Today, March 15, marks exactly one year since Villanova men’s basketball dismissed head coach Kyle Neptune after three consecutive seasons of no NCAA Tournament appearances.

Ironically, today is also Selection Sunday, and Villanova is looking forward to learning its seed, opponent and first-round location in the NCAA Tournament. A lot has changed in the program over the past 365 days.

The firing of Neptune was the first big move athletic director Eric Roedl made in the role after coming over from Oregon in the fall of 2024. It was not an easy decision, but it was a necessary one in order to possibly return the championship-caliber program to where it was under Jay Wright.

Rodel wasted no time trying to land Villanova’s next head coach, using a national search and not staying within the program. That is where Roedl, University President Father Peter M. Donohue, O.S.A., Ph.D and the rest of the search committee zeroed in on Maryland head coach Kevin Willard.

Willard was no stranger to the Big East Conference, coaching Seton Hall for 12 seasons that included five (four consecutive) NCAA Tournament appearances and a Big East Tournament championship.

At the time of the search, Willard was in the midst of leading Maryland to a Sweet 16 appearance. Maryland lost to the eventual national champion, Florida, in the Sweet 16. Days after, on Saturday, March 29. Willard sat on the porch of his house late at night and, at one point, joined a phone call with Wright.

“I just asked him, ‘Jay, would you be okay if I did take this job?’” Willard said to reporters in a Zoom press conference on April 2, 2025. “Jay was great. He’s like, ‘I’m 100% behind you.’ He said I think you’d be great there, whatever you decide to do, but he sold me on Villanova, and I would not have even thought about taking this job if I had not talked to Jay and had he not sold Villanova the way he did.”

Within the same response to the question, Willard said, “This is a place that I believe we can get back to winning championships.”

That is easier said than actually accomplished, but Willard’s work one year later is already backing up his statement.

At his official introductory press conference in the Finneran Pavilion on April 9, 2025, Willard took the stage alongside Fr. Peter and Roedl.

“We had the opportunity to speak with several outstanding coaches from around the country, yet when we had the opportunity to visit with Willard, it quickly became clear that he was everything we were looking for,” Roedl said at the introductory press conference.

Roedl knew the importance of what having a successful basketball program means to the University. Its success spreads across the campus, including new dorms, increased enrollment and more applications. The list of benefits from winning a men’s basketball national championship is large for Villanova, which is without a powerhouse FBS football program. That means the University leans on its basketball program.

Almost a year later, Villanova is not looking at how it will plan travel to Las Vegas for the College Basketball Crown or the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and possibly host one more game on campus at the Finneran Pavilion.

Before the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden, Willard met with reporters before traveling to New York City. He was asked to reflect on his first season’s accomplishments so far, despite the season not being over.

“I think it’s the right first step that I needed to take,” Willard said. “I think knowing the tradition of this program and the history of this program, being talked about this time of year for the NCAA Tournament, is where we need to be. We still need to take a huge step next year, in my opinion, with our nonconference scheduling, getting more big nonconference opportunities. So I think that’s my next step is to make sure that we’re in that conversation, nationally, because this is, this is one of the best jobs in college basketball.”

Willard has won the most games for a Villanova men’s basketball head coach in their first season, with 24 and counting. The team also tied the program record for most Big East road wins with eight.

As of Selection Sunday, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Villanova as a No. 9 seed facing a No. 8 seed in Tampa, FL.

Lunardi has Villanova in the South region with Florida as the No. 1 seed. Other possible first-round opponents for Villanova include Ohio State, TCU, Georgia, Saint Louis, Utah State, Iowa, Miami, Saint Mary’s, Kentucky and UCLA.

However, out of 120 projection brackets, Villanova’s average seed is 8.26, according to Bracket Matrix at the time of this publication. A majority of the projection brackets have Villanova as low as a 9 seed, while The Athletic’s Joe Rexrode has the Wildcats projected as a 7 seed playing 10-seeded Missouri in St. Louis.

“Part of my message to these guys, a little bit, is just enjoying this a little bit,” Willard said, heading into the NCAA Tournament after the loss to Georgetown in the Big East Tournament. “We’ll let this one sting. We’ll go back and watch film on Sunday. They’re gonna get a couple days off, which I think is well deserved. We’ll come back Sunday and practice and watch film. After Selection Sunday, that’s a whole new season.”

Villanova will find out its seed and first-round opponent tonight during the Selection Show on CBS at 6 p.m. The team will be hosting a private watch party on campus.