Few coaches have established such a legacy in the 21st century like Jay Wright. Between seven seasons at Hofstra and then 21 more with Villanova, he had a 642-282 record, made 18 NCAA Tournaments and won two national championships. Now, the 60-year-old Hall of Famer is retiring. Not often has a college basketball coach achieved so much and yet flown under the radar almost the entire time, but that’s Wright in a nutshell.
Notre Dame first faced Wright during his first season at Hofstra in 1995 and won, 63-52. The Irish would split the next 14 games in which Wright was on the Villanova sidelines between 2002 and 2016. All but the last of those contests were played when the schools were Big East rivals. That last game was a battle between undefeated teams, and the Irish lost to the top-ranked defending national champion Wildcats, 74-66.
Here’s to a great career, and best wishes to Wright in whatever he decides to do in this next stage of his life.
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