'The greatest thing for us has always been just to be the coach at Villanova,' Jay Wright said during his retirement announcement Friday:
"Going to Madison Square Garden, it was awesome," Wright said while holding back tears."And when we won, Mark and Patti and I looked at each other like, ‘Holy s—t, do you believe this?'"
Wright told reporters he'll miss the games, the competitiveness and the practices. But he's looking forward to fostering the relationships with his players off the court. Wright will remain at Villanova and stay involved in fundraising, advising, education and more. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
Wright needed three years to build a foundation before Villanova broke through with a trip to the 2005 Sweet 16. An Elite Eight appearance followed the next year and the Wildcats reached the Final Four in 2009. Villanova won its first national title under Wright in 2016 on Kris Jenkins’ buzzer-beater and rolled over the NCAA Tournament field in 2018, winning every game by double digits on its way to the national title.“I've always felt like it's a run. And when you're on top of it and you're grinding and if you've got the edge in your head, you do it,” he said.
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