After weeks of rumors hinting that former assistant coach Ashley Howard would be returning to the Villanova bench, the school made the move official Wednesday morning.

Howard fills the spot vacated by George Halcovage, who became the head coach at the University of Buffalo.

“To bring a coach of Ashley’s caliber back to Villanova is a great boost to our team,” Kyle Neptune said. “Ashley is an accomplished teacher and recruiter who played a critical role in the success this program enjoyed during the last decade. As a born and raised Philadelphian, he has deep ties to our basketball community. It’s an honor to welcome Ash, Arianna, Journey, and Ace back to the Villanova family.”

Howard spent five seasons with Neptune on the Villanova bench under Jay Wright, helping oversee four Big East regular season titles, three Big East Tournament championships and, of course, a pair of national championships.

Howard, as Neptune noted, is a native Philadelphian who has extensive ties to the Philadelphia basketball community. He played high school ball at Monsignor Bonner before going to college at Drexel. He has had assistant coaching jobs at Drexel, La Salle and Xavier in addition to Villanova, and was the head coach at La Salle for four seasons, with his most promising campaign getting cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Howard has been lauded for his work with former Wildcats such as Ryan Arcidiacono, Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges.