And in a move NO ONE saw coming..Jay Wright

He's 60 so it's not thaaaaaat crazy. Some guys genuinely enjoy spending more time with their family. I hope that's the motivation and not something health-related.

 

I've always had Jay Wright at the top of my contacts list in my imaginary world of athletics directorship.

 

I'm very envious of him

 

No doubt, one of the best ever. I have to agree, I'd assume the transfer portal and NIL was the nail in the coffin. Having to constantly recruit your own kids to stay, and then imagine recruiting now, i'm sure the majority of the conversation between coach and player is about NIL guarantees....

 

Wife is disappointed - thinks he's kinda cute. They averaged two wins per trip to the NCAA so it's a top notch program.. As good as he was I consider Villinova a minor blue-blood given all of the wins they have had over the decades. Start by looking at the foundation Rollie Massimino left.

 

This is all you need to see, an elite group, of which now only Self and Pitino are active.
Multiple championship coaches
Coach School Championships
John Wooden UCLA 10
Mike Krzyzewski Duke 5
Adolph Rupp Kentucky 4
Roy Williams North Carolina 3
Jim Calhoun Connecticut 3
Bob Knight Indiana 3
Denny Crum Louisville 2
Billy Donovan Florida 2
Henry Iba Oklahoma State 2
Ed Jucker Cincinnati 2
Branch McCracken Indiana 2
Dean Smith North Carolina 2
Phil Woolpert San Francisco 2
Jay Wright Villanova 2
Rick Pitino Louisville* & Kentucky 2
Bill Self Kansas 2

 

Pretty similar resume to Billy.

 

That’s a long day.

 

Still not getting it

 

Villanova coach Jay Wright steps down, joining growing number who are walking away from a changing profession

 

According to my definition from AAU ball (admittedly back in the 1980s) . . . "uncles" are those who found a way to worm themselves into a family to take over the career path of a promising young athlete because of their claimed superior connections. "Uncle" must have always sounded better than "unrelated leech" I guess. LOL!

 

Thanks ET. Never heard that one before.

 

I remember Wright being on the hot seat heading into that 2004-05 season, where they ended as a 5-seed, blew us out in the second round, and narrowly lost to UNC, who won the tourney. Then they were pretty dominant the next year, ended up a 1-seed, and we obliterated them in the Elite 8 on the way to our title. Pivotal point of overlap for both programs.

 

It's almost like it takes time to become elite, and coaches get better over time. Amazing concept.

 

A small minority actually did help . . . and some helped a lot. Most didn't. I'm sure these same folks are now called something else. They've probably been around forever.

 

gatordavis, I was just going down a list of all the different things and people that could be in play to influence a young recruit. We used to joke about that family member “ played some ball, and wants to advise a young recruit “.

 

That’s exactly who I was talking about.

 

I don't think we should be so quick to equate coaches retiring with, necessarily, their perspective of the rightness or ethics related to NIL or transfers. I heard one writer, who knows Wright somewhat personally, say that he is not against either of these changes but that recent changes do significantly increase the amount of work required from a coach. There's almost no off season, no break, for coaches. They're paid beyond handsomley for this, of course, but I also think that factors in to some leaving. You can retire early having made MUCH more money than coaches in the past and all while the grind is getting increasingly taxing.

 

If you want to coach pros, go to the NBA. At least the NBA has an off season. You have more support and get paid pretty well. There have been great college coaches and great pro coaches. Going forward there will only be great pro coaches.