Article by Dan Tortora
Just two days after the LeMoyne Dolphins usher in their first-ever season as an NCAA Division 1 institution with a road contest against the Georgetown Hoyas (Big East Conference), the Dolphins will swim upstream to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to visit another Big East opponent, in the Villanova Wildcats.
The match-up with Villanova is scheduled for Thursday, November 9, 2023, and will be the second overall and second non-conference game for LeMoyne in their 2023-24 campaign.
Kyle Neptune took over the Wildcats Men's Basketball program last season, following Jay Wright's 21-year tenure at Villanova. Neptune concluded his first season at the helm of the Wildcats with a .500 record, at 17-17.
Villanova has been a national power in recent history, advancing into the NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Tournament 16 times in Wright's 21 seasons, with 2019-20 ending early due to COVID-19. The Wildcats became national champions in the 2015-16 and 2017-18 seasons under Wright, and made it to the nation's Final Four just two seasons ago, in their 2021-22 campaign, Wright's last as head coach of the Wildcats.
LeMoyne head coach Nate Champion went 19-9 in 2019-20, his first season on the sideline for his alma mater. The Dolphins did not have a season in 2020-21 due to COVID-19 restrictions. They would return in 2021-22 to go 12-15 and end last season at .500 at 15-15 in their final season in the Northeast-10 (NE-10) Conference and in NCAA Division 2 play.