After 21 years as the coach of Villanova, 60-year-old Jay Wright announced his retirement on Wednesday night.
“It’s time for us to enter a new era of Villanova basketball,” Wright wrote in a statement. “After 35 years in coaching, I am proud and excited to hand over the reigns to Villanova’s next coach.”
The Wildcats later announced that former Wright assistant and current Fordham head coach Kyle Neptune would return to Villanova to lead the program as the next head coach.
College basketball analyst Dick Vitale weighed in on Wright’s announcement, praising the retiring head coach and wishing him the best in his new endeavors.
“All I can say is college basketball just lost one of the best, not just as a coach, but as someone that you really want mentoring young [people]…May he be blessed with [great] health [and] happiness in chasing new dreams,” Vitale tweeted on Wednesday night.
Wright won 520 games at Villanova and took the Wildcats to four Final Fours, winning two national championships in 2016 and ’18.
Wright was viewed across the sport as one of the coaches to usher in a new era of college basketball, with legends like Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and UNC’s Roy Williams retiring in the last two seasons and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim likely not far behind.
Instead, Wright is joining them in retirement much earlier than many anticipated, and retires as one of the top coaches in the sport.
