Neptune returns to Villanova after serving as the head coach at Fordham University.
VILLANOVA, Pa.—At a press conference in Finneran Pavilion on Friday morning Villanova Athletics officially introduced Kyle Neptune as the William B. Finneran Endowed Head Men’s Basketball Coach. Neptune succeeds Jay Wright, who announced his retirement from coaching earlier this week and will begin a new role as a Special Assistant to the President. Neptune returns to Villanova after serving as the head coach at Fordham University.
“I am excited to welcome Kyle and his family back to Villanova,” University Vice President and Director of Athletics Mark Jackson said in his opening remarks. “We have a leader that understands what is important to our entire community. We have a wonderfully competitive basketball coach that I know can compete at the highest levels, but the beauty of Kyle comes back to our number one priority of continuity with our men’s basketball program. Since I came to Villanova it was always in the back of your mind having a succession plan for your greatest asset in Jay Wright. When I started to reflect about our priorities, keeping this staff intact, understanding what it means to be at Villanova and what is the Villanova way, that’s hard to understand unless you have been here.”
In the 2021-22 season that just ended, Neptune led Fordham to its highest win total in the past five years and the second-most Atlantic-10 wins in the past 15 seasons. The Rams posted a 14-win increase from the previous year and had the 48th best defense in the NCAA according to the KenPom.com rankings. It was the best defense in Fordham history and Neptune led a surging Rams squad to a 16-16 overall record. Following the season, Neptune was announced as a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award which is presented annually to the top first-year coach in Division I college basketball. In addition to the team’s other accolades for the season, Fordham advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic-10 for the first time since 2007.
“What stood out to me when Kyle and I first got to know each other when he was an assistant coach here is that I saw firsthand his ability to treat people well and build relationships in a positive way everywhere he went,” Jackson said. “I watched him present scouting reports, take over practices, make in-game decisions along with Jay. I saw him recruit and work within our community and have a rapport with other coaches and staff members, as well as with University administration. When he went to Fordham it was clear to me that Kyle was ready to be a head coach, and in a short period of time he proved that. He had to hire staff members and sign players, and this past year Fordham had a run of winning that hasn’t happened there in a long time. All those things combined, for me in this process I had a sense for it and just from the past two days Kyle has already made an impact. It is good to reconnect and to see him back at Villanova.”
Prior to being named the head coach at Fordham, Neptune spent the previous eight seasons as an assistant coach on Jay Wright’s staff. During that stretch the Wildcats earned seven BIG EAST regular season championships, four BIG EAST titles and two national championships. Villanova averaged 29 wins per season from 2013-21 and Neptune was recognized as a rising star of coaching’s next generation by ESPN when he was named to the “40 Under 40” list in May 2020.
Neptune’s eight-year stint with the Wildcats was his second as part of the Villanova staff. From 2008-10, he served as a video coordinator and was part of Villanova’s 2009 NCAA Final Four leadership team. The 2007 graduate of Lehigh was a team captain during his collegiate career. Following graduation, he joined the staff of head coach Joe Mihalich at Niagara University. In 2013, Neptune accompanied Mihalich to Hofstra University before joining the Wildcats that fall.
“I want to thank the Fordham community, especially [Director of Intercollegiate Athletics] Ed Kull, [University President] Father Joseph M. McShane, S.J. and the Board of Trustees for accepting me and giving me a chance. Moving on to Villanova, this is a dream come true and I appreciate [University President] Rev. Peter M. Donohue, O.S.A. and Mark Jackson for your confidence in me. I won’t let you down. I think I can speak for the entire Villanova community when I say ‘Wow’ about Jay Wright and all that you have done for all of us, not just your players but the coaches who have come through both of your programs at Hofstra and Villanova. What you have accomplished as a coach is amazing, but what you do as a person far exceeds what you have done as a coach. You have been a mentor and a great example for all of us for who to be as a person. That has meant so much to me throughout the years.
“With the players and coaches we have here, we all have a monumental task not just with Coach Wright leaving but Collin [Gillespie] and Jermaine [Samuels] were huge pieces of what we have done here over the past few years. To the players, watching you guys grow from afar and the run Villanova went on this year has been unbelievable. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be your coach. One of the things Coach Wright says is that everybody’s role is different but our status is all the same. My role now is to be the standard bearer for Villanova Basketball and to make sure we keep this culture together, make sure we hold this high standard of what Coach Wright created here. I am ready to do it and I can’t wait to keep going.”
Per Release
