Sam Donnellon: Villanova's Wright learning about the 'hot seat'
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Jay Wright used to brag about what a great job he had. Division I program, small, supportive Catholic school competing in the Big East, fertile recruiting
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Jay Wright used to brag about what a great job he had. Division I program, small, supportive Catholic school competing in the Big East, fertile recruiting region that could be accessed while sleeping in his own bed at night. All in a city that loves its college basketball like a parent loves a child, and nurtures it that way, too.
And then he did something really stupid. He started winning NCAA Tournament games and reached the Final Four. He farmed that Northeast corridor a little too successfully, drew all kinds of attention for the talent he accumulated, won 20 of his first 21 games this season, became the second-ranked team in the country.
He coached himself and his team right into the center of the national microscope. In his bracket, the president of the United States of America picked Villanova to reach the Final Four. Alumni from the school began strutting around as if they had gone to Duke, not beaten the Blue Devils once.
"I've heard coaches say, 'I don't read the papers,' '' Wright said after practice yesterday. "And I was like, 'Why?' I like reading, hearing all the other stuff.
"Well, I'm starting to learn why."
Starting? This season has been a series of life lessons for Wright and his staff, culminating in Scottie (Reynolds)/Corey (Fisher)-gate the other day.
Reggie Redding was arrested on a marijuana possession charge over the summer. There were discipline issues with Taylor King, and Corey Stokes was cited by Villanova police for relieving himself in public.
Wright still sees his decision not to start Reynolds and Fisher in Thursday's 73-70 overtime victory over Robert Morris as a minor disciplinary teaching point, and both players have repeatedly parroted that. The team survived it, both will start against Saint Mary's today, so . . .
So they were asked about it again yesterday. And if they lose today, they will undoubtedly be asked about it again. Lose today, a lack of focus, cohesion, leadership and yes, coaching, will be a topic that hounds the program into the summer.
Wright seemed perplexed about this at first, didn't quite understand why the reasons provided - "minor teaching points" and "game preparation" - would be seen by many as cloaking something more sinister.
"I get it now," he said. "It's a big deal to everybody else. Both guys are going to start [today], they've learned a lesson. It's over. But nationally it's still a big deal. They're still talking about it.
"These are all things we have to learn. Coaches. Our whole program. I want to be honest about it because if I tell you every little thing, people are going to be like, 'What's he doing? That's so stupid.' But that's just what we do. Maybe going forward maybe we might just have to say what it is."
Discipline is just part of one thing. Losing five of their last seven games before Thursday, losing in the first round of the Big East Tournament to Marquette and nearly getting upended by a 15th-seeded team has enabled and energized those who see the Villanova coach as a deft recruiter who struggles with his X's and O's. The Wildcats are one victory away from reaching the Sweet 16 for the third season in a row, something every other Big 5 coach would love to dangle from his resumé.
Wright repeated his season-long axiom yesterday that his team already had overachieved, regardless of preseason rankings, or its red-hot start. But if Villanova loses today, he may be close to alone in that assessment.
Dissent is not limited to the outside, either. Success has transformed at least some in Nova Nation from nurturing to nasty.
"I get some e-mails," said the coach, who is also selling his house near campus. "You probably get worse. The stuff they wouldn't say to me."
They will say it to him if the season ends today. Some will, anyway. That's the way it works under the microscope, the way it works in places like Durham and Lexington and Manhattan, Kan. We're a pro town, just as New York is. But when you become the No. 1 basketball attraction in one of those towns, you become its No. 1 basketball target, too.
It's still a great job, he still gets to sleep at home more than his peers do. But lose today, and he might not want to have a television in the bedroom of his new place.
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