Friday, September 03, 2004
the Wright stuff?
Gregg Doyel believes Jay Wright may soon be out at Villanova. Perhaps. The 'Cats haven't had much success of late.Feeling heat from administration and alumni, [Steve] Lappas left Villanova with a .613 overall winning percentage, .559 in nine Big East seasons. Lappas' last three Villanova teams averaged 19.7 victories, with an NCAA Tournament bid in 1999 and NIT appearances in 2000 and '01.
Not good enough, apparently -- yet markedly better than Wright.
Wright has a .531 overall winning percentage at Villanova, .438 in the Big East. His teams have averaged 17.3 victories, with three consecutive NIT appearances.
Add an NCAA scandal or two, Kyle Lowry's recent knee injury, and signee Shane Clark's decision to re-open his recruiting and take visits to Florida and Maryland and you have a recipe for dismissal. On the other hand, Wright is very well respected in New York City. The Daily News' Dick Weiss writes:
Jay Wright, Villanova. He's still extremely popular with coaches in the Catholic League, Brooklyn PSAL and the Island and has three locals - guard Allan Ray of St. Raymond's, forward Curtis Sumpter of Loughlin and center Jason Fraser of Amityville - in the starting lineup for a team that came on in March.
But will a solid reputation be enough? Unless Jay is able to ink a few premier prospects in the coming months, I doubt it. He'll hang on this year. But sooner or later the rubber will meet the road.
