Jay Wright said he stepped away from coaching at Villanova because he lost the “edge” that had always defined him.
After two national championships and years of success, he realized he no longer had the same intensity to bring daily. He didn’t feel the same drive — at one point, according to ESPN, he even found himself giving himself pep talks before practices and workouts, a clear sign that something had changed.
Though Wright was still seemingly willing to adapt to the modern game, the emotional and physical demands of the job ultimately led to his decision to step away. As college athletics has evolved, the pressures on coaches have only grown, and Wright’s retirement is often discussed as part of this broader shift in the sport as it relates to NIL and the transfer portal.
Instead of leading Villanova, Wright is giving America pep talks on CBS, particularly on how the Elite Eight, minus St. John’s, is all chalk. And a lot of that, he suggests, has to do with the influence of NIL and the transfer portal.
“We got some big-time games,” Wright said following Houston’s 62-60 win over Purdue. “This is the most talent because of NIL and the transfer portal. The best players are at the best schools, and they’re competing against each other. And the best teams have made it through. We’ve got a big-time Elite Eight.”
It’s a different message than Jay Williams lamenting NIL as the death of mid-major Cinderella runs.
Still, it carries the same underlying theme — college basketball’s new era favors power programs.
Wright isn’t criticizing the system; instead, he’s making it clear that this is the reality of college basketball now. The top teams are stacking talent instead of developing it, the best players are landing at powerhouse programs and the gap between the haves and have-nots is only widening.
For better or worse, the sport has changed, and Wright, now watching from the broadcast booth instead of the sidelines, seems at peace with that.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.