In 2024-25 Kyle Neptune will enter his third season as the William B. Finneran Endowed Men’s Basketball Coach at Villanova. After first arriving at Villanova in 2008 on the staff of former head coach Jay Wright, the Brooklyn, N.Y. native has guided the Wildcats since succeeding Wright as Head Coach on April 20, 2022.
In his first two seasons at the helm, Villanova has posted a 35-33 record (.515) that included trips to the National Invitation Tournament and the 2023 Battle 4 Atlantis championship. In both campaigns, Villanova was hampered by a lengthy injury absence of its top guard, Justin Moore.
The Wildcats have bolstered their lineup ahead of 2024-25 around returning second team All-BIG EAST selection Eric Dixon by adding a group of transfers headed by Wooga Poplar, Jhamir Brickus, Enoch Boakye, and Tyler Perkins alongside a four-player crop of freshmen ranked among the top 20 recruiting classes in the nation.
In 2023-24, the Wildcats defeated Texas Tech, North Carolina and Memphis to claim Villanova’s third Battle 4 Atlantis title in the Bahamas. However, a knee injury suffered by Moore on Dec. 5 in a game at Kansas State kept him out of the lineup for the next five weeks and his absence was felt. The Wildcats knocked off Creighton 68-66 in their BIG EAST opener on Dec. 20 and posted the program’s 12th consecutive season of double digit wins while Dixon led the squad in scoring and rebounding.
In 2022-23, the Wildcats also endured an injury-filled campaign that saw Moore play only 13 games following surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon in the spring of 2022 and BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Cam Whitmore miss the campaign's first seven games with a thumb injury. A late season surge buoyed by Moore’s return to the lineup helped Villanova earn a National Invitation Tournament bid (17-17 record). Whitmore was later selected by the Houston Rockets in the first round of the 2023 National Basketball Association Draft and Moore announced his intention to return to Villanova for a fifth season of eligibility in 2023-24.
In his first season as a college head coach in 2021-22, Neptune ignited a turnaround at Fordham University, leading the Rams to a 16-16 record just one season after the program had posted two wins. In April 2022, he was named to his current post, succeeding Jay Wright upon Wright's retirement from coaching.
As a Villanova assistant coach from 2013-21, Neptune was a part of a run that produced 233 victories, seven BIG EAST regular season titles, four BIG EAST Tournament crowns and two NCAA national championships. Among the Wildcats legends whom Neptune helped tutor in this span were Ryan Arcidiacono, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Collin Gillespie.
“I am excited to welcome Kyle and his family back to Villanova,” stated Villanova Vice President and Director of Athletics Mark Jackson in making the announcement of Neptune's hiring on April 20, 2022. “We have a leader that understands what is important to our entire community. We have a wonderfully competitive basketball coach that can compete at the highest levels, but the beauty of Kyle comes back to our No. 1 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.”
After a four-year playing career at Lehigh University that concluded with his graduation in 2007, Neptune began his coaching career as a video coordinator for the Wildcats in 2008. He was part of a staff that helped guide the ‘Cats to an NCAA East Regional championship and the program’s first NCAA Final Four appearance in 24 years.
In 2010, Neptune joined the staff at Niagara University. He spent three seasons working with Purple Eagles before accompanying head coach Joe Mihalich to Hofstra University in the summer of 2013. A few months later, Neptune was named as an assistant coach at Villanova.
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Neptune was named head coach at Fordham University after helping the Wildcats advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2020-21. The Rams won a second round Atlantic 10 Tournament game and reached the Quarterfinals for the first time since 2007. Fordham also established a program record for its defensive metrics, finishing 44th in the Kenpom.com rankings.
That portfolio helped Neptune become a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award honoring the nation’s top first-year head coach.
Neptune (39) is just the sixth leader of the Men’s Basketball program since 1936. That illustrious lineup includes Alexander Severance (1936-61); Jack Kraft (1961-73); Rollie Massimino (1973-92); Steve Lappas (1992-2001); and Wright (2001-22).
