Another one of college basketball’s most successful coaches is retiring.
Jay Wright is leaving his post as Villanova’s head coach after 21 seasons, he confirmed Wednesday night. Wright said in his statement that he will remain involved with Villanova in an unspecified capacity.
— Jay Wright (@VUCoachJWright) April 21, 2022
Wright, who is 60 years old, has been Villanova’s head coach since 2001. In his 21 seasons leading the Wildcats, Wright led Villanova to 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, including two national championships (2016) and (2018) and four Final Fours, including this year’s Final Four, where his Wildcats lost in the semifinals to eventual national champion Kansas in what now appears to be the final game of his college basketball coaching career.
He becomes the second coach from this year’s Final Four to retire this offseason, following Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, whose career also ended with a national semifinal loss to North Carolina.
Over the course of his career at Villanova, Wright compiled an overall record of 520-197. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
Kyle Neptune, who was one of Wright’s assistant coaches at Villanova from 2013-21 before becoming the head coach at Fordham, will reportedly succeed Wright as Villanova’s head coach.
Fordham University coach Kyle Neptune is expected to be the choice to succeed two-time NCAA champion Jay Wright as the new head coach of Villanova, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 20, 2022
One of Wright’s final wins as Villanova’s coach came against Ohio State in the second round of this year’s NCAA Tournament, as the Wildcats defeated the Buckeyes, 71-61. Wright has long been a mentor to Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann, dating back to when both were in the Big East as Holtmann was the head coach at Butler, and Holtmann spoke before their NCAA Tournament matchup about how he has “stolen so much” from Wright in constructing his Ohio State program.
“I just watched his practices, watched his teams, anything that he was doing in terms of teaching I would watch,” Holtmann said then. “Even to this day, I have stolen a lot from him. So thanks, Jay.”
Congratulations to Jay on a remarkable career. One of the very best to ever do it. Appreciate the friendship and competition in recent years. Best wishes to Jay and Patty in retirement. https://t.co/kUXwAtciiB
— Chris Holtmann (@ChrisHoltmann) April 21, 2022
