Villanova salutes Jay Wright, who doesn’t miss coaching ‘at all’

Around the time the final seconds ticked off another close Villanova loss Saturday night, former coach Jay Wright fired off a tweet.

It wasn’t about the latest tough defeat, though that message came shortly after. It was a happy birthday wish to 1985 Villanova champion, Dwayne McLain, who was pictured celebrating with a member of the Finneran family, the name that graces the pavilion that’s home to the program Wright took from good to great to grand.

Another late-game collapse had resulted in Villanova’s eighth loss in 12 Big East games in the first basketball season after Wright shocked the world with his April retirement.

Tone-deaf tweet timing? Hardly. The reality of the social media post is rather simple. It was the latest example that, yes, Wright really retired, and no, he no longer needs to hang onto every second and every moment of a Villanova basketball season. There have been plenty of those examples, good or bad, from Hoops Mania night in October into the Big East schedule.

Wright, 61, is not defined by Villanova basketball anymore. He is a husband, father, special assistant to the Villanova president, CBS Sports basketball analyst, and former basketball coach — a Hall of Fame one at that, with two national championships and four Final Four appearances on the Main Line.

Does he at least miss the coaching?

“No, I don’t miss it at all,” Wright said during a news conference Wednesday night, about an hour before Villanova honored Wright’s 21-year career at the university with a pregame ceremony before the game against DePaul. The coach was introduced to the crowd about 30 minutes before tipoff and he addressed the crowd.

“I do TV now and I look across and see those guys and I say to myself, ‘I’m way more comfortable here than I would be over there right now.’”

While he isn’t watching every second in real time, Wright is watching Villanova play. He has been seen at Villanova practices, and started his broadcasting career in December during Villanova’s win over Penn.

It has not been smooth sailing in Kyle Neptune’s first season. The Wildcats entered Wednesday night 10-13 overall and 4-8 in Big East play, threatening to miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012. But Neptune’s job replacing Wright, the coach he learned under from 2013-21, has not been an easy one. Put aside replacing a legend, Villanova has not played a single game in 2022-23 with a healthy roster and played most of the season without its best player, Justin Moore.

“The things that have gone against him this year … he’s handled it great,” Wright said of Neptune. “I understand people aren’t happy. We all get that. That’s part of the learning process.

“It’s like watching your son. My son is a high school coach, and I get the same feeling watching him struggle through tough times. As a parent, a big brother, you want to protect them from it, but you know they have to go through it. [Neptune] has handled it great. He’s had incredible injuries. He doesn’t need me to make excuses, and he doesn’t want me to.”

» READ MORE: Taylor Wright leads Episcopal Academy the way his father led Villanova: Through ‘attitude’

Wright has said in the past that he is done with coaching. His new gig takes him all around the country during basketball season, allowing him to do other things both in his free time and when he’s on college campuses. This past weekend, while in Ann Arbor calling Michigan vs. Ohio State, that meant spending time with Michigan coach Juwan Howard.

Howard said on a radio show that he met with Wright in part because he “wanted to learn how I can become a better coach.”

“I’m enjoying that part of it,” Wright said. “I was trying to do an interview with Juwan and he’s like, ‘I’ve got three questions I want to ask you.’

“I’m very competitive. My wife would tell you it’s a problem of mine. But it’s nice to see those guys and spend time with them and not think that I have to compete against them.”

This is the new Jay Wright. He wore a suit with no tie inside Finneran Pavilion on Wednesday night. A Villanova game was about an hour from tipping off, but Wright was all smiles, no longer burdened by wins, losses, and everything that comes with them.

Wright isn’t the only one being honored Wednesday night. During halftime, Villanova also will retire the jersey of Jalen Brunson, the two-time national champion, 2018 National Player of the Year, and current New York Knicks star.

“I didn’t come here to get my jersey retired or be honored in any way,” Brunson said. “I came here to help the team win and came here to be with a special group of men. What we were able to accomplish in a short period of time is beyond special.”

Villanova doesn’t retire numbers, except for Paul Arizin’s No. 11. A plaque honoring Brunson will take its place in the main lobby of Finneran Pavilion, where the other retired jerseys are located. Current Villanova freshman Brendan Hausen wears No. 1 and will continue to do so.