Villanova coach Jay Wright is retiring after 21 seasons with the program. Fordham’s Kyle Neptune will take over as head coach. Today we will discuss about Jay Wright: Net worth| Retirement| Championships| Did retire.
Jay Wright: Net worth| Retirement| Championships| Did retire
Jerrold Taylor “Jay” Wright Jr. (born December 24, 1961) is a former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach of Villanova University from 2001 to 2022. Wright led Villanova to six Big East Conference championships and 16 NCAA Tournament appearances in his 21 seasons as head coach. Under Wright, Villanova reached four final fours (2009, 2016, 2018, 2022) and won two national championships in 2016 and 2018.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 24, 1961 Churchville, Pennsylvania |
| Playing career | |
| 1979–1983 | Bucknell |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1984–1986 | Rochester (assistant) |
| 1986–1987 | Drexel (assistant) |
| 1987–1992 | Villanova (assistant) |
| 1992–1994 | UNLV (assistant) |
| 1994–2001 | Hofstra |
| 2001–2022 | Villanova |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 642–282 (.695) |
| Tournaments | 34–16 (NCAA Division I) 4–4 (NIT) 27–15 (Big East) |
Net worth
Jay Wright is an American college basketball coach who has a net worth of $7 million. Jay Wright was born in December 1961 in Churchville, Pennsylvania. He played college basketball at Bucknell before becoming an assistant coach for Rochester from 1984 to 1986. Wright was an assistant coach at Drexel from 1986 to 1987 and at Villanova from 1987 to 1992.
Retirement
In a shocking decision that will resonate around the college game, Villanova men’s basketball coach Jay Wright, 60, has decided to retire after 21 years leading the Wildcats, the coach announced Wednesday evening. Wright, who led Villanova to a pair of national championships, called an urgent meeting with his team to share the news of his retirement.
During that meeting, Wright shared that Fordham coach Kyle Neptune Villanova would replace him to lead the program, sources told CBS Sports. Neptune was a subsidiary under Wright from 2013-21.
“Over the past 21 years, I have had the opportunity to live a professional dream as head coach at Villanova. Patty and I have had the privilege of working with incredible, talented young people who have allowed us to coach them and bring us Unmatched joy,” Wright said in a statement on Twitter. “We cannot express our gratitude to the players, coaches and administrators who have been with us on this path. It is an honor and privilege to work at Villanova, especially under Fathers Peter and Mark Jackson.
A source said that Wright, who is already a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, began to seriously consider his retirement last season. He moved closer to his decision in March. In recent weeks, Villanova Power Brokers had discussed with Wright whether Coach would change his mind.
After his fourth Final Four appearance, Wright is deciding to step away from the game of college basketball. Personally, he has shared his frustration with some significant changes to the way the game operates. Not that it’s against the idea of Right Transfer Portal or the name, image and likeness rules, but rather everything that comes with the way recruiting is in this era, and what it means to be a power-conference coach who Is expected to perform at the highest levels on an annual basis. A source said that he has also gone through some burnout along with the grind of the job.
Villanova has been one of college basketball’s flagship programs, ascending to elite status over the past decade under Wright. The Wildcats won national championships in 2016 and 2018, while also progressing to the Final Four in 2009 and 2022. The Nova has played in 16 of the last 17 seasons in the NCAA Tournament, missing the postseason entirely once in 2012.
Championships
Wright won two national titles in 2016 and 2018, went to the Final Four in 2009 and then went on to his fourth trip earlier this month. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last year and was an assistant on last summer’s gold medal-winning Olympic men’s basketball team.
“Over the past 21 seasons, I’ve had the opportunity to live a professional dream as head coach at Villanova,” Wright said in a tweet sent to his account Wednesday night. “Patty and I have had the privilege of working with incredible, talented young men who allowed us to coach them and brought us unmatched joy. We cannot express our gratitude enough for the players, coaches and administrators who have helped us along this path. It has been an honor and a privilege to work at Villanova, especially under Fathers Peter and Mark Jackson (Nova Athletic Director).
Wright continued, “However, it is time for us to enter a new era of Villanova basketball. After 35 years of coaching, I am proud and excited to hand the reins over to Villanova’s next coach. I am part of Villanova.” Excited to continue and look forward to working with Peter, Mark and the rest of the leadership team. Once a wildcat, always a wildcat.”
Wright went from well-tailored suits to casual wear during the pandemic like his peers, but once again he has never changed the way he performs.
“Jay Wright is a coach as good as our game,” said Kansas Hall of Fame coach Bill Self, whose Jayhawks beat Villanova in the national semifinals earlier this month after beating North Carolina for the national title in New Orleans. “All his teammates admire and respect how his team plays and competes and how he conducts his program. He is a total class.”
Wright coached at Villanova for 21 seasons, winning eight Big East regular-season titles and five Big East tournament titles as well as being named Naismith Coach of the Year twice.
Did retire
The single-syllable, dead-solid-net accent that limited Jay Wright’s arrival at the pinnacle of college basketball also served as his departure line. Suddenly, breathtaking, startling.
It was the word that Wright put on the sidelines with unnatural calmness when Chris Jenkins hit arguably the most dramatic shot in men’s NCAA Tournament history to give Villanova the 2016 national championship. After winning another title since then and taking his fourth ‘Nova team to the Final Four this month, his sudden exit from the stage comes with a similar rumble. No one saw this coming.
Word survived Wednesday that the Villanova coach would retire at the age of 60, at the top of his game, at the peak of his powers. He’s hardly the first person to go out with John Wooden, Al McGuire, etc.—who seem to have a long runway of continued success ahead of him—but it comes at a vulnerable time for the game.
It’s a strange time when there are more star players — like Kentucky’s Oscar Tshibwe — around college sports than college coaches.
Clearly, college basketball needs more leaders with Wright’s class, decorum, coaching skills, and pride. The departure of Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski and Wright within 13 months is a massive brain drain and leadership void in the sport. This is 10 national championships and 25 final fours between three men. There’s never been a more difficult time getting a coach in the college revenue game; Whether it is a connective tissue between these three major departures is open to conjecture.
Let’s be real about the demands of the job as it currently exists, and Wright’s current life station. He has earned a lot of money to live safely forever. All his children are grown up. He loves his offseason time on the Jersey Shore. More importantly, he has never been in it for praise or hosanna or all-time leaderboards.
