Nova Knicks Relive Championship Run With Jay Wright, Kris Jenkins

Villanova legends Jay Wright, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges and Kris Jenkins helped host the Wildcats’ 2026-27 basketball season tip-off event on Sunday, Oct. 4, speaking at the Finneran Pavilion about their experience on the Main Line and the ‘Nova Knicks’ championship this past summer.

Wright served as interviewer, questioning his former players about their recent highlights. Still looking for coaching moments four years after retiring from the game, Wright asked Brunson about a viral moment in Game 4 of the NBA Finals where Hart missed a wide-open layup.

The Value of Teamwork

“I’m not being a wise ass. You said this, but it’s a good point. I want you to share with everybody. that when Josh missed the layup in game four, and then he came back, made an impressive play, got a foul, he was laying on the floor,” Wright said. “You all came and picked him up, and then the next play, he made the defensive play of the game. 
Can you share with everybody why that meant so much to you?”

It kind of told the story of our season, Brunson responded. “In that moment, being down 29 and [then] ready to go take the lead, Josh gets a steal, goes down, just didn’t know whether to dunk or lay it up, and just misses it. And yeah, I joke around about that all the time because, I mean, why not? It’s funny.”

For Brunson, what mattered most was how Hart and his teammates responded. 

“When we came back down and there was a foul and Josh was on the ground and kind of ready to be like ‘what the [pause] did I just do?’ But then we all just walk up to him and say ‘yeah, go, get up. Get up, you’re good, next play,’” Brunson said. “Things that we used to preach in college and just became second nature to us. Then he made a great play the next possession. It’s all about just moving on as fast as you can to try and just have that same mentality… it’s tough in those moments, but that’s why you’re teammates.”

Lighthearted Moments

Naturally, the group joked around plenty. Hart was quiet to begin the segment, leading Wright to ask Kris Jenkins “KJ, have you ever seen Josh so quiet?” Wright also ribbed Mikal Bridges for his euphoric — and alcohol-aided — Instagram Live session upon winning the NBA Championship, asking Bridges if he had any fun this summer.

Bridges demurred, and Wright stopped playing coy. “I did see him have some fun on social media,” Wright said, leading Brunson to jump in.

“Yo, can you imagine ‘Kal doing an IG Live while we were here?” Brunson asked Hart. “Coach would’ve been pissed!”

Wright and Brunson also ribbed Hart for his role in Villanova’s loss to Kevin Willard-led Seton Hall in the 2016 Big East Championship. Ever the diplomat, Wright used the moment as an opportunity to highlight the strength of Willard’s teams; Brunson blamed the loss on Hart, who committed a turnover and missed a game-tying layup in the final seconds.

“I mean, let’s point out the obvious: someone lost us the Big East Championship sitting up here,” Brunson said.

“I think I made up for it,” Hart interjected before admitting “that still hurts.”

Villanova Ties

Wright compared this year’s Villanova team to Willard’s best teams at Seton Hall, praising him for how he coaches bigs; Hart, meanwhile, managed to be serious when Wright asked him if he had any advice for the gathered Villanova students, describing the number of ties to the Main Line he’s discovered while living in the Big Apple.

“I would say value the relationships that y’all create here: I know it’s hard to realize that now, but especially being in New York, there’s so many people doing well in their respective careers that have Villanova ties,” Hart said. “And the relationship that we had, just from being Villanovans, it puts us in a different category.”

Brunson added that he committed to Villanova because “it was the one place that I truly thought that it wouldn’t, if I was here for four years, it wouldn’t be just a four year thing. It’d be a 40 year thing.”