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Villanova Basketball: Top 10 teams ever under head coach Jay Wright

By Bryan Mauro

VILLANOVA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 05: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats looks on after defeating the Creighton Bluejays at Finneran Pavilion on January 05, 2022 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
VILLANOVA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 05: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats looks on after defeating the Creighton Bluejays at Finneran Pavilion on January 05, 2022 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) /
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Villanova Basketball guard Collin Gillespie Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Villanova Basketball guard Collin Gillespie Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

10. 2020-2021

Record: 18-7 (11-4 in Big East) – Sweet 16 appearance

This may very well have been the best coaching job Wright has ever done. The Wildcats were my preseason No. 1 pick and were picked by many to make the final four and likely win the entire thing. The covid year hurt this team a bit as they were off for about a month and they were never the same after that.

Prior to the Covid outbreak on the team, the Wildcats were 8-1 and were blowing people out. After the pause, Villanova finished 8-5 and lost a lot of players to key injuries.  Fortunately for the Wildcats and head coach Wright they did have NBA draft pick Jeremiah Robinson-Earl all season and he carried them towards the end of the year.

The injury to Collin Gillespie that saw him tear his ACL 20 games into the season was an injury that many thought could change the trajectory of the season. The rest of the team was dinged up heading into the NCAA tournament as well and the Wildcats entered the tournament as a trendy upset pick.

What happened instead is they made the Sweet 16 without their team leader and starting point guard. It was a masterful job of coaching and with it being so recent is one that a lot of us remember. Villanova ended the year with a Sweet 16 appearance, a final record of 18-7, and finished first in the Big East regular season.