Villanova’s former coach Jay Wright is eyeing an NBA job

Having led his former team to a historic Final Four appearance, Villanova’s now retired head coach has his eyes on a job in the NBA

Does Jay Wright want a job in the NBA?

Its been just one week since he surprised the NCAA fraternity by announcing his retirement, but it seems that the former coach of the Villanova men’s basketball team, has hinted at the idea that he would like to coach an NBA team in the future. Speaking on the ESPN’s “Keyshawn, JWill & Max,” radio show, Wright said that “I’d be lying” if he said he hasn’t considered the idea of coaching at the highest level. Wright was quick, however, to point out that while it’s definitely something he’s thought about, it’s not on the cards for the near future. “Not right now. That was something I always thought about,” Wright said. “My experience with the Olympics kind of scratched that itch. ...I kind of feel like I did it a little bit. And I loved coaching those guys.” Wright was of course referring to his time on Gregg Popovich’s coaching staff for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, when Team USA took home its fourth-straight gold medal.

It should be said that while Wright’s name has been mentioned previously in connection with NBA-level coaching jobs, he has never actually taken the step or even publicly entertained doing so. Interestingly, when his retirement was announced after serving as head coach of Villanova for 21 seasons, it was reported that Wright was in no way considering a job in the NBA, but with his most recent comments perhaps it would be best to hold on drawing any firm conclusions. “Right now I definitely need a break,” Wright said. “Right now I’m looking forward to this [special assistant] position at Villanova. But honestly, down the road, I’d be lying - I don’t know what I’m going to feel like.”

Can Jay Wright coach in the NBA?

Another interesting factor to consider is the idea that though it was never stated publicly, it’ was reported that Wright privately “shared frustrations” concerning some varying changes that have been made to the manner in which college basketball operates, specifically the transfer portal and name, image and likeness rules. With the aforementioned changes the way in which coaches can recruit players has significantly changed. Where Wright is concerned, it is understood that the coach felt “burnout” to an extent in the face of the high expectations associated with coaching a high profile conference school. How then will he cope with the even more extreme levels of expectation in the NBA?

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“I know I made the right decision, because I don’t think going into next year I’d be able to do the things I need to do to keep this program at a high level,” Wright said. “But I’m going to take this year and really throw myself into this position at Villanova, and then see what’s out there. I just didn’t want to be the coach at Villanova and not be 100 percent in.”

What can we assume about Jay Wright’s future?

As things stand it would seem that Wright is just fine where he is. On the other hand, it goes without saying that if/when the day comes that he publicly states he wants a job in the NBA, he will surely have no shortage of offers. Having put two national titles on his CV, along with four Final Four appearances - the most recent being just a few weeks ago - Wright is most definitely a highly coveted coach in the basketball world today with his own spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame. That’s without mentioning the fact that he was the Naismith Coach of the year back in 2006. For the moment all we can do is watch this space.