Jay Wright Ranked No. 4 Coach of 21st Century: Fair or Foul?

Sports Illustrated ran a column on the top 25 head coaches of the last 25 years and, to no surprise, Villanova legend Jay Wright landed in the top five.

Wright occupied the No. 4 spot, falling behind Roy Williams (UNC), Mike Krzyzewski (Duke) and Bill Self. Williams and Krzyzewski led two of the nation’s premier programs to a trio of national championships during that span, putting them in a league of their own.

There’s an argument to place Wright above Self, who won the same number of titles (two) and made the same number of Final Fours (four), but the longtime Kansas head coach also made the Big Dance more consistently.

Wright, of course, never dealt with the recruiting violations that Self did. He also built his program around the principle of attitude, telling players to control what they could control — themselves — and letting the rest fall into place.

Of the tier of coaches with two national championships, Wright landed above Billy Donovan (Florida) and UConn’s Dan Hurley and Jim Calhoun — and Rick Pitino, who had his second national title vacated by the NCAA. Still just 64 years old, Jay Wright retired at the peak of his powers, stepping away following a trip to the 2022 Final Four.