In a shocking decision that will resonate around college sports, longtime Vilanova men’s basketball coach Jay Wright, 60, has decided to step down after 21 years at the helm of the Wildcats, the coach said Wednesday night. Wright, who led Vilanova to a pair of national championships, called an impromptu meeting with his team to share the news of his retirement.
During the meeting, Wright said that Ford coach Kyle Neptune will replace him in the management of the Vilanova program, CBS Sports sources said. Neptune was an assistant to Wright from 2013-21.
“For the last 21 years I have had the opportunity to live a professional dream as a head coach in Vilanova. Patti and I have been blessed to work with amazing, talented young men who have allowed us to train them and brought us unparalleled joy, “Wright said in a statement on Twitter. It was an honor and a privilege to work in Vilanova, especially with Father Peter and Mark Jackson. ”
Wright, who is already a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, has begun to seriously consider retiring last season, a source said. He approached his decision in March. In recent weeks, Vilanova’s strong brokers have held discussions with Wright to see if the coach will change his mind.
After his fourth appearance in the Final Four, Wright decided to leave the agility of college basketball. In private, he shared his disappointment with some of the significant changes in the way the sport works. Not that Wright is against the idea of a transfer portal or the rules of name, image and likeness, but rather everything that comes with these things, the way recruitment is in this era and what it means to be a conference coach for power, which is expected to perform at the highest levels on an annual basis. He has also suffered some burnout from hard work, a source said.
Vilanova has been one of the leading college basketball programs, rising to elite status with Wright over the past decade. The Wildcats won national championships in 2016 and 2018, while also qualifying for the Final Four in 2009 and 2022. Nova has played in the NCAA Tournament in 16 of the last 17 seasons when the event took place, missing the postseason only once. in 2012
Wright ended his career with a record of 642-282, combining 21 seasons in Vilanova with seven in Hofstra, where he achieved 122-85 with a record of 50-12 and two appearances in the NCAA tournament in his last two campaigns.
The two-time coach of the year Naismith and the six-time coach of the year in the Big East finished 520-197 in Vilanova, while the program dominated the conference. The Wildcats have won eight Big East Championships in the regular season (seven in the last nine seasons) and five Big East Tournament titles, while winning the top three in the NCAA nine times since 2009.
Why now?
As Wright considered retiring for a significant period of time, there have been rumors of his potential over the past 24 hours. He had not yet informed the players of his decision, so instead of allowing rumors and growing whispers to take hold, Wright immediately called a meeting with the team – before a season-end banquet scheduled for Thursday night to make the announcement in private until everyone in the program, CBS Sports sources said.
Earlier, Wright told his assistants, a source said.
His decision to retire is not related to health, but rather he is ready to take a break from coaching, sources said. The combination of burnout and a career of considerable success has created a scenario in which Wright has nothing to prove. He is leaving as one of the greatest coaches of all time in the history of university basketball.
Will the NBA call?
Maybe, but Wright has no intention of training there. Vilanova is his last work. With the exception of his return after retirement, which is considered highly unlikely, Wright has coached his last match (losing in the Final Four to eventual Kansas national champion). It would be really surprising to see him ever commit to the NBA moving forward, a source told CBS Sports, adding that “He got his taste for the Olympics and said he could never, ever train these guys in 82 games. “.
Wright left Vilanova at a time when he was considered one of the most important figures in the sport. He also did so just two weeks after another legend, Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, retired after a farewell tour. Three Hall of Fame coaches with multiple national championships have retired in the past year: Krzyzewski, Wright and former North Carolina coach Roy Williams. The trio combined to win six of the last 12 national championships: 2009 (Williams), 2010 and 2015 (Krzyzewski), 2016 (Wright), 2017 (Williams) and 2018 (Wright).
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