NCAA Basketball: Ranking the last 25 national title winning head coaches

By the time Jay Wright was an assistant to Rollie Massimino at Villanova, the Wildcats were already two years removed from their national championship. He’d work his way inevitably back to Villanova and has done nothing less but double his mentor’s accomplishment.

Wright has already led Villanova to a pair of NCAA Tournament championships. Maybe another title for Wright will be just around the corner?

After playing at Bucknell, things got started for Wright as an assistant at local schools before Massimino brought him aboard in 1987. He’d spent the next seven years under Massimino at Villanova and UNLV before Hofstra gave him his first shot as head coach. He’d mold Hofstra into a pair of tourney appearances in his seven seasons, landing back at Villanova in 2001.

During Wright’s first 18 years with the Wildcats, Villanova has been a Big East contender. It took four years to get this program back to the NCAA Tournament, but they’ve been there consistently since.

The Wildcats made a Final Four in 2009, but Wright finally got the job done in both 2016 and 2018. Kris Jenkins hit that legendary buzzer-beater for the first championship, while the Wildcats in 2018 smothered their competition. These Wildcats have suffered numerous tourney upsets, but the two titles in the last four seasons make it all worth it.

It’s hard to believe that Wright has already been a head coach for 25 years, but he’s certainly made his mark in recent memory. Even with just three Final Fours, he has an impressive resume. Twice, he has reached the pinnacle with the Wildcats, something that many coaches could only dream about.

There have been tournament upsets and inevitable struggles, but Wright is one of the most talented coaches in our current era. The success he built at Villanova is legendary and it’s only a matter of time before his next talented team is knocking at a Final Four.