Santoliquito: Villanova Hate Would Dissipate If You Met Jay Wright
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Bill Raftery, the CBS NCAA Tournament color analyst, teasingly calls Jay Wright "George Clooney."
And to a certain extent, the moniker fits. Wright has the dashing looks of a leading man, his ensemble definitely fits the part, too, but where the former Council Rock High star veers away from that is an every man quality that not only endears him to the nation's top recruits, it makes him tangible to those who follow the Wildcats and cover the team.
It's why it's a little hard to comprehend why anyone in the Philadelphia area would root against Villanova this weekend when the Wildcats play in the Final Four.
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Two minutes with Wright and any Villanova hater would find themselves instantly swayed to like the Cats.
And it falls under every Philadelphia sports storyline that's fictional and real. Get past the suits and movie face and what you have in Wright is a grinder. He eschews legacy questions and the other mundane trappings that come with someone in his position and keeps his focus simple. That's on the person and task in front of him.
"Love Jay Wright, absolutely love the man," basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley said. "Jay is a great communicator who gets his guys to play hard and you can tell there is a real bond between them, especially the kind of players Jay gets. They're committed to him and he's committed to them. Jay is someone who hasn't let success change him. And you know what, whether he wins a national championship or not, I don't think that will ever change who he is. That's why I think the guy is pretty special. He has his feet on the ground. He remains true to himself, and that's not an easy thing when you're in the spotlight all of the time."
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Wright was never handed anything.
"I purposely don't (think about my legacy)," Wright said. "It's like I tell my players every season, don't worry about what we do, just play you butt off, because you only have one chance to play and at the end of the season we'll sit down and talk about our accomplishments, which we always do. I hope for myself I get a chance to look back on my career, but I want to really enjoy every moment of it, and then think back.
"It's uncomfortable (being spoken about among the top coaches in Big 5 history). I don't feel I belong there yet. If in the end, someone looks back and says I'm there, it would mean the world to me. More than comparing me to anyone nationally, because this is where he live, this is where we grew up, this is where we learn. I learned from Harry Litwack, Jimmy Lynam, Paul Westhead, Rollie Massimino, and Chuck Daly. I didn't read any books by John Wooden, I just went to their camps. Herb Magee, I went to their camps, I went to their games and listened to what they said. I went to their clinics when I was a young coach.
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"When I was an assistant coach at Rochester and Hofstra, I would go to the Final Four, and it's bad to say, but I didn't have any money. I would to the Final Four and sell my ticket. I would go to Herb Magee's room and watch the game, and listen to Herb Magee and Phil Martelli and watch the game. I didn't scalp the ticket. Tickets worth $150, and I needed the money. I was making $10,000 at Rochester. I loved it. I would sit in a room with Herb Magee listening to him and Phil Martelli, and I liked that more than I liked going to the game."
In 1985, Wright missed the Villanova-Georgetown finals in person because he had to run back to Rochester as the assistant intramural director to run floor hockey. Then run back home that Monday night, April 1, 1985, to watch the Wildcats upset Patrick Ewing and Georgetown.
He'll have the best seat in the house Saturday night.
