Jay Wright retires as Villanova head coach at the relatively young age of 61 after 21 years in the role and two national championships. Wright is universally thought of as a friendly, magnanimous coach who won "the right way" (by not paying one-and-done recruits and identifying four-year contributors).
I've said it before: it's exceptional that a power coach, let alone an elite program, recruits a succession of white (American) point guards. Wright won the 2016 National Championship with Ryan Arcidiacono, then took a shot on local prospect Collin Gillespie a year later. With Gillespie's graduation, Ryan's younger brother Chris is scheduled to start next season, and Angelo Brizzi will back him up after redshirting this year. Wright also coached up shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo to an early entry in the NBA draft after winning the 2018 championship with him.
The Wildcats immediately announced a black former assistant, who left a year prior for a small school head coaching gig, will return and replace Wright. This coach was a player at Lehigh (in the relatively white-friendly Patriot League) and served under Wright for years. That aside, I'm skeptical that he will keep up the momentum of caste-breaking white point guards. I wouldn't be shocked if Brizzi eventually transfers elsewhere.
The media cites Wright's alleged disenchantment with the NIL recruiting landscape and transfer free-for-all. Whether or not you agree with the intrinsic fairness of NIL, the fast-evolving dynamic is to pay black players, who are assumed to be poor and therefore exploited, who also suffer from racism. A young black coach is an archetype cog for this system, which is gaining steam and obviously moving away from the actual game of basketball.
