Jay Wright's legendary tenure as Villanova's head coach has reached its end. In a stunning move that sent shockwaves across the college basketball world, the 60-year-old announced his retirement on Wednesday, after spending over two decades as the Wildcats' leader. The school confirmed rumors of Wright's leaving with a statement, and also revealed that former longtime assistant and current Fordham head coach Kyle Neptune has been named the successor.
Wright, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year, took over at Villanova in 2001. He transformed the program into a Big East powerhouse, capturing a pair of national titles and appearing in four Final Fours. Wright will retire with a laudable 520-197 record across his 21 seasons with the Wildcats. And although he's long been linked as an intriguing NBA coaching candidate, Fox Sports college voice John Fanta believes his coaching days are over.
"He could've left for the NBA long ago. He's been courted by the NBA," Fanta told The Zach Gelb Show on Wednesday. "The 76ers were willing to give him the bank for him to become their next coach. They were very interested and they wanted Jay. And he turned them down. He turned down that process. He couldn't have seen himself anywhere other than the small private school outside of Philadelphia, with an enrollment of about 6,000...
"He could've gotten any job he wanted now, or a couple of years ago, after he won his second national title in three years. He's respected in the pro ranks or he wouldn't have been on Gregg Popovich's bench, winning an Olympic gold medal... He's just not an Urban Meyer-type of thinker to me -- who's going to Jacksonville and takes that job... I just don't think Jay is that."
The entire Villanova basketball conversation between Fanta and Gelb can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow The Zach Gelb Show on Twitter @ZachGelb and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.