Villanova fired basketball coach Kyle Neptune on Saturday after three seasons.

Asked to replace the legendary Jay Wright, Neptune had a 54-47 record and no NCAA Tournament appearances.

The Wildcats’ season ended Thursday with a 73-56 loss to UConn in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament, finishing with a 19-14 record (11-9 Big East).

Villanova said a national search for a new head coach would begin immediately. Assistant coach Mike Nardi will be the interim head coach.

“Since coming to Villanova, I have been struck by Kyle’s tireless work ethic and his dedication to the student-athletes he served,” Villanova athletic director Eric Roedl said. “We are grateful to Kyle for his long service to Villanova and his mentorship to the many outstanding young men he has coached.”

Neptune, 40, joined Wright’s staff in 2008 as video coordinator. After two seasons, he departed for stops at Niagara and Hofstra before returning to Villanova as an assistant coach in 2013.

He was named head coach at Fordham ahead of the 2021-22 season and compiled a 16-16 record with the Atlantic 10 program. He returned to Villanova as head coach upon Wright’s retirement in April 2022.

Neptune was just the sixth head coach at Villanova since 1936, where Alexander Severance (1936-61), Rollie Massimino (1973-92) and Wright (2001-22) each had long tenures.

The Villanova leadership will be looking for a coach to return the Wildcats to the prominence they enjoyed under Wright, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021. Wright had a 520-197 record in 21 seasons, including national championships in 2016 and 2018 and NCAA Final Four appearances in 2009 and 2022.

–Field Level Media