PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — One of America’s elite men's college basketball programs is now Kyle Neptune’s program.
Neptune is preparing for his first season as the head coach of the Villanova University men’s basketball team.
He spent 2013-21 as an assistant to the now-retired Jay Wright before taking over Fordham University's program last year. He led the Rams to a 16-16 record, a 14-win improvement from the year before.
But all amidst that season at Fordham, Neptune kept his communication lines open with the university on the Main Line that was his home for eight years, where he helped VIllanova win two national championships.
“I have a great relationship with Mark Jackson, our athletic director. I look at him as a mentor. So we stayed in contact throughout the year,” Neptune said on the latest 1-on-1 with Matt Leon podcast which you can hear above.
“He had mentioned this in a little bit in confidence, and I just didn't believe him, just because so many times … Coach Wright had said that he was going to retire, sometimes out of a fit of rage.”
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Neptune said that Wright had made such a statement more than five teams a year in the seasons he had been an assistant for the Hall of Fame coach.
“So I'm thinking, ‘Alright, alright, it’s just Coach being Coach, and at the end of the season, he'll be okay. It's not going to happen,” Neptune explained.
“I definitely didn't think or know that I would be the guy. Right? So I heard about it.”
But unlike all those previous years, Wright was serious this time.
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“Legitimately, I think things got accelerated when Mark asked me to come interview, and that was like a no-exaggeration, three or four-day turnaround,” said Neptune. “And then, you know, I interviewed and found out I got the job in the same day.”
Neptune said that since he was hired, his transition to the Villanova head coaching role has been much smoother than his departure the year before to go to Fordham.
“We had to recruit 10 new players and nine coaches, I had to hire nine coaches and learn a completely different university, a completely different way of doing things,” said Neptune.
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“So compared to that, honestly, the transition has been easier, keeping the entire same staff, keeping most of the players and already having some familiarity of campus and what to do. So it's actually been an easier transition, believe it or not.”
Matt further discussed with Neptune what it’s like to take over such a storied Villanova program, what he learned from Wright over their years together, what he did to turn Fordham around, and much more.
Listen to the full conversation below in your podcast player.