It has been an amazing few months for Villanova basketball: in April it was announced that the Wildcats will face Notre Dame in Rome this fall, in June the Knicks won an NBA title with the help of alumni Mikal Bridges/Jalen Brunson/Josh Hart, and last Monday the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2026 that includes 2-time national championship coach Jay Wright. If you look at his resume it is easy to see why he belongs in the Hall: 642 wins, 8 Big East regular season titles, 4 trips to the Final 4, 2-time Naismith College Coach of the Year, and even a gold medal as an assistant for Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Jay about winning those 2 titles and being elected to yet another Hall of Fame.
Your Hall of Fame bio says that you fell in love with basketball in part due to watching games at the Palestra (aka “college basketball’s most historic gymnasium”): how do you explain those Big 5 battles to someone who has never seen them in person? In the 1960s/1970s when I 1st started watching, they were nationally ranked teams in the same city with local players who knew each other very well from competing against them each summer. Every game was a sell-out that was packed to the rafters, and it was like a “brotherly brawl”: just a magical time to be a basketball fan in Philly.
You played PG at Bucknell: how good a player were you back in the day, and how did you get into coaching? I was an average player, and like a lot of guys I probably thought that I was better than I was. When I finished playing, I knew that I still loved the game. My 1st job was with the Philadelphia Stars in the USFL, and after my friend Pat Flannery got a new job, he recommended me for an assistant coaching position at Rochester. From my very 1st day, I fell in love with it.
In 1987 you were hired as an assistant at Villanova under Coach Rollie Massimino: what was the most important thing that you ever learned from your fellow Hall of Famer? I learned so many things from him. The most important thing was to treat your team like your family and your players like your sons and take responsibility for their lives/growth as both men and players.
You got your 1st taste of success in March as a head coach in 2000/2001 at Hofstra when you made back-to-back NCAA tourney appearances after winning back-to-back conference tourney titles: what is the key to winning games in March? In March it is all about matchups. There were times when we had great teams but just ran into bad matchups, and other times when we matched up well with better teams who we ran into. You need great players because the NCAA tourney involves a unique kind of pressure, and we were blessed with many players who relished that opportunity.
Take me through your 2 title runs as coach at Villanova:
In 2016 you had a 95–51 win over Oklahoma (the largest margin of victory in Final 4 history) and then beat North Carolina in the title game on a 3-PT shot by Kris Jenkins at the buzzer (www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7FFJUz0tdo): do you think that shot by Kris is the biggest in college basketball history? I really do. There are other great shots like the NC State dunk in the 1983 title game (www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfYb-JTmJs4), but I still think Kris had the best 1. It was a 3 at the buzzer in a tie game: it went back and forth all night and came down to that 1 play to win a title.
In the 2018 title game you beat Michigan to win your 2nd title in 3 years: how did title #2 compare to title #1? It was interesting to go through that journey in 2018 because we had several players from the 2016 team, even if they had played lesser roles 2 years earlier. The NCAA tourney is a gauntlet that lasts 3 weekends and each 1 is a unique challenge. I was impressed with how that team took on each level and was so dialed in/prepared. We had great leadership from Jalen Brunson/Mikal Bridges, and our experience was truly a differentiating factor.
You were known as 1 of the best-dressed coaches in the sport: did it give you any advantage, or do you just like wearing nice suits, or other? I always felt that I got more credit for it than I deserved. My tailor, rest his soul, Gabriele D’Annunzio, took great pride in it. I liked wearing nice suits…but I also liked wearing the quarter-zips after people started to wear those!
After retiring as a coach in 2022, you joined CBS/TNT as a college basketball analyst for a few years: how did you like the TV gig? It was totally different. The aspect I liked was being part of a team, with both the people behind the scenes as well as the other hosts. I also loved going to games the day before and watching coaches run their practices in preparation.
2018 tourney MOP Donte DiVincenzo won a ring with Milwaukee in 2021, and Mikal Bridges/Josh Hart/Jalen Brunson helped the Knicks win the NBA title last month for the 1st time in more than 50 years: what do you think the legacy of your 2016 title-winning team will be when people look back on that roster in the future? The 2016 team was the 1st to take us through the tourney. At the time people thought we had no future pros…but we ended up having several guys who are still in the NBA, and that is what made us so successful.
In 2021 you were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and earlier this week you were elected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame: where do those rank among the highlights of your career? There are things that you never aspire to. I look at the Hall of Fame as a place that is reserved for legendary greats, and I am more comfortable looking up to all those people. I am honored and it is so humbling to see everyone you are associated with in the Hall: it is surreal.
