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Who is Kyle Neptune? Getting to know the coach who will succeed Jay Wright at Villanova.

The former Villanova assistant returns after leading a 14-win turnaround in his one season at Fordham.

Kyle Neptune led Fordham to a 16-16 record this past season, a 14-win improvement from its 2-12 mark of the previous year.
Kyle Neptune led Fordham to a 16-16 record this past season, a 14-win improvement from its 2-12 mark of the previous year.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
    by Joe Juliano, For The Inquirer
    Published 

Eight seasons as a Villanova assistant coach gave Kyle Neptune a keen perspective on the type of program Jay Wright had established and maintained. It’s an experience he drew from developing his own program as a first-time head coach at Fordham.

But after he wrapped up his rookie season with the Rams and prepared to watch the Wildcats in their fourth Final Four appearance under Wright earlier this month, Neptune discussed the major factors leading to his former team’s success, starting, of course, at the top.

» READ MORE: Jay Wright is retiring from coaching after leading Villanova to two national titles

“It’s Jay Wright and the program that he’s built,” Neptune said in a CBS Sports Radio interview. “He’s such a unique person. Villanova is also such a unique place in that there’s many people there that are very supportive. I think the school is so invested in the success.

“I think the athletic director, Mark Jackson, has had a huge piece in this run as well. But coach Wright has been … he’s unbelievable. He’s just so good at so many different things. I really attribute a lot of their success to him and the players that have come through there.”

Now it will be Neptune’s turn. The 37-year-old native of Brooklyn, N.Y., returns to the Main Line as Wright’s successor, a seamless transition that no one saw coming before reports began to surface Wednesday night talking of the head coach’s retirement after 21 seasons. He will be introduced as coach during a 10 a.m. news conference on Friday featuring Wright and Jackson.

Neptune was away from Villanova for one season, but it was a significant one for the Fordham program. He built the culture and chemistry mostly from scratch, making liberal use of the transfer portal and led the Rams to a 16-16 record, a 14-win improvement from their 2-12 mark of the previous year.

The Rams, who were chosen by Atlantic 10 coaches to finish last in the league, went 8-10 in the conference (2-11 the previous season) and their 16 victories were their most in a season since going 17-14 in 2015-16. Neptune said the first key to rebuilding was forgetting about what happened before.

» READ MORE: Jay Wright is too good for college basketball, and the NBA

“We completely scrubbed the past,” he said. “We didn’t talk about it; we didn’t address it. Being honest, I watched maybe three or four, maybe five games, as I was going through the interview process. But when we started the season and we started recruiting our guys, I did not watch one game.

“It was a completely different team, a completely different vibe. I think we had only four guys that competed and came back and they were completely different players by the time our season started. So our thought process was, we were a brand new program, a brand new staff, a lot of new players, and we wanted to kind of set our own standard and operate in a completely different way.”

A major factor in the Rams’ success was attention to the defensive end. Fordham was in the top six of the conference in points allowed (66.8 per game, sixth), three-point percentage defense (31.3%, third), turnovers forced (13.7, second) and steals (7.3, fourth). KenPom.com ranked the Rams’ adjusted defensive efficiency as 41st.

Neptune ended the season as a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award presented to the top first-year coach in Division I men’s basketball.

The hiring of Neptune, a graduate of Lehigh, marks the start of his third job with Villanova basketball. He was the team’s video coordinator from 2008-2010 before accepting an assistant coach position with Niagara. After spending three seasons there, he followed Purple Eagles head coach Joe Mihalich to Hofstra but left almost immediately after Wright offered him an assistant’s job with Villanova.

Just before Neptune was hired last year by Fordham, Wright said he was ready to be a head coach.

“So many times, young guys who are great recruiters get labeled as such,” Wright said. “He’s a great recruiter, but he’s probably one of the best X-and-O guys we’ve had this early in his career.

“He’s more ready to be a head coach than most young guys, X- and O-wise. He’s got great character, great leadership skills. I think he’s going to be an outstanding head coach.”

On Thursday, Neptune released a statement on Twitter in which he called his one year at Fordham “one of the greatest honors and learning experiences of my career.”

“The program is on the right track and getting closer with each day that passes,” he said.

Now he gets a chance to make his mark replacing a legend at Villanova. The Wildcats are coming off a 30-8 season, their sixth 30-win mark since 2009, and a fourth trip to the Final Four under Wright.

Neptune embarked on his head-coaching career having absorbed wisdom and knowledge from Wright, and now he gets to put it into practice where he received that education.

» READ MORE: Villanova’s Jay Wright — and his wife — passed on allure of UCLA

“I think the thing that I’ve learned from the places I’ve been is not worrying about yourself, but kind of putting everything into the program,” Neptune said after taking the Fordham job. “When people put everything into the program, it’s amazing that you actually get what’s best for you in the end.

“There’s so much you get out of having program and team success. It’s definitely more gratifying, but I think it also takes you farther than if you’re just worrying about yourself.”