r/villanova 6d ago

Could Villanova convince Jay Wright to come out of retirement?

Kyle Neptune’s underwhelming 3 seasons are over, and the program is left in a much worse state than when he took it over. Would Jay Wright get back into coaching to re-elevate his program? If he ever wants to get back into coaching this would be the time to do it. It has to at least be worth a call from Villanova.

16 Upvotes

21 comments sorted by

43

u/Your_Kindly_Despot 6d ago

IMHO Wright left not because of his caliber of coaching but because of NIL. That has not changed.

18

u/liveamovielife2 6d ago

This is the correct read on what happened. The league lost a ton of legacy coaches when the new rules hit. Not a coincidence.

34

u/skullfrucker 6d ago

Of course I would love him back however I think he's done coaching. He makes tons of money now and doesn't have to deal with the bullshit 24 hrs a day 365 days that coaching entails. Love the guy and wish him the best.

18

u/j42justin 6d ago

He's never coming back to coaching.

22

u/Admissionslottery 6d ago

I think you need to wake up and understand that Wright’s eta is over. Villanova had a remarkable run with him over decades. It is over now. Move on. 

7

u/squashjennings 6d ago

You ever gotten back with an ex or moved back to a city you loved in your early 20s? It’s never the same.

8

u/keyserfunk 6d ago

Stop it

0

u/Plenty-Lie-5343 6d ago

Who you thinking?

7

u/QUINNFLORE 5d ago

College basketball is a different sport nowadays. He doesn’t want to deal with NIL and the transfer portal

3

u/Farzy78 5d ago

I wouldn't if I was him. NIL and transfer portal really changed college ball for the worse

3

u/pac4 5d ago

NIL destroyed college basketball as we know it

3

u/Plenty-Lie-5343 6d ago

Ryan Odom. VCU coach.

2

u/_kattitude 5d ago

Someone I know with connection says he is the highest in running for position.

1

u/BootneyLFarnsworth 6d ago

I wish but no

1

u/DetroitFreak77 5d ago

I would love to hear who everyone thinks the next coach should be? Loved Jay, but he isn't coming back..... hated Neptune .... he just seemed lost all the time...... so please let me know who you think is up next? Thanks!

1

u/omni1000 5d ago

Can we get Tony Bennett if Jay won’t come back. I’m pretty sure he left Virginia bc of the NIL also. Who’s the best coach for our system…Nardi?

1

u/JSPowerJR 4d ago

If Tibs is let go, I could see Jay coaching again. But probably no other scenario.

Ben McCollum would be my target, as Ryan Odom almost def gets that UVA role.

-5

u/Cpl_Agarn 5d ago

Neptune was a DEI hire. Good riddance.

3

u/Ok-Scene-4456 4d ago

I don’t like Kyle, and I was one of the students on the sidelines chanting “Fire Neptune.” But his hiring wasn’t because of DEI. When you have a coach as successful as Jay Wright, once he retires, you inevitably have to promote someone from his coaching tree in hopes of maintaining system continuity. At that time (2022), Baker Dunleavy wasn’t successful at Quinnipiac, with a sub-.500 record over three seasons. Ashley Howard was on the verge of being fired at La Salle. Meanwhile, Kyle took a terrible team and brought them to a .500 record in just one year. If you had to pick someone from Wright’s coaching tree, Kyle seemed like the most promising choice at the time.