Ohio State a 'great job,' but former Villanova coach Jay Wright 'definitely done coaching'
![Villanova Wildcats head coach Jay Wright watches as an Ohio State Buckeyes players shoots free throws during the first half of the NCAA men's basketball game at Value City Arena in Columbus on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019. [Adam Cairns/Dispatch]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/J25x4n.SeMcxmIdxCLgqEg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0NA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the-columbus-dispatch/d53db79ce0c7ef3331c0b57b566f0aab)
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Jay Wright knows how good the Ohio State men's basketball job is.
He's just not interested in it. Or any head coaching job. Sunday afternoon inside the Breslin Center, the former Villanova coach told The Dispatch that he's not a candidate for the position created when athletic director Gene Smith fired Chris Holtmann amid his seventh season with the program.
"It's a great job," Wright, who will be on the CBS broadcast of Sunday afternoon's game between Michigan State and Ohio State, said. "It has an outstanding athletic department, great tradition and fertile recruiting ground.
"It would be a great job, but I'm definitely done coaching."
Newly hired athletic director Ross Bjork told The Dispatch this week that the Buckeyes are in the early stages of the coaching search and that any thoughts that they are zeroing in on any particular candidate are simply untrue. As teams approach the end of their seasons and Bjork prepares to officially join the athletic department March 1, Ohio State has cast what Bjork said is a wide net while pointing out that the caliber of the position means there's nobody the Buckeyes can't at least call to gauge their interest.
Wright, who led Villanova from 2001-22 and won two national championships, is a name Ohio State fans have placed on many wish lists as potential replacements for Holtmann.
The Buckeyes have talent, Wright said, and are poised for success in the near future whomever they hire.
"These young guys are going to be good," he said. "The situation is a statement on where college athletics are now. Chris was doing a good job, doing it the right way, and that's not acceptable anymore. Any program with a coach in his second year would gladly take what Ohio State has right now.
"Whoever gets the job will have an outstanding team next year. They (Ohio State) will get great candidates."
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The Dispatch has reported that the university has had early feeler talks with Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May and that former Buckeyes Chris Jent and Scoonie Penn are also interested in the position.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Former Villanova coach Jay Wright 'definitely done coaching'
