Villanova Wildcats basketball coach Kyle Neptune was fired by the university Saturday after the Villanova team lost a Big East Conference Tournament quarterfinal, writes Dan Gelston for the Associated Press, as reported at WHYY.
Kyle Neptune succeeded Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright, who took the team to two national championships. Under Neptune’s three-year watch, the Wildcats failed to reach the NCAA Tournament.
Neptune went 54-47 overall and 31-29 in the Big East in three seasons with the Wildcats.
“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 athletic director 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.”
Neptune was under intense pressure this season when the Wildcats, known as a Big East winner and national title contender, fell out of national prominence.
The 40-year-old Neptune was on Wright’s coaching staff before taking the head coach position at Fordham in 2021.
When Wright retired from Villanova in 2022, Neptune was hired the same month to replace him.
Read more about Neptune’s firing and about the impact NIL money and the transfer portal has had on Villanova’s team at WHYY.
