PHILADELPHIA — Villanova fired Kyle Neptune after a three-year run the place he succeeded Corridor of Fame coach Jay Wright and didn’t ever make the NCAA Match, an individual aware of the choice instructed The Related Press on Saturday.
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The individual spoke to the on situation of anonymity as a result of the firing was not but introduced.
Neptune went 54-47 total in three seasons with the Wildcats, together with a 19-14 document this season. The Wildcats — who received two nationwide championships underneath Wright — misplaced to UConn on Thursday night time in a Large East Convention Match quarterfinal at Madison Sq. Backyard.
It was the primary main choice made by Eric Roedl, a Villanova alumnus employed earlier this season as the brand new athletic director.
Neptune felt the warmth this season because the Wildcats — as soon as a perennial Large East winner and nationwide title contender — slid into mediocrity and out of nationwide prominence. Not even regular-season wins over St. John’s and UConn may offset the general lack of consistency in a season that additionally included losses to Columbia and Saint Joseph’s.
The 40-year-old Neptune served underneath Wright on the Villanova teaching employees earlier than accepting the top teaching place at Fordham in 2021. Neptune went 16-16 in his lone season at Fordham.
Wright, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Corridor of Fame in 2021, guided Villanova to titles in 2016 and 2018 and led the Wildcats to 2 different Last 4 appearances. He went 520-197 in 21 seasons on the faculty and has remained a gradual presence at Villanova video games. Wright now works for CBS.
The Wildcats will miss the NCAA Match for a 3rd straight season for the primary time since Wright’s first three seasons greater than 20 years in the past. Wright was given the grace interval Neptune was not largely as a result of this was no rebuild on the Principal Line — this system boasted wholesome NIL coffers and had the nation’s main scorer this season in Eric Dixon.
Villanova may nonetheless play within the new Faculty Basketball Crown event later this month in Las Vegas.
This system that after anchored its success on the Villanova Means — a mini-dynasty constructed on NBA-ready upperclassmen — has grow to be discombobulated underneath the roster chaos born of NIL cash and the switch portal. The yearly roster turnover has achieved little to construct the tradition — the place senior stars as soon as taught the brand new children the idea of Villanova basketball — that was as soon as a championship hallmark underneath Wright.
Nicely-liked and revered by all in this system, Neptune had downplayed criticism all through his tenure, insisting during the last two seasons as fan unrest grew across the tony Principal Line campus he didn’t hear followers who booed him at occasions throughout pregame introductions or the horde that chanted “Fire Neptune!”
Wright floored Villanova when he retired at 60 years outdated weeks after main the Wildcats to a Last 4 in 2022. Neptune was employed the identical month.
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