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Big East Basketball: Ranking all 10 head coaches for 2019-20 season

By Joey Loose

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 23: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats shakes hands with head coach Ed Cooley of the Providence Friars after the game at the Wells Fargo Center on January 23, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 23: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats shakes hands with head coach Ed Cooley of the Providence Friars after the game at the Wells Fargo Center on January 23, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 16: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats directs his players in the second half against the Seton Hall Pirates during the Big East Championship Game at Madison Square Garden on March 16, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 16: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats directs his players in the second half against the Seton Hall Pirates during the Big East Championship Game at Madison Square Garden on March 16, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

1. Jay Wright (Villanova)

Sure they won that national title in 1985, but for years the story with Villanova was their frequency of early exits in the NCAA Tournament. While the Wildcats have been upset early four times this decade, Wright has also done great work to change the narrative. He topped former mentor Rollie Massimino, winning a pair of national titles in 2016 and 2018.

Wright played basketball at Bucknell and soon became an assistant coach at Rochester and then Drexel. In 1987, he joined the coaching staff at Villanova a few years after that legendary title run. He’d follow Massimino to UNLV in 1992 before beginning his own head coaching career two years later. Hofstra made him their head coach in 1994 and were rewarded with three straight NCAA Tournaments. In 2001, Wright accepted the chance to return to Villanova as head coach, a brilliant move in retrospect.

The old Big East was tough, though Villanova still competed, making regular postseason trips and the Final Four in 2009. There were early-round upsets and other struggles, but things changed with conference realignment. Villanova has dominated the new Big East, winning the league almost every single year. Those two championship teams draw the attention, but this team is 191-31 in these last six years. It’s been an all-around impressive effort by Wright of installing Villanova as the yearly favorite in this league.

With three Final Fours and a pair of national titles, there’s no question that Wright is the class of Big East coaching. His recent successes have likely propelled him into the upper tier of coaches in the nation. Even in a league that’s solid from top to bottom, his Wildcats continue to dominate the scene, a trend that should continue in the coming years.

Next. Top 25 JUCO transfers for 2019-20. dark

Each of these ten schools in the Big East has a great coach leading the way, though some coaches are greater than others. We’ve already taken a deep look at how they rank going forward, but of course, things could change in the future.

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