Early coaching career Upon graduating from college, Wright got his first job as an assistant coach at
Division III University of Rochester, having been recommended by Woollum, his college coach, and former teammate Flannery. There, he recruited for the school, His next job came as an assistant to
Rollie Massimino at Villanova, where he remained from 1987 to 1992. In 1992, he moved with Massimino to
UNLV, where he remained until 1994.
Hofstra (1994–2001) In 1994, Wright was named head coach at
Hofstra University, Hofstra's
athletic director Jim Garvey remarked that Wright was "an outstanding recruiter," something the school was in need of improving. Hofstra went 10–18 in Wright's first season, finishing with the worst conference record in the NAC in the regular season, although they did secure a win over
Maine in the conference tournament. Losing seasons followed for the next two years, with Hofstra going 9–18 and 12–15 respectively, although they did improve their finish in the conference each time – to 7th and 4th. Come the 1997–98 season, the Flying Dutchmen secured their first winning season for 12 years. With a roster featuring future
NBA players
Speedy Claxton and
Norm Richardson, Hofstra defeated
Hartford to reach the semi-finals of the now-renamed
America East tournament, before losing to eventual tournament champions
Delaware, to finish the year with a 19–12 record. Claxton was named the
America East Conference Player of the Year, having finished first in the conference and seventh in the country for
assists per game and led Hofstra in points per game. The 1998–99 season saw a third-place finish in the conference, and another semi-final
AEC tournament exit, this time at the hands of
Drexel. But with Hofstra's first 20-win season since 1991–92, and their first postseason appearance in 22 years. The Dutchmen ultimately lost in the first round to
Rutgers, 58–45. A first conference title arrived
the following season – Hofstra both topped the regular season standings outright and won the
conference tournament, after securing victories over
Boston University, Drexel, and two-time defending champions Delaware. With the tournament victory, Hofstra secured a berth in the
NCAA tournament, for the school's first appearance since 1977. who were ranked 14th in the nation in the
AP Poll, but were unable to provide an upset, losing 86–66. Having broken the school record for victories in a season with 24, Wright earned AEC Coach of the Year honors. Claxton won his second conference Player of the Year award, having finished fourth in the nation in scoring, with 23.2 points per game. Under Wright, the program slowly and steadily improved, and by 1999 the Pride were a premier team in the
America East Conference. They won the conference championship in 2000 and 2001, and from 1999 to 2001, went 72–22, including two NCAA tournament appearances. Wright was named America East Coach of the Year in 1999–2000 and 2000–01. He was also tabbed Eastern Basketball's Coach of the Year in 1999–2000. Wright took the Pride to the Postseason three times: • 1999 NIT: Hofstra was defeated by
Rutgers University 68–45 in the first round • 2000 NCAA Tournament: As a #14 seed, Hofstra lost to
Oklahoma State University 86–66 in the first round. • 2001 NCAA Tournament: As a #13 seed, Hofstra was defeated in the first round 61–48 by
UCLA.
Villanova (2001–2022) Three NIT appearances (2001–2004) After receiving overtures from
Tennessee and
Rutgers for their head coaching roles, Wright instead chose to return to
Villanova, becoming the eighth coach in the 81-year history of the program. Wright inherited a mediocre team from previous coach
Steve Lappas, and in Wright's first season, they made the NIT. In 2002, Wright was able to secure one of the top-rated recruiting classes in the country, led by McDonald's All-American center Jason Fraser. However, the Wildcats had a mediocre 2002–03 season, which was marred by a phone card abuse scandal that eventually resulted in suspensions to over half the roster. The Wildcats again made the NIT but did not advance far. The 2003–04 season saw more playing time for the talented young players from the previous recruiting class, but it also resulted in a mediocre season and another NIT appearance. Villanova advanced as far as the quarterfinals in the NIT, doing so in 2002 and 2004. Wright's NIT appearances in his first three years were considered by most fans to be failures and he entered his fourth year considered to be on the hottest seat in the Big East.
Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight runs (2004–2008) In the
2004–05 season, Wright's Wildcats enjoyed a breakout campaign thanks to the emergence of forward Curtis Sumpter and guards
Allan Ray and
Randy Foye. Villanova finished 22–7 in a year that included upset wins over No. 2 Kansas and No. 3 Boston College. They were rewarded with a fifth seed in the
NCAA tournament, the Wildcats' first appearance in the tournament since 1999. Villanova defeated
New Mexico and
Florida to advance to the sweet 16. However, their tournament run came to an end next round after a narrow loss to
North Carolina, the No. 1 seed (and
eventual champion). Villanova was ranked 19th in the final Associated Press poll, their first such appearance in eight years. The
2005–06 season saw the Wildcats ranked in the preseason top four of both major polls, thanks to the return of most players from the previous season. Led by seniors Ray and Foye, and an explosive sophomore in
Kyle Lowry, the Wildcats lived up to the hype and finished with a 25–4 regular season record, including a 14–2 record in the
Big East regular season, which tied them with University of Connecticut for first place in the conference. In the
2006 NCAA tournament, Wright's experienced team earned a No. 1 seed for the first time in school history and posted victories over Monmouth in the first round and Arizona in the second. Wright's squad then narrowly edged Boston College to advance to the Elite 8 for the first time since 1988. However, the Wildcats run ended there, as they lost to eventual champion
Florida. This marked the second consecutive year in which Wright's Wildcats were eliminated by the eventual national champion. For his performance in the 2005–06 season, Wright received national coach of the year honors from CBS/Chevrolet; the Naismith Awards; and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). He was also named the Big East Coach of the Year. The 2006–07 squad had to replace three starters, but thanks in part to the healthy return of
Curtis Sumpter, who had missed the previous season with an
ACL injury, and McDonald's All-American
Scottie Reynolds, the Wildcats made it back to the NCAA tournament for the third straight season. With a 22–10 record, they were seeded ninth but lost to
Kentucky in the second round. In the 2007 offseason, Wright once again came up with a highly rated
recruiting class, this time led by McDonald's All-American
Corey Stokes and Jordan Brand All-American
Corey Fisher. The
2007–08 season saw
Villanova struggle at times, including a five-game losing streak in the middle of the season. Wright and the Wildcats were able to rebound to get a 12 seed (the final at-large seed) in the
NCAA tournament. They upset fifth-seeded
Clemson in round one, and beat
Siena in round two to advance to their third Sweet 16 in four years. The team once again lost to the eventual champs, which this time was the
Kansas Jayhawks.
Final Four appearance and upsets (2008–2012) at a press conference on December 23, 2009 The
2008–09 team, led by senior
Dante Cunningham, junior Scottie Reynolds and breakout sixth man Corey Fisher, streaked to a fourth-place finish in the
Big East, and a double bye in the
conference tournament. The third-seeded Wildcats overcame a double-digit halftime deficit to underdog American to avoid a first-round upset in the
NCAA tournament. The team then defeated sixth-seeded
UCLA by twenty points to make the program's fourth Sweet Sixteen in five years. In its Sweet Sixteen matchup against
Duke, the Wildcats used timely perimeter defense to score a 23-point victory and a trip to the Elite Eight. In a back-and-forth Elite Eight game with then-conference rival
Pitt, Reynolds came up big with a game-winning shot to put Villanova back in the Final Four for the first time since their
national championship run in
1985. Villanova then fell to
North Carolina, the eventual champions, in the National Semifinals at
Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan by a score of 83–69. For the
2009–10 season, Wright brought in a recruiting class in the top five of the national rankings. The class was highlighted by point guard
Maalik Wayns (Philadelphia/Roman Catholic), forwards Isaiah Armwood (Rockville, Md./Montrose Christian School) and
Mouphtaou Yarou (Nattingou, Benin; also attending the same Montrose Christian School) and guard Dominic Cheek (Jersey City, NJ / St. Anthony's). Taylor King, a former McDonald's All-American and Duke transfer, also joined the rotation, after redshirting the '08–'09 season. The Wildcats earned a two seed in the NCAA tournament, but after a rocky start in the tournament, highlighted by Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher being benched to start the game, fell in the second round of play to
Saint Mary's. The Wildcats got off to a 16–1 start, and were ranked as high as sixth in the nation. However, they went 5–11 the rest of the way, including six straight losses to finish the season. The final two losses were particularly tough, as Villanova lost to South Florida in the Big East tournament before falling to George Mason in the Round of 64 in the NCAA tournament. Faced with a young team after the departures of seniors Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes, the Wildcats endured their worst season under Wright, finishing 13–19. It was the only season in the Wright era where Villanova did not compete in any postseason tournaments. They did manage a victory in the opening round of the Big East tournament, defeating Rutgers 70–49, before falling to South Florida for the second consecutive season.
Return to postseason and first national championship (2012–2016) Villanova's recent struggles prompted some to speculate that Wright's job was in danger. However, with the help of sophomores Darrun Hilliard and JayVaughn Pinkston, as well as freshmen Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu, the Wildcats returned to respectability, winning 20 games and returning to the NCAA Tournament. Though they fell to North Carolina in the Round of 64, the Wildcats picked up some signature wins, defeating #5 Louisville and #3 Syracuse in the span of a week. They also ended the regular season with wins over #17 Marquette and #5 Georgetown. In the
first season of the
current Big East Conference, formed after Villanova and six other schools
broke away from the
original Big East Conference,
Villanova was the #2 seed in the East and lost in the second round to
Connecticut, the #7 seed and eventual national champion. In the
2015 NCAA tournament,
Villanova was the #1 seed in the East and lost in the second round to
North Carolina State, the #8 seed.
