Villanova’s athletic director says Kyle Neptune is coming back:

Villanova is not the David Tepper of college sports, i.e. they aren’t going to make rash decisions, or rush to judgment, or jump the gun. Jay Wright started with two-straight NIT appearances and went 33-33 in seasons two and three. They could have fired him then, in 2004, but they did not. They could have fired him in 2012, when the Cats went 13-19 after a string of seven tournament appearances in a row. But they didn’t, and the rest is history.

Neptune was Wright’s longtime assistant, so it was always understood that he’d get some time to settle in and find his footing in the NIL world that Wright didn’t have to navigate. But this isn’t 2001, and we’re not transitioning out of the underwhelming Steve Lappas era. Villanova is a blue blood and the job was to sustain that success and remain near the top. They haven’t done it, and haven’t come close to it. Neptune went 17-17 in his first year and 18-16 in his second year, with both seasons coming to an end with NIT first round home losses.

Whatever you think about Nova, that’s not good enough. You can be Wildcat hater Kyle Pagan or Wildcat neutral Kevin Kinkead or Wildcat alumnus Kyle Scott. Everybody knows that there’s a standard that has not been met, and it’s more than fair to ask yourself if Neptune has shown anything to be excited about. Seriously. Ask yourself if there’s been any moment over the last two seasons where you said to yourself, “you know what? I think this is the right guy for the job.” There was a fleeting moment after the Battle 4 Atlantis, and that’s probably it. I don’t know anybody outside of Mark Jackson who believes that Neptune is Villanova’s coach of the future.