Recent seasons at Villanova have been quite underwhelming. Ever since Jay Wright retired, the Wildcats have not lived up to the expectations that he created while head coach. His successor Kyle Neptune continues to try to build his own program but the results just has not been there the last two seasons.
A program that won two national titles in the last decade and dominated the Big East finds itself fighting to even be a thought in contention. Connecticut has won the last two national championships while programs like Creighton and Marquette have asserted themselves on the national stage. Is there hope for the Wildcats to regain their old form after a pair of seasons right around .500?
Season three for Neptune features a few different faces in Philadelphia. The entire Big East remains strong, though this staff has tried to embrace ways to catch back up. This season will absolutely go a long way to showing us what lies in the future for Villanova. They’ve put together a lineup full of veteran talent with a few intriguing younger pieces hopeful to change that recent trend, though failing to do so could bring change to the Wildcats’ staff very soon.
Can this year’s team actually be different and get back to postseason legitimacy? We’re not quite ready to answers those questions right now, but we’ll be looking closely at the roster and the schedule before making some more wide-ranging statements about this program. Even before that deep dive, it’s fair to say that Villanova has been surpassed by several other schools in the Big East, though this year’s squad certainly wants to revert that fact.