It all began in 2012 — after the worst season of the Jay Wright era at Villanova.
Three years after reaching the Final Four, the Wildcats hit rock bottom, equaling their most losses (19) in program history. Wright faulted himself. He had gone away from what made Villanova successful. Top recruits wanted to follow after the run to the national semifinals in 2009, and it didn’t work.
“A lot of those guys came with a one-and-done mentality, and we didn’t explain to them what our culture is,” Wright recalled in a phone interview with The Post. “It was on me. We just took them.”
However, it might have been the best thing to happen to Wright and Villanova in the long run. It was a wake-up call. A reminder of what worked for the school. Wright and his coaching staff altered their recruiting approach to going after not just talented players, but high-character athletes with a strong work ethic whose sole focus wasn’t to get to the NBA as fast as possible.