UConn Adds Former Villanova Coach Mike Nardi to Staff

UConn men’s basketball announced a notable change to its coaching staff on Tuesday, bringing in former Villanova coach Mike Nardi as an assistant. Nardi, who served as Villanova’s interim head coach for the remainder of the 2024–25 season following the dismissal of Kyle Neptune, had spent the previous seven seasons as an assistant with the Wildcats.

Nardi first came to Villanova as a student-athlete, where he scored over 1,300 points in his four-year career and helped the Wildcats reach the Elite Eight in 2006 under former head coach Jay Wright. After playing professionally overseas, Nardi first joined the Nova staff as Director of Student Athlete Development in 2015. Two seasons later, Nardi moved to be Wildcats’ Video Coordinator for one season before being named Director of Basketball Operations before the 2017-18 season. He spent one year in that role before joining Wright on the Wildcats’ bench. 

Nardi’s tenure as an assistant coach for the last seven seasons was incredibly successful. Since 2018, Nardi was an integral part of five Big East Tournament regular season and five Big East Tournament titles. Nova also reached three Final Fours and won two national championships during that span.

After Neptune was fired in early March, Nardi was named Villanova’s interim head coach on March 15, 2025. Nardi led Nova to two wins in the inaugural College Basketball Crown, defeating Colorado and USC before falling to UCF in overtime.