LAS VEGAS — If there was any doubt surrounding why Villanova power forward Eric Dixon, a graduate student and the reported beneficiary of several lucrative NIL deals over the course of his career, wanted to continue playing after the Wildcats missed the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season — which prompted the university to fire embattled head coach Kyle Neptune — the answer became clear within the first eight seconds of Tuesday’s opening-round game at the College Basketball Crown. It was on the first possession, after just one pass from point guard Jhamir Brickus, that Dixon launched a 3-pointer from the top of the key in a clear sign of intent. He entered the evening needing nine points to break the program’s all-time scoring mark held by Kerry Kittles, a two-time consensus All-American in the mid-1990s, and Dixon wasted no time embarking on his pursuit of the record in what could have been the final game of his career.
That Dixon missed the initial attempt did little to dissuade his quest for history. He drilled a difficult fadeaway from the left baseline with 15:11 remaining to notch the first bucket on his scoring ledger and buried a triple on the next possession. By the 9:48 mark, at which point Dixon connected on another 3-pointer that extended the Wildcats’ lead to 13, there was no longer a single name atop the school’s scoring list. And when Dixon dribbled from right to left across the lane a few minutes later, pump faking his defender to create some space, he swished a short jumper that pushed his point total to 2,244 — the most in Villanova history. Dixon’s teammates stood and cheered along the bench while a jersey-wearing fan filmed the scene on his phone from the premium courtside seats.
“I tried not to pay much attention to it,” Dixon said with a sheepish smile. “I think I heard a little bit of reaction in the crowd. But for me, just going out there and being with this group, being out there and having fun, seeing [my teammates] smiling, that’s why we’re out here to play. We’re out here to play together, to win and enjoy it. It was a nice little moment, but I’m trying to keep the main thing the main thing.”
In his 160th appearance for the Wildcats — which is 38 more games than Kittles played — Dixon finished with 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting in a game that was never close. Villanova’s lead stretched to 20 with 2:40 remaining in the opening half as Dixon and teammate Wooga Poplar (team-high 24 points) nearly outscored Colorado by themselves at the break. The Wildcats cruised to an 85-64 victory that extends their season for at least two more days under interim coach Mike Nardi, who coached alongside both Neptune and Jay Wright after starring for Villanova as a player, before a quarterfinal matchup with USC on Thursday night here at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
But the reality surrounding Villanova this week is that whatever happens in Las Vegas will always be overshadowed by the school’s decision to hire Maryland head coach Kevin Willard as the permanent successor to Neptune, whose final record of 54-47 overall and 31-29 in the Big East was deemed unacceptable when the Wildcats failed to reach the NCAA Tournament yet again, even with the program’s enviable NIL resources and a roster housing more than one future pro. Neptune’s standing as the handpicked successor to Wright, who won two national titles and made a quartet of Final Four appearances, could only protect him for so long once he proved incapable of replicating anything close to that level of success. Villanova fired Neptune on March 15, two days after the Wildcats fell to UConn in the second round of the Big East Tournament.
A coaching search conducted by athletic director Eric Roedl lasted two weeks before Villanova landed on Willard, who spent three seasons at Maryland and guided the Terrapins to the Sweet 16 in this year’s NCAA Tournament, ultimately losing to Florida. News of the Wildcats’ decision to hire Willard broke three days later, though speculation about his future had dominated the college basketball landscape for most of Maryland’s run through the Big Dance once he began expressing frustration with the school’s financial commitment to his program. Willard, 49, is here in Las Vegas to spend time with Villanova’s players and staff during the College Basketball Crown and made a brief television appearance via Zoom on Tuesday night from his hotel room.
“When the job came open,” Willard told studio host Rob Stone on FS1, “it’s really just one of those jobs that you can’t pass up because it’s one of the best basketball jobs in the country. To be back in the Big East, to be part of this family and culture, it’s just such an honor.
“The style of play is definitely going to change. What’s not going to change is this great culture and this brotherhood that Jay [Wright] has created. I think it’s the best culture in all of college basketball. I’m not going to change the Villanova way at all.”
But what Willard will have to change is the players — and lots of them. The starting five Nardi selected on Tuesday night featured two graduate students in Dixon and Brickus, alongside three seniors in Poplar, center Enoch Boakye and small forward Jordan Longino. All of them will be out of eligibility when the Wildcats’ season ends later this week, be that in the quarterfinals of this tournament or beyond. The only high school player committed to Villanova for the 2025 recruiting cycle was four-star small forward Dante Allen, the No. 64 overall prospect in the 247Sports Composite, but he backed away from his pledge a week after Neptune was fired.
Willard’s deep ties to both the conference and the northeast region should aid in his efforts to retool the roster. A native of Long Island, Willard spent part of his playing career at Pittsburgh from 1994-97, which exposed him to the Big East at a time when his father, Ralph Willard, was leading the program. He later worked at Louisville under Hall-of-Fame coach Rick Pitino and eventually became a head coach himself at Iona (2007-10) and Seton Hall (2010-22) before taking over the Terrapins. Willard guided Seton Hall to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments at one point and brought the Pirates to the Big Dance five times overall, though it wasn’t until this season at Maryland when he advanced beyond the opening weekend for the first time, a perpetual knock on his credentials.
Now, Willard’s primary goal at Villanova will be to avoid the program’s first four-year NCAA Tournament drought since the early 2000s, when the Wildcats transitioned from former coach Steve Lappas to Wright.
“I think Kevin is a terrific coach,” said DePaul head coach Chris Holtmann, whose team also participated in the College Basketball Crown this week, during an interview with FOX Sports. “We’ve had a lot of battles over the years between Big Ten and Big East. I think he’ll do a really good job.
“I would expect Villanova to probably — sooner rather than later — get right back to where they were [under Jay Wright] when they were a perennial team that advanced in the tournament.”
And in the meantime, as Willard acclimates himself to a new set of challenges behind the scenes here in Las Vegas, the Wildcats’ pursuit of a postseason title will continue as Dixon’s scoring total rises.
Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.
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