Villanova Basketball Media Day
Written by David Szczepanski on October 8, 2022
The first week of October has been a huge week for Villanova basketball!
On Saturday, October 1, Hoops Mania officially kicked off the 2022-23 basketball season. Jay Wright passed the torch to Kyle Neptune, the men’s and women’s basketball teams were introduced to the student body, and Meek Mill performed in a packed Pavilion.
Four days later, Coach Neptune and the men’s basketball team held a Media Day to discuss the upcoming season.
Media Day Key Updates:
The Wildcats practice before the 2022-23 Media Day
Coach Kyle Neptune was asked a lot about the similarities between his coaching style and Jay Wright’s: “I mean he’s a Hall of Famer. To me, the best coach in college basketball the last ten years. I would like to be a lot like him.” “So I don’t ever focus on not being him or not being like him. I really don’t think about it. I think about actually trying to play Villanova basketball.”
Coach Neptune did not have a specific timeline update on Justin Moore’s return, but progress has been made during his rehab. “He’s on the road to recovery, but I don’t think he is close yet.”
Caleb Daniels has a broken nose and is listed as day-to-day.
Eric Dixon, when asked if much has changed since Coach Neptune took over: “Not really, same kind of message, different voice.” All of the other players that WXVU talked to also said that not much has changed under Coach Neptune. But Coach Neptune says that “he has tweaked some things here and there.”
Coach Neptune has also stressed to the team “to get up and down the court a little bit better this year.”
Coach Neptune is extremely excited about returning to Villanova, a campus he knows so well, after a year at Fordham.
When asked about what would make the upcoming season a success, Coach Neptune replied, “We just want to be the best team we can possibly be by the end of the season.”
Coach Neptune is also really thrilled about the team’s versatility, which he says could be the biggest strength of the team. “We got a lot of guys from 1 to 11 that can play good minutes for us.”
Mark Armstrong notes the closeness of the team already. “We all come together as brothers to put the work in.”
Eric Dixon was asked about how the roles of the team will change without Collin Gillespie. “We all need to grow a little bit more. And we have the complete opportunity for all of us to learn our new roles together.”
BASKETBALL SEASON IS HERE, NOVA NATION!
