Dan Cirucci: Villanova Announces Jay Wright's Successor

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Villanova Announces Jay Wright's Successor

April 20, 2022

Dear Members of the Villanova Community,

We would like to start by expressing our immense gratitude to Jay Wright, who today announced his retirement from coaching, for his incredible leadership of Villanova Men’s Basketball for the past 21 years. He has led our storied program with class, humility and grace, leaving an indelible impact on this community.

Jay’s legacy at Villanova extends well beyond the numerous awards, accolades and championships. He will be forever known to our community as Villanova’s winningest coach, who did things the “Wright” way, guiding, developing and empowering the student-athletes who played for him to not only be better on the basketball court but also in their personal lives. Jay taught us all the true meaning of “ATTITUDE,” so, on behalf of everyone associated with Villanova Basketball, we would like to express our overwhelming “GRATITUDE” for everything he has done for Villanova.

Jay and his wife, Patty, have always been tremendous ambassadors for the University and our Augustinian mission by embodying what it means to be a Villanovan: selfless, humble and caring while being driven, determined and competitive. Villanova is a better University for Jay being a part of it, which is why we are delighted that he has agreed to stay on at Villanova as Special Assistant to the President. In this role, Jay will be involved in fundraising, advising, education and more for the University.

NEXT CHAPTER
Over the past two decades, Jay and his staff have built an enviable, world-class basketball program at Villanova. When looking for a successor, we wanted a candidate who could provide continuity for what Jay has built, and who could navigate the changing landscape of collegiate athletics keeping Villanova in a position of strength—now and in the future. After meeting with several exceptional candidates, we found all those attributes and more in Villanova’s new William B. Finneran Endowed Head Coach, Kyle Neptune.

Kyle quickly stood out for his basketball knowledge, recruiting savvy and natural ability to connect with student-athletes and coaches. He most recently served as the head coach of Fordham University. Prior to Fordham, Kyle served two stints on Jay’s staff over the course of a decade. While an assistant coach at Villanova, the team averaged 30.7 wins per season and captured five BIG EAST regular-season tournament titles and a pair of NCAA national championships. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Kyle played four seasons of college basketball at Lehigh University.

Please join us in congratulating Kyle and welcoming him back to Villanova. He is eager to get started and return to the Villanova community. Also, in the months ahead, we will come together to honor Jay and Patty and recognize his more than two decades as the Head Coach of Villanova Men’s Basketball. More to come on that, but as we say, it’s a great day to be a Wildcat!

Sincerely,

Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA
President

Mark Jackson
Vice President and Director of Athletics

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About Dan Cirucci

He's been cited by the late Rush Limbaugh, quoted in the New York Times, featured at Real Clear Politics and Lucianne.com and interviewed across all media.

He's Dan Cirucci, the founder and editor-in chief of the Dan Cirucci Blog, a Save Jersey blog columnist, frequent guest on the Matt Rooney radio show and one of the most widely honored public relations professionals in his field. He's also been a public relations consultant to numerous organizations and individuals and hosted The Advocates on RVN-TV.

Inducted into the Philadelphia Public Relations Hall of Fame, for many years he served as a Lecturer in Corporate Communication at Penn State University. A former President of the Philadelphia Public Relations Association (PPRA) he has lectured at Rowan University, Temple University, The College of New Jersey and Arcadia University. He has conducted workshops on public relations for thousands of participants throughout the nation and has taught countless others the art of public speaking. He has also advised numerous lawyers, judges, public officials and political candidates.

Cirucci is a prolific writer and his op-ed pieces have appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Courier-Post, Broad and Liberty and other print and online platforms.

A native of Camden NJ, Cirucci is a former President of the Philadelphia chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. Cirucci served as Associate Executive Director of the Philadelphia Bar Association for nearly 30 years. He served as Chair of Penn State University's Professional Advisory Board for the Corporate Communication major at Penn State Abington and on the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Judicial Selection Commission.

He received his MA degree from Rowan University and his BA from Villanova University. He has been named a Distinguished Alumnus of Rowan's public relations program and received the E. A. "Wally" Richter Leadership Award, the highest honor from the National Association of Bar Executives' Communications Section. He has also been honored by numerous other local, state and national groups.

In his hometown of Camden, Cirucci taught fifth grade at the Ulysses Wiggins Elementary School named for the founder of the Camden NAACP. There he was one of the first teachers in the country to teach African-American history to inner city students. He later served as editor of a local weekly newspaper, as Assistant to the Township Manager of Cherry Hill Township and as Associate Director of Communications at the New Jersey State Bar Association.

Cirucci's passions include all things Italian, politics, the popular culture, books and authors, art, communication, music, theatre, movies, dining and travel.

He and his wife Carole have two grown children and seven grandchildren.

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