Villanova assistant Kyle Neptune is hired as Fordham’s head men’s basketball coach

Kyle Neptune can proudly look back on his eight seasons as a Villanova assistant men’s basketball coach, playing a key role in carrying out a winning culture that included two national championships and recruiting and mentoring young people, some of whom went on to the NBA.

Now he looks to establish his own program and winning culture after being hired Tuesday as the new head coach at Fordham. And he has great examples to follow in head coaches Jay Wright at Villanova and Joe Mihalich, with whom he spent just over three seasons at Niagara and Hofstra.

“I think the thing that I’ve learned from the places I’ve been is not worrying about yourself, but kind of putting everything into the program,” Neptune said Tuesday in a telephone interview. “When people put everything into the program, it’s amazing that you actually get what’s best for you in the end.

“There’s so much you get out of having program and team success. It’s definitely more gratifying but I think it also takes you farther than if you’re just worrying about yourself.”

Neptune, 35, is returning home. He is a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and competed in basketball at Brooklyn Friends High School before going on to play college ball at Lehigh.

Wright, who didn’t want to reveal Neptune’s impending hiring when he met Monday with the media, said he felt his top assistant was “definitely ready to be a head coach.

“So many times, young guys who are great recruiters get labeled as such,” Wright said. “He is a great recruiter but he’s probably one of the best X-and-O guys we’ve had this early in his career.

“He’s more ready to be a head coach than most young guys X and O-wise. He’s got great character, great leadership skills. I think he’s going to be an outstanding head coach.”

Neptune will have a monumental challenge ahead. Fordham has had just two winning seasons since moving from the Patriot League to the Atlantic 10 Conference in 1995. The Rams’ last over-.500 season came in 2015-16 when they were 17-14. Since then, they are 45-95, a .321 win percentage, including a 2-12 mark this past season.

“I think that the first thing, the first step, is establishing a winning culture,” he said. “For us, we’re just going to want to focus on the process of doing things one way, the Fordham way. And if we can get everyone on the same page and everyone kind of rowing the boat in the same direction, I think that’s the best way to kind of establish a culture of success.”

He said the first step is to meet his new players, make them feel loved, establish a culture with them and build relationships with each of them and their families. Then comes recruiting, hiring a staff and getting settled in his new position.

He called it “a dream come true.”

“It’s been great,” he said. “Coming to campus and meeting all the people, it’s been honestly humbling how much people have accepted me here. I can’t say enough about the people at Fordham. It’s been amazing.”