Legends of Coaching Award, part of the annual John R. Wooden Award program. Villanova earned a #1 seed in the East Region, defeating Radford, Alabama, West Virginia, and Texas Tech to advance to the Final Four for the second time in three years. In the National Semifinal, Villanova defeated Kansas 95–79. The Wildcats then proceeded to defeat Michigan in the National Championship Game, 79–62 to give Wright his second championship in three years. Assistant head coach Ashley Howard left Villanova on April 8, 2018 to become the head coach at La Salle University, a Philadelphia Big 5 rival. Wright faced a difficult task after his second national title. Last year's departures included Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo, Omari Spellman, and Jalen Brunson, who were each taken in the 2018 NBA draft. As a result, Wright was left with a young, inexperienced squad entering the season. Villanova stood at #8 in the preseason rankings, but they were crushed by Michigan in a title game rematch in their third game of the season. They later fell to Furman in overtime at home, dropping them from the Top 25 entirely. After losing to top-ranked Kansas in December, Villanova won 11 in a row and returned to the national rankings. A February win over #10 Marquette allowed them to clinch the Big East regular season title. They would then go on to defeat Providence, Xavier, and Seton Hall to win their third consecutive Big East tournament, becoming the first team to do so. Wright earned his sixth Big East Coach of the Year Award for his efforts. The Wildcats finished 26–10 and earned a sixth seed in the NCAA Tournament. They would defeat 11th-seeded St. Mary's in the Round of 64 by 4, before falling to Purdue 87–61. Final years at Villanova (2019–2022) The Wildcats ended their season with a 24–7 record. Villanova's 13–5 record in Big East play allowed them to clinch a share of the conference's regular season title, tying with Creighton and Seton Hall. The Wildcats were seeded second in the Big East tournament, but the tournament was cancelled early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Oddly, the Big East tournament was the last conference tournament to be cancelled, which resulted in games being played despite other conferences canceling their games. Despite losing sophomore Saddiq Bey to the first round of the NBA draft, Wright and the Wildcats were ranked third in the