Kyle Neptune (born January 21, 1985) is an American basketball coach. He most recently served as head coach of the

Villanova Wildcats men's basketball The Villanova Wildcats men's basketball program represent Villanova University in men's college basketball and competes in the Big East Conference of NCAA Division I. Their first season was the 1920–21 season. Named the Wildcats, Villanova is a ...

team.

Playing career

Neptune attended Brooklyn Friends School, and was a member of the school's 2003 State Championship team, recording a school record in points with 1,650. He played collegiate basketball at Lehigh under

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the a ...

where he was a member of the Mountain Hawks' 2004 NCAA tournament team.

Coaching career

Neptune's coaching career began in 2008 as a video coordinator under Jay Wright at Villanova and was on staff for the Wildcats' 2009 Final Four appearance. In 2010, he joined Joe Mihalich's staff at Niagara for three seasons before returning to Villanova as an assistant coach for eight seasons. During his time as an assistant coach, the Wildcats earned five

Big East men's basketball tournament The Big East Men's Basketball Tournament is the championship tournament of the Big East Conference in men's basketball. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As part of the 2013 deal in which seven schools ...

titles, as well as two national championships in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. On March 30, 2021, Neptune was named the head coach at Fordham, replacing Jeff Neubauer. The Rams went 16-16 that year, including an 8-10 record in the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...

, where they finished 8th. Neptune would serve only one season at Fordham, as he was announced as Villanova's new head coach on April 20, 2022, following Wright's retirement. On December 17, 2022, Neptune became the first Villanova men's basketball coach since Jack Kraft in 1962 to win a share of the

Philadelphia Big 5 The Philadelphia Big 5, known simply as the "Big 5", is an association of six college athletic programs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is not a conference, but rather a group of NCAA Division I basketball schools who compete for the city’ ...

basketball title in his first year as coach of the program. On December 21, 2022, Neptune won his first

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

game with a 78–63 victory over St. John's. Neptune joined Rollie Massimino as the two Villanova coaches to finish with a .500 or better conference record in his first season in the Big East. Neptune finished 10-10. On March 15, 2025, Neptune was fired by Villanova after a disappointing three-year tenure and 31-27 record, during which the Wildcats were unable to advance past the second round of the Big East Tournament or make the NCAA tournament.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neptune, Kyle 1985 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New York (state) College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Fordham Rams men's basketball coaches Lehigh Mountain Hawks men's basketball players Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball coaches Basketball players from Brooklyn Villanova Wildcats men's basketball coaches