Jay Wright’s storied run at Villanova has come to an finish.
The Massive East Convention was notified on Wednesday night time of Wright’s plans to retire from teaching instantly, mentioned an individual aware of the scenario who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of the retirement had not been introduced. An official announcement is anticipated later Wednesday night time.
Wright, 60, leaves males’s school basketball at a comparatively younger age and on the high of his occupation. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Corridor of Fame final 12 months. He has received two Division I nationwide championships prior to now seven seasons. He most lately led the Wildcats to this 12 months’s Remaining 4, the place they misplaced to Kansas, the eventual nationwide champion, in a nationwide semifinal. Wright, whose look and elegance have earned him comparisons to the actor George Clooney, guided Villanova to 4 Remaining Fours and 5 Massive East match titles prior to now 14 seasons.
A head coach since 1994, Wright compiled a report of 642-282 (.695) throughout his profession at Hofstra and Villanova, the place he had coached since 2001.
Wright turns into the third high-profile Division I males’s basketball coach to retire within the final two years, following Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, who retired following a run to this 12 months’s Remaining 4, and Williams, who retired after the 2020-21 season. Wright is considerably youthful than each these males. Krzyzewski is 75 and Williams was 70 when he retired.
Krzyzewski received 5 nationwide championships and Williams three. Earlier than retiring, Wright’s two titles tied him with Kansas’ Invoice Self amongst lively coaches. Iona’s Rick Pitino received titles at Kentucky and Louisville, however the latter, received in 2013, was later vacated by the N.C.A.A.
“I’m positively stunned,” Williams, whose Tar Heels misplaced to Villanova within the 2016 N.C.A.A. championship sport on a last-second 3-pointer by Kris Jenkins, mentioned in a phone interview.
He added: “Jay is simply 60, he’s received a lot extra time for the sport, however I find it irresistible as a result of he made the choice for what was proper for him and his household and I can stay with that. Jay’s one of many giants of our sport, he’s an excellent pal.”
Williams recalled that after Villanova surprised North Carolina 77-74 to win the title in Houston, Williams waited for the Villanova gamers and coaches to congratulate Wright earlier than his second with Wright.
“I advised him, ‘I’m very pleased for you. I’m destroyed for my crew however I’m very pleased for you,’” Williams mentioned. “And Jay referred to as me again a few days later and mentioned how a lot that meant to him. And he’s an excellent man. He’s one of many giants of our sport.”
When the unique iteration of the Massive East break up aside in 2013, with universities with top-level soccer applications like Syracuse, Louisville, Connecticut and West Virginia departing for different leagues, Wright helped maintain the “new Massive East” collectively: He coalesced the coaches underneath his management with a imaginative and prescient to construct a basketball-centric league that might compete with Energy 5 colleges that function each basketball and soccer.
“Clearly, he’s been terrific,” Creighton Coach Doug McDermott mentioned in a telephone interview. “His management when the Massive East was type of reformed, I feel is the explanation why the league is the place it’s at in the present day. He was all in from the start in ensuring this was going to work and was definitely an enormous a part of it.”
Recognized for his trendy costume fits for years, Wright loved not having to put on them within the relaxed environment within the pandemic, and as an alternative wore three-quarter zips and sweatpants. He mentioned on the Remaining 4 that he didn’t pack a single go well with for the journey to New Orleans.
With retirement looming, Wright received’t must put on a go well with anytime quickly.
