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LISTEN: Jay Wright comments on possibility of coaching in NBA

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz04/26/22NickSchultz_7

Jay Wright’s decision to retire from Villanova stunned the college basketball world. Over the years, his name came up in potential NBA circles, and speculation ramped up again after he stepped away.

Wright addressed a potential NBA journey during an appearance on Keyshawn, J-Will and Max on ESPN Radio Tuesday. He didn’t entirely rule it out, but added his time with the Olympics and the World Cup gave him a taste of what that’d be like.

“Not right now,” Wright said. “That was something I always thought about. My experience with the Olympics kind of scratched that itch. It gave me so much experience with those guys last summer with Coach [Gregg Popovich] and Steve Kerr and Ime Udoka and all those guys and Kevin Durant. We were together, we did that some years before that with the World Cup. That was so awesome. I kind of feel like I did it a little bit and I loved coaching those guys.

“Right now, I definitely need a break. Right now, I’m looking forward to this position at Villanova. But honestly, down the road, I don’t know what I’m going to feel like. I know I made the right decision because I don’t think going into next year, I’d be able to do the things I’d need to do to keep this program at a high level. But I’m going to take this year and really throw myself into this position at Villanova and see what’s out there.”

Wright is transitioning to a new role with the university as a special assistant to the president, where he’ll help with fundraising, advising and education, among other duties. The Wildcats hired a familiar face to succeed him, landing Fordham head coach Kyle Neptune, who was an assistant under Wright from 2013-21. Fordham was his first head coaching job, and he took the Rams to a 16-16 record in his lone season.