Jay Wright, Jalen Brunson
Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
The New York Knicks are looking for a new head coach after firing Tom Thibodeau, who led the team to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years. The move stunned the NBA as Thibodeau took the Knicks to the playoffs in four of his five seasons as head coach.
Now the question is: who will replace Thibodeau? The Athletic believes Jay Wright, who won two national championships in 21 seasons at Villanova — and coached Knicks stars Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart — would be the “ultimate wild-card candidate.”
“Wright has been persistently rumored as a candidate for the Knicks every time the job opened over the last decade but he hasn’t bitten yet,” The Athletic writes. “This time, he could walk into a title-contender stocked with players he already knows and coached. It’s almost a movie. There are some question marks, though. Wright has only coached in college, so he would be inexperienced on the NBA level — although he was an assistant with Team USA for the 2019 FIBA World Cup and the 2021 Olympics.”
During his time at Villanova, Wright would turn down overtures from NBA teams to leave. He retired after the 2022 season following a Final Four appearance.
In 2024, he told The Columbus Dispatch he was “definitely done coaching” after being asked about the open Ohio State basketball coach position at the time.
Since his retirement, Wright has been a college basketball analyst for CBS Sports. He left the game with a 520-197 record with the Wildcats, two national championships and four Final Four appearances. Wright was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
Could the Knicks lure him out of retirement and coach players he won a national championship with? It seems doubtful, but you never know — money does talk.