Villanova Legend Jay Wright Named to Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame

Former Villanova head coach and two-time national champion Jay Wright will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Thursday, Oct. 22, per a July 13 press release. His induction will take place in Kansas City, Mo. where the hall is located; Wright is also a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, which encompasses both the collegiate and professional games and inducted Wright in 2021.

The collegiate hall opened in 2006, making Wright a member of its 20th class. Coaches Tubby Smith (most famous for his time at Kentucky) and Ted Owens (Kansas) will join him, as will former players Danny Ainge (BYU), Glen Rice (Michigan) and the now-deceased Walt Hazzard (UCLA).

Wright served as the head coach at Villanova from 2001 to 2022, winning five Big East Tournaments; he won the conference’s coach of the year award a further six times. His Wildcats’ tenure began with a five-year stint as an assistant under Rollie Massimino, who he later followed to UNLV. Wright amassed a 642-282 record across 28 college seasons, the first seven of them at Hofstra; 520 of his wins came with Villanova, including 244 in Big East play.

Since retiring from coaching, Wright has remained active with Wildcats’ basketball in fundraising as a Special Advisor to the President.