I Bleed Blue and White

I agree with your last thought. He really opened himself up to criticism by phrasing things this way.

Having said that – I am thrilled that we’re back to being competitive year after year. There are times I wonder about the decisions that Jay makes regarding lineups, etc, but I have a short memory for that type of thing. As long as they continue to live up to their reputation for toughness, I can live with the occasional setback/disappointment.

Go Cats!

Yeah I think we’ll all be happy with making the NCAA every year and competing in the upper echelon of the Big East.

But Jay’s recruiting has been off the charts and at some point, the goal needs to be ‘Final Four’ instead of ‘Sweet Sixteen.’

Jay Wright has recast this program in his image. We are now a national program that fields a competitive team every year. Please, if you are not old enough, or do not remember, please harken back to the Lappas years. Jay Wright is an outstanding individual who has produced a culture of winning which is both enthusiastic and responsible. The point of the article is that there is no pressure-cooker environment at Villanova; Jay is not subjected to the merciless scrutiny of our pro-sports teams, and he’s built a program that values hard work, commitment, and dignity. Final Four or not, he’s one hell of a Coach. I’ll respect him forever and hope that he remains happy at Villanova.

How can you not like a guy who says something like “like getting ragged about not playing Dante Cunningham with two first half fouls against WVA – which I probably should have.” That is a great line and says a lot about Jay Wright’s character! He may drive me nuts once in a while – but he is a class act and an all-around great guy for the players, school and fans!

I think maybe I misstated my opinion. I love Jay Wright. I don’t think we could do any better right now in the coaching department unless a HOF decided he wanted to come.

He has the right attitude for the Villanova program and he’s taken it to a new level.

What I’m saying is that he has taken it to the point where very soon, the fans are going to want more. And I just think he should want that too.

I definitely see your point. However, I can’t envision a scenario where expectations outweigh performance (perhaps that’s just shortsightedness).

I believe that with the talent he signs, the results will manifest themselves, the product of playing the game the right way. I’m actually proud that Wright doesn’t kow-tow to uberstars who’re just looking for a way-point between high school and the pros.

All throughout the recruitment of Tyreke Evans, the report was that Wright went in there and basically sold him on the program and the process and Jay Wright basketball. He didn’t kiss an 18 year old’s ass and promise to bend the team and the program to suit one individual’s style of play. He addressed Evan’s weaknesses and tried to sell him on improvement through team work. It wasn’t the right fit for Evans and that was that.

Jay Wright’s success (which I believe will one day include a national championship) is a product of his methodology, not his overhyped expectations. He isn’t willing to sell the program’s soul for a one shot deal.

I’m not in anyway suggesting that you were suggesting that he was. I’m basically just trying to flesh out my thesis on why I love Jay Wright so much, and why I wouldn’t let him go even if a “HOF decided he wanted to come”.

I wish I had stated my opinion more strongly in my original comment: I give Jay Wright my total support, and cannot think of any major complaint to lodge against him.

My concern was that his comments would lead to criticism from folks that don’t share my high opinion of him.

CT -

Fair enough. I also like the way he recruits, basically preaching the team. That is actually probably isn’t going to get it done with super-soph Mike Gilchrist, but whatever, he’s pretty much gone to Memphis anyways. That’s the early word.

But it does help us with good players from good programs like Montrose and St. Pat’s. The players that play there are used to playing in the team environment.

My one point is that with the talent that Jay is bringing in, most die-hard fans are going to start to feel like we should be doing better. Think about next year’s team. We lose Cunningham but we bring in our best class ever AND Taylor King. We could be better.

With the way he is beginning to recruit, we aren’t going to rely on intangibles to win games, our pure talent is going to win most and those intangibles will send us to the next level.

Most certainly.

However, while Nova’s fan base will come to expect more and more, I can’t imagine that, at any point, these expectations will outweigh sheer gratitude for Wright getting us into such a position.

Maybe 20 years down the line (hopefully), but not anytime soon.