Replacing Jay Wright’s 21-year legacy at Villanova Wildcats was never going to be easy. Despite having only 197 losses against 520 victories, the improbable task of replacing Jay Wright’s legacy was given to his long-time assistant. Kyle Neptune is in his third season now with the Wildcats and the appointment is currently under fire.

The 39-year-old is a Brooklyn native led team that recently lost to Columbia (90-80). The team scored 90 points in regulation for the first time since 2018. But who is the sixth leader of the Men’s Basketball of Villanova’s program since 1936?

Exploring the background of Kyle Neptune

Neptune’s parents, Alex Neptune, his father, is from Guyana, and Brenda Neptune, his mother, was born in Trinidad. Major details about their careers are not available. However, Alex was known for excelling in basketball. Which is probably the reason why his son chose the career path and currently is at the helm of Villanova. His playing career began with Brooklyn Friends School in 2003. Leading them to the state championship team.

He scored 1,000 point scorer not to forget him scoring 50 points in one game. In his senior year, he averaged 25 points and 12 rebounds per game. For his collegiate career, he chose the Lehigh Mountain Hawks men’s basketball. In his junior year, he averaged 11.1 points per game and 5.1 rebounds. “Lehigh had a perfect mix of both athletics and academics,” said Kyle Neptune. In his freshman year, he had 5.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, and his highest FG% with 68.6%. With those experiences, he couldn’t find a team in the NBA so chose overseas.

But that too wasn’t fruitful, so from 2008 to 10 he became a video coordinator for the Wildcats. Later, for the 3 years, he became the assistant for the Niagara Purple Eagles men’s basketball team. Later, returned to Villanova under the former head coach Jay Wright. During that time, as an assistant coach, the program won the BIG EAST regular-season titles 5 times and the BIG EAST Tournament titles 4 times.

“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 who 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.”

Back as head coach but unable to deliver

After one season with the Fordham Rams men’s basketball team, Kyle Neptune had an uninspiring record. They finished with a 16–16 record, for the eighth place in Atlantic 10. But the return to Wildcats VP had a clear plan. “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.”

During his assistant manager time, he also helped with two NCAA national championships. And in that period, Neptune helped tutor in this span, Ryan Arcidiacono, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Collin Gillespie. But in his first season back, the results were 17–17, in fact, the second season wasn’t anything different. In his first two seasons at the helm, Villanova has posted a 35-33 record (.515) that included trips to the National Invitation Tournament.

Even this season started with a loss. “Listen, I’m as competitive as everyone else. If you don’t get the result you want, it does suck sometimes,” Neptune said. “You get an hour or so to say, it’s horrible, then, fine, you move on.” Kyle Neptune was upbeat about the chances.

“For sure, we haven’t performed to the standard of where Villanova basketball has been.” Neptune continued, “If that’s the truth, OK. The only thing I can do is worry about what myself and our staff can control, and that’s trying to prepare this team to be the best it can be by the end of the season, and doing that with joy and doing that with a positive attitude.”

The program has kept a lot of faith, which is part of their identity. Because even Jay Wright suffered a similar fate with 52-46 with no NCAA Tournament appearances in his first three seasons. And that paid off really well, but it’s a new era in college sports compared to the days when Wright did the mega job. They have also added Dante Allen for the 2025 season, now the question remains if Kyle Neptune can sustain the victory till then.