the firing was not yet announced.
Neptune went 54-47 overall 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 new athletic director.
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. Wright 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.
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 around the tony Main Line campus 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 weeks after leading the Wildcats to a Final Four in 2022. Neptune was hired the same month.
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