UConn announces Villanova’s Mike Nardi as assistant coach

UConn is hiring former Villanova player and coach Mike Nardi as an assistant coach, the school announced Tuesday.

Nardi, who started 122 games for Jay Wright as a Villanova player from 2003 to ’07, has spent the past 10 seasons on the Wildcats’ staff, first under Wright and more recently under Kyle Neptune.

“I’m thrilled to add a bright and talented coach like Mike Nardi to our staff here at UConn,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “Mike has been a part of winning under the brightest lights and on the biggest stages as both a player and as a coach. He will bring a unique perspective to help us pursue our championship goals and I can’t wait for him to start working with our players and coaches.”

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Nardi started his coaching career under Wright as the program’s director of student-athlete development in 2015, before spending one season as the video coordinator and one season as the director of basketball operations.

He was part of the program for the 2016 and 2018 national championships before being promoted to assistant coach in 2018. He stayed on after Wright retired in 2022, spending the last three seasons as an assistant under Neptune.

Nardi, a New Jersey native who played at powerhouse St. Patrick (New Jersey) when Hurley was the coach at rival St. Benedict’s (New Jersey), also took over as the team’s interim head coach for the College Basketball Crown after Neptune was fired last month.

UConn is expected to once again compete for a national championship next season, following Tuesday’s news that star forward Alex Karaban is returning to the Huskies and won’t enter the NBA draft.