The years stand out: 1985, 2016, 2018.
And 2025.
These are years that will go down in Villanova basketball history. However, one is memorable for a different reason than the others.
Former Villanova men’s basketball coach Kyle Neptune has been released from Villanova University a year before his starting contract has finished. Throughout three seasons at Villanova, he led the Cats to 54 wins and 47 losses.
Alumni from different stages of Villanova’s history have differing opinions on this topic, yet, the most common belief is that it was time for him to go.
Alumni Tom Mealdy, class of 1991, has three children who have also attended Villanova.
“Coach Neptune seems like a nice guy and has outwardly represented the University values appropriately, unlike many other programs,” Maleady said. “That said, he has had a fair chance and exceptional athletes and has not met expectations.”
Has the problem become that Villanova fans have set winning championships as a standard?
Edward Hastings was a player on the Villanova men’s basketball team that made it to the NCAA championship game in 1970-71. He now teaches Theology on campus.
“We had high expectations, we do have high expectations,” he said. “When that hasn’t, when we’re not winning those big games it becomes problematic.”
Former Villanova swimmer Jerry Quinn agreed.
“Everyone as a fan wants success,” he said. “We are so used to Big East championship wins, Big East regular season wins. We are used to making it into the tournament, and I think not making it, it’s problematic.
Later in Wright’s career at Villanova, not only did he lead the team to the March Madness titles in 2016 and 2018, but he brought the team to the NCAA tournament from 2013 to 2022. During that period, Villanova won five Big East championships.
“I watched them win in 2016 and 2018, and then they went to the Sweet Sixteen my freshman year and the Final Four my sophomore year,” former Associate Editor-in-Chief of The Villanovan Matt Ryan said. “Then, they went three years without a tournament appearance.”
Wright announced his retirement on April 20, 2022, and on the same day the University shared that Neptune would be assuming the position of head coach.
As of now, there has been no announcement on who will be the next head coach. However, many believe the University will break the tradition of staying within the “Villanova family.”
“The men’s basketball coach has become such a like face of the University in a way and, like, they’re so public facing and they’re really a representative figure of the University as a whole,” former co-Sports Editor of The Villanovan Meghann Morhardt, class of 2023, said. “I think at Villanova like they’ve got to do something…and I think that they, they have to hire externally.”
Ryan agreed about finding an external replacement.
“There are no assistants that worked with Wright that have led a [winning] team as head coach,” Ryan said.
Many also agree that had these past three seasons been under Wright, it might have turned out differently.
“I think everyone kind of went into it optimistic, but I think as is natural when like any switch in leadership and any team, their little fans are a little less forgiving when things don’t go well,” Morhardt said. “If it had been Jay, like, if Jay had had a rough start to the season, I don’t think anyone really would have been that concerned. Like, it would have been, like, ‘Oh, they’ll figure it out.’ But I think people were a little bit more wary when it was the new system, new leadership.”
While the questions still linger on who the next hire will be, the pressure remains for whomever will assume the head coaching position.
