Villanova Mainstay Mike Nardi Makes Final Four With Big East Rival

Villanova fans have a rooting interest in the 2026 Final Four… if they can stomach it.

Program legend and longtime coaching staff member Mike Nardi will make his return to the Final Four as a member of the Connecticut Huskies, who hired him as an assistant last offseason. UConn put together a 19 point comeback against Duke in the Elite Eight, winning 73-72 after a last-second logo three from freshman Braylon Mullins.

Nardi, 41, played at Villanova from 2003 to 2007, helping the Wildcats to an Elite Eight appearance alongside Kyle Lowry in 2006. After bouncing around overseas for the better part of a decade, he took up with his alma mater as Director of Basketball Operations in 2017, winning a National Championship that season; he was also present for Kris Jenkins’ buzzer-beater in 2016, serving as Director of Student-Athlete Development. Nardi then served as an assistant under Jay Wright and later Kyle Neptune. The Wildcats promoted him to interim head coach in 2025 following Neptune’s firing.

Nardi helped the Wildcats to the College Basketball Crown semifinals in that role before UConn poached him away in the offseason. Given his success at every career stop — and in his audition as the head man last season — Nardi should earn consideration for a head coaching role in the next season or two.