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NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FINAL FOUR

March 28, 2016

Jay Wright

Houston, Texas

DAVE WORLOCK: We have Villanova Coach Jay Wright on the call. We'll jump right into Q&A with the media.

First question, please.

Q. Coach, with Jenkins playing so well here in March, what kind of boost has he given to your team? What has he been able to do to turn it on since the Big East tournament?
COACH WRIGHT: He has given us a big boost in that he's added a really consistent scoring ability. We've had Josh Hart, we've had Ryan Arcidiacono. We've had Daniel Ochefu.

But Kris, he has turned into a consistent scorer and in the NCAA tournament a really big scorer. I think what we're seeing is a guy who, you know, played his whole career as kind of a guy that was a little bit out of shape but really intelligent; knew how to play out of shape and still be effective.

But when he got here he lost a lot of weight. It took him some time to learn to play with his new body at a high intensity level. I think he's really coming into his new body and knowing how to play for high minutes.

I think one of the games, I don't think it was the last game, he played 35 minutes at a high level. He couldn't do that in the previous years.

Q. Jay, you recruited Malachi Richardson. What did you like about him? Are you surprised to see what this kid has done this year, especially yesterday?
COACH WRIGHT: Yeah, we did. We really wanted him. He's basically a local kid. Anybody that's from South Jersey/Philadelphia area. He's a Trenton kid. We loved his game. We loved he was local, came from a good family. Trenton Catholic High School, a great school. We were crushed we didn't get him.

I'm not surprised at the level of play. When you're a freshman, you're that talented, you've got good character like he does, you're going to be coached. You're going to allow yourself to be coached.

I think playing right away in that program with great coaches, where he is now doesn't surprise me. To be a freshman and to be able to take over a game like that, in that environment, in that pressure, surprises me. It would surprise me if any freshman did that. That was the only part that was surprising.

To do it in this game in the second half, down to an outstanding, experienced team, probably one of the most impressive performances of the tournament.

Q. Jay, is this Final Four somewhat indicative of how the season has been? Only one No. 1 made it; you have a 10 seed. During the season there were six or seven No. 1's; all the movement in the top 25.
COACH WRIGHT: Definitely. Definitely. Even when the seedings came out, I think there was more talk about who was the No. 1, who was the No. 2, and where were they seeded amongst each other, than any year.

Usually you talk about, you know, who made the tournament, who didn't get in the tournament.

All the questions were about the top. I think that is indicative of the season. Even when we were No. 1 people were saying somebody else should have been No. 1, vice versa. As soon as you lost a game you were out of No. 1, no question (laughter).

There's so much parity at the top, which has really been unusual.

Q. Jay, as you look back to the days of the old Big East, when you came into the conference, every year was a big battle, the way things have evolved in college basketball, also in the tournament, is there one thing that sticks out in your mind as to how things are different in those 15 years?
COACH WRIGHT: Well, for us, the Big East is different. I think all of the conferences are different in that you had storied, traditional geographic rivals. I think that's gone away in college basketball and college football right now.

When Duke plays Carolina now, I think it's a bigger deal because it's an old traditional geographic rival. But the Syracuse-Duke game -- now that I say that, I should probably take that back. Maybe it's not as big a deal. The Syracuse-Duke game rivals Duke-Carolina now for different reasons.

Even in our conference, when we would play St. John's or we would play Georgetown, it was such a big deal because of the history.

Now, when we play Xavier, because of their recent success, it's just as big a game. So maybe that's what I'm seeing, that the geographic rivalries aren't as important anymore.

To me, it's sad. But there is a silver lining, because I think nationally teams are recognized with all the exposure getting more than they were in the past.

Q. Can you think back to the first year in the Big East. You had success obviously. What were your thoughts about the job ahead and how much success you could have at Villanova? I know back in those days the Big East coaches lent a helping hand. Did Jim Boeheim do anything that sticks in your mind to help you?
COACH WRIGHT: When I first came into the Big East in 2001?

Q. Yes.
COACH WRIGHT: Yes. One of the things about Jim Boeheim is he has done a lot for a lot of coaches in his career. I'm sure for his players he's helped a lot. I know for a fact that his work with USA Basketball, the helping assistance with jobs, I can't think of a guy in college basketball that's done more.

When I was a coach at Hofstra, he got me involved in USA Basketball. I was actually his assistant on a U-21 team. We went to Brazil. As a matter of fact, I think it was his only loss as a head coach in international play, when I was his assistant (laughter).

But he got me involved in that as a head coach at Hofstra. When I came to the Big East, we had a good relationship. He continued to help me even though we were rivals.

First year at the Big East meetings, he took me to play golf. He took my wife Patty and I out we and his wife Julie.

As miserable as he can look sometimes, he is the nicest guy in the world to coaches. He always has taken care of coaches across the country.

Q. Coach, you know a lot of naysayers are saying the No. 10 seed messes up the brackets, this, that. How do you use that as an advantage for you and your guys as you make preparations for this Final Four?
COACH WRIGHT: You mean Syracuse being a 10 seed?

Q. Yes. The parity that's in basketball right now is by far a great thing, a good thing for the entire conference, and basketball as a whole. How do you see that when you're preparing your teams?
COACH WRIGHT: I think of any Final Four - and I'm sure every team is saying this - North Carolina lost to Northern Iowa during the year, you know. They're playing as well as anybody right now. They know they can get beat by anybody. I think everybody knows they can beat them.

Syracuse being a 10 seed is playing as well as everybody. They've beaten everybody.

I think all four of us are saying, Look, anybody could win this thing. More than any other year, I really think that's true.

Every other year there's usually one team in there that if you're on the other side of the bracket you're hoping they get beat so you don't have to play them. Everyone else is saying, They're kind of the favorite.

I wouldn't say that this year. I think anybody can win this. I think our players understand that. I think the players on all the teams understand that.

Q. Obviously you guys had a taste of the lights-out shooting Oklahoma team in Hawaii earlier this year. They can be a little bit meteoric, like a lot of other teams can be. What do you take away from that first game? I know it was far from the best shooting performance you had all year, but what do you take away from that game? What do you tell your kids coming into a rematch situation?
COACH WRIGHT: The good thing about playing them is I think our guys have great respect for them. We use that game. It was so early in the season, early December. We really use that game as kind of an example of how good you have to be to be a top-10 team.

We were both ranked in the top 10 going into that game. Both of us were ranked top 10 based on our previous success in the previous season.

When that game unfolded, it was very clear that Oklahoma is playing like a top-10 team, probably a top-5 team at that point, and we are not.

We really used that as a bar to say, Look, we know what it is to play a top-5 team. These guys are playing that way.

We did not defend like a top-5 team. We had poor shot selection. It was very clear that they were. It was a great learning experience.

I think we've gotten a lot better from that point. They have, too. I think we had a lot further to come than they did. I think they were close to a Final Four team at that time of the year. They have reached that goal. They've gotten good enough to be a definite Final Four team and national championship contender. We weren't close at that time.

I think we had gotten to the point on Saturday night of playing like a Final Four team.

DAVE WORLOCK: Coach, congratulations again. Safe travels down to Houston. We'll see you in a couple days.

COACH WRIGHT: Thank you, David.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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