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Philadelphia 76ers: Looking at 5 possible head coaching candidates

By Sam Wagman

CINCINNATI, OH - FEBRUARY 22: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats is seen after the game against the Xavier Musketeers at Cintas Center on February 22, 2020 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH - FEBRUARY 22: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats is seen after the game against the Xavier Musketeers at Cintas Center on February 22, 2020 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 28: Fox Sports analyst Bill Raftery, left, interviews head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats after a game against the St. John’s Red Storm at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Porter Binks/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 28: Fox Sports analyst Bill Raftery, left, interviews head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats after a game against the St. John’s Red Storm at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Porter Binks/Getty Images) /

Jay Wright, Villanova

Jay Wright has been the coach at Villanova University for nearly 20 years now, and has 2 national championships to his name.  He is an All Star in the world of college coaches, and he has shown almost zero willingness to budge from his comfy perch of the college basketball elite coaches thus far.

After all, why would he? Nova pays him $4.4 million a year to mold elite shooters, a task that he regularly exceeds at, and to run deep in the NCAA Tournament, which he also accomplishes on a regular basis. On the surface, there’s no real reason for him to make the jump to the NBA, where he has never coached before.

However, many analysts and basketball people in the know suggest that Wright would not only survive such a move, but would thrive in the high pressure atmosphere of the NBA. As already stated, he regularly runs deep in the NCAA Tournament, a high stakes, one and done situation that you have to be regularly elite in to advance, and he has been molding young players how to shoot well from the perimeter for years. There’s every sign that he could succeed at the next level.