Villanova Basketball: Top 25 players who have ever played for Jay Wright

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - MARCH 24: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats looks on during the first half of the game against the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Sweet 16 Round at AT&T Center on March 24, 2022 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images) /

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Jay Wright Villanova Basketball (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /

Jay Wright’s retirement came with no real heads-up — similar to what Roy Williams did just over a year earlier — sending the college basketball world into a bit of a frenzy on Wednesday night.

Wright spent 28 seasons as a head coach at the Division I level — seven at Hofstra and 21 at Villanova Basketball. Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021, Wright is retiring with 642 career wins and as one of just 15 coaches in the history of men’s college basketball with multiple Division I national championships.

After struggling to break through as a truly elite program early in his tenure at Villanova, Wright led the Wildcats to become arguably the best program in the sport over the last decade. In nine seasons since Big East realignment in 2013, Villanova has won at least a share of seven Big East regular-season titles in addition to five Big East Tournament titles. The Wildcats have made the Final Four three times — in 2016, 2018, and 2022 — and won two national championships — in 2016 and 2018 — over the course of the last six NCAA Tournaments.

Fordham head coach and former Villanova assistant coach Kyle Neptune will take over for Jay Wright and try to maintain the culture that has become synonymous with the program in recent years.

For now, let’s take a look back at Wright’s Hall of Fame career by ranking the top 25 players who have played for him over his 28 seasons at Hofstra and Villanova.