Villanova earned a #2 seed in the South Region of the
2016 NCAA tournament, defeating
UNC Asheville,
Iowa,
Miami and
Kansas to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2009. In the national semifinal, Villanova defeated
Oklahoma 95–51, the largest margin of victory in
Final Four history. The Wildcats then proceeded to defeat
North Carolina in the national title game, 77–74, on a 3-point shot by
Kris Jenkins as time expired, earning Wright his first championship. In addition to the record shattering 44-point defeat of Oklahoma in the Final Four, the 2016 championship run included numerous other notable achievements. Villanova was the first school without an
FBS football program to win the NCAA men's title since Villanova's own championship in 1985. They were also the first team in 31 years (again, since the 1985 Villanova team) to dispatch four straight
AP top 10 teams (Miami, Kansas, Oklahoma and North Carolina) in their run, and 5 total AP ranked teams (Iowa, in addition to the previously mentioned teams). They were also the only team, again since the 1985 Villanova championship squad, to beat four straight top 3 seeds on their championship run: two 1 seeds (Kansas and North Carolina), one 2 seed (Oklahoma) and one 3 seed (Miami). Villanova's performance included two of the most offensively efficient games ever recorded since the analytics era began in 2002, tallying 1.56 and 1.51 points per possession against 3-seed Miami and 2-seed Oklahoma, respectively. Villanova's average margin of victory for the tournament was nearly 21 points per game, and the only teams they defeated by less than 19 points were Kansas and North Carolina (the overall first and second seeded teams in the tournament, whom they beat by 5 and 3 points, respectively). It has been called perhaps the most dominant tournament championship run of all time, and the most dominant of the analytics era by a wide margin.
Second national championship (2016–2019) In the
2017 NCAA tournament,
Villanova was the #1 seed in the East and lost in the second round to
Wisconsin, the #8 seed. Shortly before the start of the
2017–18 season, Wright was named the recipient of the 2018
Legends of Coaching Award, part of the annual
John R. Wooden Award program.
Villanova earned a #1 seed in the East Region, defeating
Radford,
Alabama,
West Virginia, and
Texas Tech to advance to the Final Four for the second time in three years. In the National Semifinal, Villanova defeated
Kansas 95–79. The Wildcats then proceeded to defeat
Michigan in the National Championship Game, 79–62 to give Wright his second championship in three years. Assistant head coach
Ashley Howard left Villanova on April 8, 2018, to become the head coach at
La Salle University, a Philadelphia Big 5 rival. Wright faced a difficult task after his second national title. Last year's departures included
Mikal Bridges,
Donte DiVincenzo,
Omari Spellman, and
Jalen Brunson, who were each taken in the
2018 NBA draft. As a result, Wright was left with a young, inexperienced squad entering the season. Villanova stood at #8 in the preseason rankings, but they were crushed by Michigan in a title game rematch in their third game of the season. They later fell to Furman in overtime at home, dropping them from the Top 25 entirely. After losing to top-ranked Kansas in December, Villanova won 11 in a row and returned to the national rankings. A February win over #10 Marquette allowed them to clinch the Big East regular season title. They would then go on to defeat Providence, Xavier, and Seton Hall to win their third consecutive Big East tournament, becoming the first team to do so. Wright earned his sixth Big East Coach of the Year Award for his efforts. The Wildcats finished 26–10 and earned a sixth seed in the NCAA Tournament. They would defeat 11th-seeded St. Mary's in the Round of 64 by 4, before falling to Purdue 87–61.
Final Four run and retirement (2019–2022) The Wildcats ended their season with a 24–7 record. Villanova's 13–5 record in Big East play allowed them to clinch a share of the conference's regular season title, tying with
Creighton and
Seton Hall. The Wildcats were seeded second in the
Big East tournament, but the tournament was cancelled early due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Oddly, the
Big East tournament was the last conference tournament to be cancelled, which resulted in games being played despite other conferences canceling their games. Despite losing sophomore
Saddiq Bey to the first round of the NBA draft, Wright and the Wildcats were ranked third in the opening AP poll to start the season. Villanova got off to an 8–1 start (which included wins over No. 18 Arizona State and No. 17 Texas) but was forced to temporarily shut down when Wright and several other members of the program tested positive for COVID-19. With an 11–4 conference record, the Wildcats clinched at least a share of the regular season title for the third consecutive season, clinching it with a win over Creighton on March 3. However, Villanova was ousted in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament in an upset loss to eventual champion Georgetown after losing co-Big East Player of the Year Collin Gillespie (sharing with teammate
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and
Sandro Mamukelashvili of Seton Hall) to an injury. Many felt that, without Gillespie, the Wildcats would be subjected to a quick exit at the NCAA Tournament, where they were seeded fifth in the South region. Villanova instead topped twelfth-ranked Winthrop and thirteenth-ranked North Texas to return to the Sweet 16 before losing to Baylor 62–51. Ranked fourth in the initial Associated Press poll, the Wildcats stumbled to a 7–4 start. Villanova had fallen to 23rd in the rankings by late December before going 19–3 over the rest of the regular season. The Big East's regular-season championship went to Providence, whose .824 winning percentage beat Villanova's at .800. Wright earned his fifth Big East tournament title and second-seeded Villanova's sixth overall as they topped Creighton in the championship round. Gillespie was named the conference tournament MVP after earning Big East Player of the Year honors. For their efforts, the Wildcats were granted a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they topped #15 Delaware, #7 Ohio State, #11 Michigan, and #5 Houston to advance to the Final Four, before losing 81–65 to eventual champion Kansas. He retired following the season, with former assistant
Kyle Neptune succeeding him as head coach. ==Head coaching record==