BasketballBasketball StaffStaff Head Coach Jay Wright n his six seasons as head coach, Jay Wright There were plenty of individual high- Ihas enhanced and added new chapters to lights too. Foye was named a consensus first the rich history of Villanova Basketball. team All-American and a Wooden Award Under Wright's tutelage, Villanova has finalist as well as Big East Player of the Year. appeared in each of the last three NCAA Ray was a consensus All-American, Nai- Tournaments, advancing to the Elite Eight smith Award finalist and first team All Big in 2006 and Sweet 16 in 2005. In that span East choice. Wright received national coach it has amassed a record of 74-24 (.755), pro- of the year honors from CBS/Chevrolet; the duced a trio of National Basketball Associa- Naismith Awards; and the National Associa- tion players, captured three Philadelphia Big tion of Basketball Coaches (NABC). The Five crowns and a BIG EAST regular season native of Churchville, Pa., was also named championship (2006). Big East Coach of the Year and earned the Despite the graduation of six seniors that had helped Harry Litwack Award as the Eastern College Coach of the make 2005-06 one of the most memorable cam- Year from the Herb Good Club in Philadelphia. paigns in the annals of Villanova basketball, It was a significant milepost in a cycle of growth spawned the Wildcats responded with a 22-11 cam- when Wright returned to the university he had first served as paign in 2006-07, winning seven of their an assistant coach to Rollie Massimino from 1987-92. From last nine regular season games to earn an the day of his arrival as head coach on March 27, 2001 at-large bid to the 2007 NCAA Tourna- Wright's agenda was clear. ment. The 'Cats also extended their "We want to build an attitude of playing hard and play- school record Philadelphia Big Five ing together and playing with great passion," he stated then. winning streak to 11 straight with a "Most importantly, we want our guys to play with a pride in perfect 4-0 record against representing Villanova." their City Series rivals and Today those qualities indeed define Villanova basketball. freshman Scottie Reynolds The first three seasons of Wright's head coaching tenure joined Tim Thomas as the at Villanova offered snapshots of promise. In 2001-02, the only Villanova players to Wildcats surprised observers by recording 19 victories, earn BIG EAST Rookie of including a win over No. 16 UCLA, and reaching the quar- the Year honors. terfinals of the National Invitation Tournament. The next Meanwhile guards Randy two seasons were marked by peaks and valleys as a 2002 Foye, Allan Ray and Kyle recruiting class ranked among the nation's best acclimated Lowry all made their NBA itself to college. Yet Villanova continued its postseason debuts for the Minnesota streak, earning NIT bids in both 2003 and 2004 while also Timberwolves, Boston Celtics reaching the Big East Tournament semifinals in 2004. and Memphis Grizzlies respectively. In 2004-05, the Wildcats enjoyed a breakthrough cam- It was another plateau for a program that paign. The club overcame a host of significant injuries to has reached new ones over the past few seasons. emerge as a force in the BIG EAST Conference, recording In 2005-06, the Wildcats catalogued an six victories over nationally ranked teams. In its Big East impressive array of accomplishments despite opener, the Wildcats defeated No. 21 West Virginia 84- the October loss of All-Big East forward Cur- 46. Three weeks later, on a snowy afternoon at the tis Sumpter to season-ending knee surgery. Wachovia Center, Villanova got America's attention with Utilizing a four guard lineup, Villanova fin- an 83-62 victory over No. 2 Kansas. In February, there ished with 28 wins, the most in school histo- were wins over No. 17 Pittsburgh and No. 3 Boston Col- ry, earning a share of the Big East Conference lege in the Pavilion. regular season title along the way. It spent the Villanova completed the regular season with a 21-6 entire season ranked in the top 10 of both the record (.778), its best winning percentage since 1995-96. It Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN was awarded the school's first NCAA Tournament bid since polls, climbing as high as No. 2 in February. 