NCAA Basketball: Top 10 seasons for Jay Wright at Villanova
1. 2017-18
Record: 36-4
Big East Record: 14-4
Big East Tournament Champion: Yes
NCAA Tournament finish: National Championship (W) vs Michigan
Highest Ranking: #1
Top scorer: Jalen Brunson 18.9 ppg
When we talk about the best teams of all time in college basketball history this team has to be considered. No, it is not recency bias or any form of bias. In fact, the 2017-18 ‘Nova team was so good and were on a streak of 5 straight seasons of 29+ win seasons they could have been deemed unlikeable.
That’s just the nature of the sports world. When you are the underdog and/or have a feel-good story the world is rooting for your success. ‘Nova was once that up until the point of Wright and company finally getting that elusive championship. Now it was at a point they were running through competition, it seemed unlikely for them to falter in any shape, form, or matter. You’d have to catch ‘Nova on an off night to beat them.
After a disappointing finish in the 2016-17 season, where on paper they were returning the majority of the guys from the first title… ‘Nova should have been back-to-back champs. But we know that isn’t the case as it is hard to win a competitive tournament where you have to win six straight games against the best competition.
Heading into the 2017-18 season losing the star DMV-bred wing tandem Kris Jenkins and Josh Hart definitely stung. That was a combined 31.8 ppg they were losing. Mikal Bridges and Donte DiVincenzo had to step up to the plate. In which they did so.
Jalen Brunson won Big East Player of the Year, National College Player of the Year, and the Bob Cousy Award just to name a few of the numerous accolades he piled up during his star-laden season. He commanded the ship to a smooth sailing for the entire year, avoiding any shipwrecks that could possibly occur.
Year-in year-out Wright has had players step up and replicate the success of the players prior to them. This is a testament to his great coaching, a proper development plan, and once again a strong culture—all instilled by the legendary Coach Wright.
Going back to this illustrious campaign, ‘Nova beat the brakes off of everybody in the NCAA Tournament. To end the season, the last 10 games, each game was won by 10+ points. A complete masterclass nightly.
This ‘Nova team was first in points per game, offensive rating, 3-point field goals made, and top 15 in a bunch of other numerous categories. It was hard to beat them too due to the NBA-ready players already on the roster.
Since the new millennium, it’s not a lot of teams that can come close to this roster in terms of what they could do. Not a lot of championship teams could be constructed in the way this team was constructed.
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Coach Jay Wright did a magnificent job as the head coach of the men’s Villanova Wildcats basketball team. The 2017-18 team was his crown jewel. This team was the cherry on top of a marvelous coaching career not many in Wright’s position could’ve succeeded in. It was sad to see him leave but as an NCAA Basketball fan, it was great to see this team be a product of his coaching ascendancy.