Former Fordham and Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune has agreed to become an assistant coach on Charles Lee‘s staff with the Hornets, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (via Twitter).
Neptune, who played four years of college basketball at Lehigh, was an administrative intern/video coordinator for Villanova from 2008-10. He got his assistant coaching job with Niagra from 2010-13, then rejoined the Wildcats, serving as an assistant under former Villanova coach Jay Wright for eight years.
Neptune was hired as Fordham’s head coach in 2021 and spent one season with the Rams, compiling a 16-16 record, before taking over the reigns at Villanova when Wright retired in 2022. The 40-year-old was dismissed in March following a disappointing three-year tenure in which the Wildcats went 54-47 and failed to make the NCAA tournament each season.
While Neptune hasn’t had much success as a head coach to this point, a handful of years ago he was viewed as a rising star in the industry, making “40 Under 40” lists at both ESPN and The Athletic in 2020. Villanova won two NCAA championships and averaged 29 wins per season during Neptune’s eight-year run as an assistant and made the Final Four in 2009 during his initial stint with the university.
As Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer tweets, the Hornets had an opening on their coaching staff after Chris Jent was hired away by the Knicks to be the top assistant under Mike Brown.