Jay Wright
Jay Wright (born December 24, 1961)
Teams coached: Hofstra Pride, Villanova Wildcats
Hofstra record: 122-85 (.589)
Villanova record: 520-197 (.725)
Overall record: 642-282 (.695)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 2 (2016, 2018)
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 18 (2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 8 (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022)
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 4 (2009, 2016, 2018, 2022)
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 4 (1999, 2002, 2003, 2004)
- Big East Regular Season Champion: 8 (2006, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021)
- America East Regular Season Champion: 2 (2000, 2001)
- Big East Tournament Champion: 5 (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022)
- America East Tournament Champion: 2 (2000, 2001)
Awards:
- Naismith Coach of the Year: 2 (2006, 2016)
- NABC Coach of the Year: 1 (2006)
- Big East Coach of the Year: 6 (2006, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019)
- America East Coach of the Year: 2 (2000, 2001)
- John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award (2018)
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 2021)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2001-2022 | Villanova |
| 1994-2001 | Hofstra |
| 1992-1994 | UNLV (asst) |
| 1987-1992 | Villanova (asst) |
| 1986-1987 | Drexel (asst) |
| 1984-1986 | Rochester (asst) |
Jay Wright Facts
- Jerold Taylor Wright, Jr.
- Born December 24, 1961
- Hometown: Churchville, Pennsylvania
- Alma Mater: Bucknell University (BS, 1983)
- Played four seasons for head coach Charlie Woollum at Bucknell (1979-1983)
- First coaching job was a two-year stint assisting Mike Neer at D-III Rochester (NY)
- Spent one season as an assistant to coach Eddie Burke at Drexel before going to Villanova
- Was an assistant for seven seasons under Hall of Fame coach Rollie Massimino – five at Villanova and two at UNLV
- Spent seven seasons as the head coach at Hofstra, winning 122 games, going to one NIT and two NCAA Tournaments
- Returned to Villanova in 2001 to become the head coach, a position he held for twenty-one seasons
- Has been to the NCAA Tournament 16 times with the Wildcats, including a trip to the 2009 Final Four and a buzzer-beater win over North Carolina to claim the 2016 NCAA National Championship
- Won all six games by double-digits en route to the 2018 NCAA National Championship, Wright’s second in three years
- Claimed eight Big East titles with the Wildcats, including a stretch of seven titles over eight seasons (2014-21)
- In April 2022, Wright announced his retirement after 38 seasons in coaching (21 at Villanova)
- Along with his wife, Patricia, has two sons and one daughter
Jay Wright Coaching Tree
- Pat Chambers (Florida Gulf Coast, Penn State, Boston University)
- Speedy Claxton (Hofstra)
- Jason Crafton (Maryland Eastern Shore, Nyack)
- Baker Dunleavy (Quinnipiac)
- Adam Fisher (Temple)
- George Halcovage (Buffalo)
- Fred Hill (Rutgers)
- Ashley Howard (La Salle)
- Joe Jones (Boston University, Columbia)
- Billy Lange (Saint Joseph’s, Navy)
- Kyle Neptune (Villanova, Fordham)
- Tom Pecora (Fordham, Hofstra)
- Keith Urgo (Fordham)
- Doug West (Penn State-Altoona)