The coaching carousel continues to spin, and a big job came open in the Big East Saturday morning. Villanova is parting ways with Kyle Neptune after three seasons, meaning a highly regarded program is available.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel had some names to watch for the position on College GameDay on Saturday. He specifically named three that will be at the center of the search, but added one “aspirational candidate.”
Villanova Head Coach Hot Board
Thamel mentioned Shaka Smart as someone who could get a call from Villanova about the position. However, he noted Smart is enjoying his time at Marquette and is likely to stay. Names such as Kevin Willard and Richard Pitino could also be in the mix, though. Ryan Odom could also get a call, although there’s plenty of chatter about his chances of replacing Tony Bennett at Virginia.
“Villanova is very well-resourced,” Thamel said. “They have plenty of NIL money. They just couldn’t figure it out on the floor. Here’s a few names that Villanova will be looking at. I think an aspirational name is going to be Marquette’s Shaka Smart. Don’t expect him to reciprocate interest. He has been very happy at Marquette.
“Three names that will be in the crosshairs – VCU’s Ryan Odom, Maryland’s Kevin Willard and New Mexico’s Richard Pitino. Odom is also a Virginia target. All those teams are obviously headed to the NCAA tournament, so look, these searches are going to be awkward. You’re going to have teams playing, coaches coaching. We’ll see who Villanova can land.”
Neptune had huge shoes to fill when he took over at Villanova, replacing Jay Wright. He was an assistant under Wright from 2013-21 before becoming the head coach at Fordham, where he went 16-16 overall and 8-10 in Atlantic 10 action in his lone season. After Wright announced his retirement, Villanova hired Neptune as his hand-picked successor.
Things didn’t go as planned, though. The Wildcats missed the NCAA tournament in all three seasons under Neptune as he amassed a 54-46 overall record and a 31-29 mark in Big East action. This year, they went 19-13 overall and 11-9 in conference play before falling to UConn in the league tournament. Villanova played in the NIT each of the last two seasons.
Villanova is the latest high-profile opening in college basketball as conference championship weekend continues. Indiana is also one with national championship aspirations, meaning two notable brands in the sport have vacancies entering the 2025-26 season.