1999 and came up with victories over Mountain West Tour- The Wildcats were rewarded with the first nament champion New Mexico and Southeastern Confer- NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed in the pro- ence Tournament champion Florida to reach the regional gram's history and advanced to the Elite semifinal. Without Sumpter, who suffered a torn knee liga- Eight for the first time since 1988. ment in the win over the Gators, Villanova nearly upended 18 2007-08 Villanova Men’s Basketball Jay Wright 2007 USA Basketball Pan American Games Head Coach 2006 Naismith Coach of the Year 2006 CBS/Chevrolet Coach of the Year 2006 NABC Coach of the Year 2006 Big East Coach of the Year 2005 USA Basketball Co-Developmental Coach of the Year Jay Wright Personal Information Date of Birth: Dec. 24, 1961 Education: Council Rock High School (1979): Bucknell University (1983) Coaching Experience: 1984-86: University of Rochester; 1986-87: Drexel University; 1987-92: Villanova University; 1992-94 UNLV; 1994-2001 Hofstra University; 2001-present Villanova University Family: Wife, Patricia; Children, Taylor (14), Colin (12) and Reilly (8). top seed and eventual NCAA champion North Carolina, dropping a 67-66 decision that was not decided until the final horn sounded. Wright was named Philadelphia Big Five East- ern College Coach of the Year for his efforts in leading VU to a 24-8 mark in 2004-05. Under Wright, Villanova basketball has grown in other ways. One of Wright's first priorities was to reach out to former Wildcat players to insure that they are an active part of the program. Towards that end, Wright's staff hosts an annual golf outing and alumni game as part of the uni- versity's basketball "Summer Jam". Another clear sign of growth is that three for- mer members of Wright's Villanova staff have now been entrusted to lead other programs. Joe Jones, a Villanova assistant coach from 1997- 2003, is the head coach at Columbia. Billy Lange, a part of Wright's Wildcat staff from 2001-04, is the head coach at the United States Naval Acade- my and former associate head coach Fred Hill was named head coach at Rutgers in the spring of 2006. This marks Wright's second stint at Villanova. He served as an assistant to former head coach Rollie Massimino for five seasons before moving on to the University of Nevada- Las Vegas for two more years as an assistant coach from 1992-94. In 1994, Wright landed his first head coaching position. Hofstra University hired him to breathe life into a program that had struggled through the late 1980s and into the early part of the 1990s. Piece by piece, Wright transformed the Pride into a potent force in the America East Conference. This period was capped by a three-year run, which concluded in 2001, that saw Hofstra post a 72-22 (.766) record and make a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. Wright earned America East Coach of the Year honors in both 1999-2000 and 2000-01. He was In July 2007 Jay Wright served as head coach of USA Basketball’s Pan American Games squad. 20 2007-08 Villanova Men’s Basketball also tabbed Eastern Basketball's Coach of the Year Year-by-Year with Jay Wright in 1999-2000. Five of those Wright has tutored as a college Year Institution Record Postseason head coach moved on to the National Basket- 1994-95 Hofstra University 10-18 None ball Association following their college careers. 1995-96 Hofstra University 9-18 None Foye was taken with the seventh overall selec- tion in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft 1996-97 Hofstra University 12-15 None and is with the Minnesota Timberwolves. 1997-98 Hofstra University 19-12 None Lowry was also selected in the first round of the 1998-99 Hofstra University 22-10 NIT 2006 draft by Memphis and Ray signed with 1999-2000 Hofstra University 24-7 NCAA the Boston Celtics. Speedy Claxton, whom 2000-2001 Hofstra University 26-5 NCAA Wright coached at Hofstra, was a first round 2001-2002 Villanova University 19-13 NIT draft pick in 2000 and signed with Atlanta in 2002-2003 Villanova University 15-16 NIT the summer of 2006 while his former Pride 2003-2004 Villanova University 18-17 NIT teammate, Norman Richardson, spent time 2004-2005 Villanova University 24-8 NCAA with Indiana. At Hofstra, Wright's teams improved on an 2005-2006 Villanova University 28-5 NCAA annual basis, culminating in a 26-5 season of 2006-2007 Villanova University 22-11 NCAA 2000-01. In each of Wright's last six seasons 13 years 248-155 on Long Island, the team improved its victory total from the previous year. Under Wright's Tom Pecora, who was by Wright's side through- lanova and Hofstra has earned his college degree. watch Claxton became only the second sopho- out the seven seasons on Long Island, succeeded Since becoming a head coach, Wright has also more in school history to win America East Wright as head coach. He is the fourth former taken time out to work with USA Basketball. In Player of the Year honors and the Pride cap- Wright aide now directing a Division I program.