The New York Knicks are interested in Villanova head coach Jay Wright as a candidate to take the helm, according to Adam Zagoria of Forbes. Zagoria reports “there is a strong possibility” that Wright could wind up in New York.
Wright has been atop the college radar, besting others like Virginia’s Tony Bennett as the most likely coach to succeed in the pro game.
Front offices have long looked for the next Brad Stevens, the former Butler head coach who now patrols the sidelines for the Boston Celtics. Stevens has enjoyed vast success with the Celtics, taking them as close as a game within the NBA Finals.
Wright, who has coached the school for the past 19 years, has two NCAA championships (2016, 2018) in the last four seasons, developing major respect as one of college's brightest minds.
The Knicks were linked to the 58-year-old just two years ago after former coach Jeff Hornacek was fired, but he opted to stay with the school:
“It’s not that you’re not interested, I just don’t want to leave,” Wright told The New York Post then. “It’s the Knicks. You love the Garden, you love New York City, you love the Knicks. I just know I don’t want to leave Villanova.”
“I love my job. You would love that opportunity, that challenge, especially in New York, especially the Knicks, but you have to leave your job, and I love my job.”
Wright isn't expected to leave Villanova unless an NBA team makes an offer too hard to refuse. Mike Miller, who coaches the Knicks on an interim basis, is widely expected to be relieved of his duties once the new front office comes to establish a brand new regime after former president Steve Mills was fired earlier in February.
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