Villanova finally fires Kyle Neptune—And it had to happen to keep the program from fading into irrelevance

KYLE NEPTUNE FIRED – Well, it’s about time. After three straight years of mediocrity, zero NCAA Tournament appearances, and a disastrous tenure that saw Villanova free fall from national relevance, Kyle Neptune is out.

BREAKING: Sources have confirmed to The Villanovan that Kyle Neptune was informed that he is no longer the Villanova head men’s basketball coach. pic.twitter.com/l1zPz7WbBa

— Dylan Johnson (@bydylanjohnson) March 15, 2025

Villanova made it official on Saturday, firing Neptune just two days after the Wildcats were steamrolled by UConn, 73-56, in the Big East Tournament.

Frankly, this decision should’ve happened sooner.

Kyle Neptune took Villanova from Championship Pedigree to Missing the Tournament

It’s hard to overstate how steep the drop-off has been for Villanova since Jay Wright retired in 2022. Wright built a powerhouse, winning two national titles (2016, 2018), turning Nova into a perennial Big East bully, and making deep March runs an expectation.

Kyle Neptune’s Resume However, Speaks For Itself:

• 54-47 overall record at Villanova
• 0 NCAA Tournament appearances
• 19-14 this season
• All that despite having Eric Dixon, the nation’s leading scorer
• 13 losses to sub-75 KenPom teams

That last one is especially brutal. Neptune’s teams consistently lost games they had no business losing. It wasn’t just that Villanova wasn’t competing with the top of the Big East—it’s that they were routinely getting embarrassed by mid-majors.

And in today’s NIL and transfer portal era, missing the NCAA Tournament three straight years at a program like Nova is completely unacceptable. You don’t get years of leeway anymore. If you don’t win, you’re done. Neptune had his shot, and he failed.

Kyle Neptune inherited a Final Four roster and in three seasons he literally did nothing right.

• Never made the NCAA Tournament
• Never won a single postseason game
• Had veteran talent and still underachieved

Neptune had guys like Justin Moore, Caleb Daniels, Wooga Poplar, and Eric Dixon, who literally led the entire nation in scoring this year, and somehow, he still couldn’t get this team to the Big Dance.

How is that even possible…?

Yeah, there were flashes of promise here and there, but that’s the problem—they were just flashes. Villanova never felt like a real top-tier team under Neptune. They would get a big win, then drop back-to-back games they had no business losing. They couldn’t close, they couldn’t finish, and they never built any momentum. That’s on coaching.

The Big East is too competitive to be messing around with mediocrity. You’ve got Rick Pitino at St. John’s, Dan Hurley building a dynasty at UConn, Marquette and Creighton rolling, and meanwhile, Nova was floundering, getting worse instead of better.

Villanova had to fire Kyle Neptune. Keeping him wasn’t an option unless they wanted to turn into Seton Hall 2.0—a once-proud Big East school that faded into irrelevance.

Now, the real work begins. Nova has one shot to get this right and reestablish itself as a power. If they miss? It could be years before they claw their way back.

This is still one of the best jobs in college basketball. The resources, the recruiting footprint, the history—it’s all there. But now, Villanova has to make the right hire to prevent this slide from turning into a full-on collapse.

Join The Chase