Former powers Villanova, Virginia face crucial calls on head coaches

It wasn’t long ago that Villanova and Virginia were routinely on top of the men’s college basketball mountain. From 2016 to 2019, the programs combined for three national championships and five No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. 

Behind respected coaches Jay Wright (Villanova) and Tony Bennett (Virginia), the programs won big and were celebrated for operating with class.

And then came the abrupt retirements of both coaching legends. Wright surprised many by stepping away in April 2022, while Bennett shocked the college basketball world in October, retiring less than a month before the start of the season.

Wright cited the changing landscape of college athletics as a small part of his decision to retire. Bennett bemoaned the current state of the game as his reason for stepping away.

Both programs are now trying to figure out what’s next. Villanova tapped Kyle Neptune as Wright’s successor. The Wildcats are 47-41 in two-plus seasons with Neptune. In Wright’s final six seasons with Villanova, the ‘Cats amassed only 40 losses. Change is hard.

Despite losing Wright, hope is not lost at Villanova. The Wildcats’ NIL collective, Friends of Nova, provides competitive NIL opportunities for players, while the program was also ahead of the curve in hiring Baker Dunleavy as its general manager. 

Neptune was almost immediately tapped as Wright’s successor, but he has struggled to find consistency. Last season, Villanova took down North Carolina and UCLA, but it lost to St. Joseph’s and Drexel. This season, Villanova is 12-8 with a loss to lowly Columbia in November.

“We’re just not where we need to be right now,” Neptune said after that loss, per Myron Medcalf of ESPN. 

Villanova, which plays next at No. 10 Marquette (16-3) on Friday, has not made the NCAA Tournament in Neptune’s first two seasons, fueling speculation he’s on the hot set. 

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers, who play next on Saturday at home against Notre Dame, are figuring things out on the fly. Interim coach Ron Sanchez’s team is 9-10 overall and 2-6  in the ACC (16th). 

The Cavs are as defensive-minded as they were under Bennett. However, the team has fallen from 19th to 79th nationally from last season in opponent’s field-goal percentage (.406 to .415) and from third to 20th in opponent points per game (59.8 to 63.9).

Virginia reportedly isn’t hurting for money, ranking 14th among Power 4 schools in NIL collective support. Financial backing like that gives the Cavaliers a chance to compete in the ACC among Tobacco Road mainstays Duke and North Carolina.

For both programs, the question doesn’t appear to be about NIL funds, but about the coach. Neptune, who went 16-16 at Fordham in 2021-22, is 63-57 overall as a head coach. Nova must decide soon if it will stick with him or look elsewhere.

After his resignation, Bennett said he hoped one of his assistants, either Sanchez or Jason Williford, would take over. (h/t: On3.com). Now Virginia must prepare itself for a major coaching search — perhaps the most important one the program has faced.

As times change in college athletics, the right coach to navigate the moment is crucial. For either Villanova or Virginia to return to the top, their next hires must be their best.