The fall of Villanova

April 4, 2016. 13.5 seconds left in the championship game. UNC is down three points to Villanova.

Marcus Paige inbounds to Joel Berry II. Berry II takes it up the court. Passes to Paige. Paige puts it up.

And ties the game at 74 a piece. Villanova has to take a timeout.

4.7 seconds on the clock. Villanova has to go the length of the court. Arcidiacono takes it up. Gives it to Jenkins, for the championship.

Villanova. Phenomenal. The national champions.

One of the most iconic sports moments in history: Kris Jenkins winning the national championship for Villanova with a three-pointer at the buzzer.

It was their first national championship since 1985 and cemented Villanova in March Madness history.

They only lost five games that year which got them the No.1 seed in the NCAA tournament

Villanova was so good during the Jay Wright era that people have started naming an NBA after them: The Nova Knicks.

The Knicks at one point had Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo and Ryan Arcidiacono.

Now, Arcidiacono didn’t get many minutes, but he was still on the team so it counts.

The Knicks almost had a complete Villanova roster when they traded for Mikal Bridges who was the missing piece, but then traded for Karl-Anthony Towns and included DiVincenzo in that trade.

Villanova was the definition of a basketball school and after winning their second championship in three years, they were able to bring some impressive talent including multiple 5-star recruits such as Cam Whitmore, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Bryan Antoine and Jahvon Quinerly.

But, since the departure of Wright, Villanova’s recruitment has taken an insane downward spiral.

Even though Cam Whitmore played under Kyle Neptune, he committed to Villanova while Wright was still coaching there.

They had three commits in the 2022 class and none of them are still on the team.

Whitmore plays for the Houston Rockets, Mark Armstrong went undrafted and now plays for the Long Island Nets and Brendan Hausen plays for the Kansas State Wildcats.

The 2023 class was not much better. Villanova focused more on transfers this season, bringing in only one recruit in Jordann Dumont who has only played two games this season.

And just like all the recruits that Villanova had in 2022, Villanova has lost all the transfers they got in 2023.

Tyler Burton and Hakim Hart have both graduated and Lance Ware and TJ Bamba have both transferred, Ware going to UT Arlington and Bamba going to Oregon.

The 2024 class was definitely the best of the Neptune era so far. Villanova was able to bring in the top recruit out of Texas, Josiah Moseley and top transfer Wooga Poplar from Miami.

However, Villanova is an even 3-3 on the season which isn’t what the Wildcats were hoping for.

I mean, one of the seasons during the Wright era only had three losses and one of those was in March Madness.

From the start of the Wright golden age in the 2013-14 season to the year he retired in 2022, Wright had only lost 53 games in that timespan.

Neptune has only coached Villanova for two full seasons and already lost 33 games.

If Neptune loses 20 games this season, he will tie Wright for the number of losses he had in the timespan mentioned earlier.

And the losses that Villanova has this year are not good. They’ve lost to Columbia, Saint Joseph’s and Virginia.

Villanova’s performances have not attracted much talent. Unless they can get some good transfers or some of their current freshmen can step up, the future of Villanova is not looking bright.

Currently, they only have one recruit in the 2025 class Dante Allen. Chance Mallory recently decommitted from Virginia which Villanova is interested in.

But, if they can’t land him, their recruiting class will be ranked No. 72 in the country and No. 4 in the state of Pennsylvania.

Penn State, Temple and Saint Joseph’s are all ranked higher than them and Pittsburgh is only a couple of spots below them.

Most of Villanova’s losses should be coming in conference play and the losses they have already aren’t gonna cut it.

Big East conference play doesn’t even start for another month and Villanova still has to play Maryland and Cincinnati.

And who knows? They could even lose to Rider or FDU if they perform the way they did against Columbia.

Obviously, it’s still early in Neptune’s coaching career at Villanova and even Wright struggled in his first few years.

But with the Big East continuing to become more and more competitive with powerhouses such as UConn, Marquette, Creighton and St. John’s, Villanova fans are gonna have to get ready for a couple of rough years.

Massimo Buonagurio is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email mkb6750@psu.edu.