In 21 seasons as Villanova’s William B. Finneran Endowed Head Coach, Jay Wright has guided men’s basketball to new heights, including NCAA national championships in 2016 and 2018 and four appearances in the NCAA Final Four. In January 2020, Wright was named the Associated Press men's college basketball Coach of the Decade. In 2018, Wright received the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award in Los Angeles. He is a two-time winner of the Naismith National Coach of the Year award (2006 and 2016) and in 2018-19 became the first man in BIG EAST history to be selected as the league’s Coach of the Year six times.
Jay and his wife, Patricia Reilly, were honored with the inaugural Saint Augustine Medal in April 2017. Wright’s book “Attitude”, published in 2017, was a New York Times bestseller.