Jay Wright’s <a href="https://www.on3.com/news/villanova-jay-wright-officially-announces-retirement-statement/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">decision to retire</a> from <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/villanova-wildcats" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Villanova</a> 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 <a href="https://twitter.com/KeyJayandMax/status/1518994121545105408?s=20&t=2Y7ZfSa4aHFgUIlDsNaXdQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Keyshawn, J-Will and Max</a> 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.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">“Not right now.” Jay Wright isn’t planning to coach in the NBA, but left the door open to the possibility of coming out of retirement. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KJM?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KJM</a> <a href="https://t.co/urXEhTmjFK">pic.twitter.com/urXEhTmjFK</a>— Keyshawn, JWill & Max (@KeyJayandMax) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeyJayandMax/status/1518994121545105408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



“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 <a href="https://www.on3.com/db/kevin-durant-74043/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kevin Durant</a>. 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 <a href="https://www.on3.com/news/kyle-neptune-villanova-officially-announce-successor-jay-wright-retirement-coaching-basketball/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hired a familiar face to succeed him</a>, landing <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/fordham-rams" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fordham</a> 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.

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LISTEN: Jay Wright comments on possibility of coaching in NBA

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