Report: Iconic college basketball coach Jay Wright expected to retire

College basketball fans might have seen the last of Jay Wright on the Villanova sidelines. Maybe even the last of him on the sidelines at all.

Wright, 60, is expected to retire, according to multiple reports. CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported the decision after The Athletic and Stadium’s Shams Charania initially reported the Wildcats coach was “seriously considering” retirement. Other reports also said it’s expected to happen.

Wright’s name also came up in NBA coaching circles over the years, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wright is retiring from coaching as a whole.

“Those who’ve talked to Wright don’t believe the NBA holds appeal to him — not now, or in future,” Wojnarowski tweeted.

It’s a massive development considering what Wright has done at Villanova, especially in the last decade. Since taking over the program in 2001, Wright has amassed a 520-197 record as the Wildcats head coach and took the program to national titles in 2016 and 2018.

This past year, Villanova made it to the Final Four, where it fell to eventual national champion Kansas.

After the news broke, Rothstein also reported Villanova has a succession plan in place. He said Fordham head coach Kyle Neptune is expected to take over for Wright.

It’s the end of the road for Jay Wright after a legendary career

Wright became a head coach for the first time in 1994 at Hofstra, a decade after he became an assistant at Rochester. He has a 642-282 record in the head chair, and a 34-16 record in the NCAA Tournament.

He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021 and won a gold medal as an assistant coach for the United State’s men’s national basketball team during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Wright also has two Naismith College Coach of the Year awards to his name, in addition to six Big East Coach of the Year honors.

Wright took Villanova to the 16 of the last 17 NCAA Tournaments, and likely would’ve been a lock for another tournament appearance in 2020 before COVID-19 forced its cancellation. The only year the Wildcats missed out in that time was in 2012.

Villanova has also won the Big East seven times in the last nine years and finished second in the other two seasons. Prior to that, the Wildcats had one conference title to their name — and it came in 2006.

But now, Wright is stepping aside, and Neptune is reportedly coming in to replace him. It’s the end of an era not only for Villanova, but for college basketball. Wright joins Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski in retirement after both coaching in the Final Four in New Orleans this past season.