A head coach’s willingness to compete at a high level can often terrify the players under his tutelage. Jalen Brunson had firsthand experience with this during his 2017/18 season at Jay Wright’s Villanova Wildcats. More than half a decade later, the New York Knicks star recalled this moment while reuniting with his former college head coach.
Advertisement
In late February 2018, Wright gave a spirited talk to the roster. At this moment, the then-Villanova head coach failed to contain his frustration, leading to the players experiencing hell on earth. The 62-year-old repeatedly threatened to start over, leaving the entire squad shellshocked.
Reminiscing about this instance, Brunson recalled on Roommates Show,
“He [Jay Wright] said, ‘Yo guys, Mikal [Bridges], Jalen [Brunson]…whatever y’all do, I’m with it…As for the rest of you mfers, y’all better get in line or I’m starting over. I’m not doing this s**t over again. I promise you, I’ll start this over from scratch. I don’t care. This is what I’ll do'”.
Wright’s wrath spurred from a disappointing away display against the Creighton Bluejays. In the crunch moments of the clash, the team intentionally refused to stick to the principles. Instead, the players tried out their preferred gameplays, disrupting the cohesion. Expectedly, things didn’t pan out, paving the way for a heartbreaking 83-89 defeat.
The events leading to this defeat didn’t sit straight with Wright. However, he initially focused on traveling back to Pennsylvania, instead of addressing the issues within the team. But, his off-the-court decisions also didn’t go in his favor as frosting over the aircraft delayed their departure from Nebraska.
As a result, he failed to distance himself further from the team, before eventually giving in to the temptation of letting out annoyance. His terrifying talk had possibly lasted for minutes, leaving an irreversible impact on the team.
Looking back, in hindsight, this became the turning point of their campaign.
How Jalen Brunson & Co. came back from there
During Wright’s 17th season with the university, he assembled a roster filled with high-potential youngsters. Despite the departure of Josh Hart a year earlier, the team possessed the likes of Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Donte DiVincenzo in their team. So, they had to carry the burden of expectation throughout the campaign.
Much to the fans’ delight, the team rarely underperformed, leading to them registering a 36-4 run. More importantly, the defeat against Creighton was their final one of the season. Following Wright’s fiery speech, the team recorded an 11-game winning run.
So, Wright’s words arrived at just the right time. It brought the team back together while shifting their focus on the biggest goal out of there. This is also partly why Brunson keeps this talk at the back of his head, aiding in him reliving a high point in his life.
