It was spring day in April 1994, when then-Hofstra University President James M. Shuart and Director of Athletics Jim Garvey announced that an up-and-coming assistant coach from UNLV would become the ninth head men's basketball coach at Hofstra.
 
Nearly a quarter century later, Coach Wright is returning to Long Island, this time on the opposing bench as the Pride take on his #1 ranked Villanova Wildcats on December 22 at Nassau Coliseum.
 
So as Pride fans prepare for the showdown, let's take a look back at the Jay Wright era at Hofstra.
 
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Wright took the reins of the Pride program from legendary coach Butch van Breda Kolff, who finished his career leading Hofstra to an East Coast Conference title in 1993-94. 
 
With the 1994-95 season, change was everywhere for Hofstra. The team had a new coach and a new conference -- the North Atlantic Conference. The Flying Dutchmen's first game with Wright at the helm – a hard-fought loss to New Hampshire - would define the style, heart and attitude of his Hofstra teams: scrappy, determined and resilient.
 
Victory #1 for Coach Wright came in the Mile High Classic at Colorado, with a solid 82-56 victory over Cornell. There were several other highlights during that first season: the first NAC conference win over Maine, and defeated local rival Stony Brook, 79-60 on their way to a postseason win on the road over Maine to advance to the quarterfinals. In all, it was a 10-win season for Hofstra in 1994-95. The seeds were sown for what would be a strong resurgence.
 
The 1995-96 season began with wins in two of the Flying Dutchmen's first three games - a dominating victory over Stony Brook and a win over Eastern Washington in the Met Life Classic in San Francisco.
 
Wright's second season was marked by some special firsts: his first time coaching a Hofstra-'Nova game, his first game at the Nassau Coliseum and at Madison Square Garden.
 
On December 28, 1995, Wright led Hofstra against Villanova (where Wright served as an assistant coach before going to UNLV). A month later, on January 31, 1996, he would coach his first-ever game as a head coach in the Nassau Coliseum (Hofstra v. Penn as part of the ECAC Challenge).  And the Pride's regular season finale would take them to the World's Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden, where the team scored a thrilling, 83-77, conference win over Hartford.
 
The following year, Wright's third as head coach, the Pride notched a dozen wins in the debut season for freshman guard and Hempstead native Craig "Speedy" Claxton, who would go on to earn three America East Rookie of the Week awards, while also being named to the All-America East Third Team and the America East All-Rookie squad. 
 
In the 1997-98 campaign Hofstra posted a 19-12 record in the fourth season with Coach Wright at the helm, as Claxton's career soared. Claxton earned America East Player of the Year honors after leading Hofstra in scoring with 16.3 points per game.
   
The team was poised to break out in year five of Wright's tenure, but the season certainly didn't start out that way. The Flying Dutchmen dropped four of its first six games.
 
A win over Iona on December 8, 1998 kick-started a six-game win streak. But it was a pair of victories at the end of that month in the Kodak/ECAC Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden that transformed the season, and perhaps the program.
 
Hofstra defeated Georgia Tech and Penn in back-to-back games to capture the first of its three Holiday Festival titles, The Flying Dutchmen would win nine of their final 12 games that season, culminating with the appearance in the NIT at Rutgers. It was Hofstra's first-postseason berth in more than 20 years, since the 1977 NCAA Tournament.
 
The 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons put an exclamation point on the Wright era, with consecutive America East championships and NCAA tournament bids.
 
During the 1999-2000 campaign, Claxton and Norman Richardson helped propel Hofstra to 24 wins (14 out of 15 during one stretch). In the America East championship against Delaware, Coach Wright and his troops rallied in the second half for a 76-69 victory (we are thrilled to include video of this game in this retrospective). Hofstra would go on to face Oklahoma State in the first round in Buffalo, New York during a blizzard. 
 
The 2000-01 season began with high hopes and incredible pressure on the defending America East champions. Coach Wright's final season in Hempstead would begin with four consecutive wins, and the team would eventually post a program record-tying 26 victories.
 
The America East championship game was a rematch between Hofstra and Delaware at the then-Hofstra Arena. The NCAA Tournament appearance would pit Hofstra against UCLA in Greensboro, North Carolina. Hofstra played tough, and even led 45-41 midway through the second half before falling to the Bruins.
   
In all, the line on the "Wright Time" at Hofstra: seven seasons, three post-season season bids (2 NCAA, 1 NIT), two conference championships and 122 victories. But Wright's legacy is measured in far more than numbers. His grace and generosity, during his time at Hofstra and since, make him a lifelong member of the Pride family.
 
He's never forgotten where he came from. And neither have we.