Hall of Fame basketball coach Jay Wright shows support for Penn State football and James Franklin

James Franklin and the Penn State football coaching staff have had an eventful summer. Recruiting and preparing for the 2024 season which is right around the corner. Franklin’s efforts have not gone without notice as he was recently seen with former Villanova and Hall of Fame head coach Jay Wright who has recently shown his support for the Nittany Lions and James Franklin.

Jay Wright has spent most of his life spent in Pennsylvania. Although he is now retired from coaching he has made it apparent that he still supports his home state. On Friday, the Penn State football team shared a photo on Twitter / X of Wright with James Franklin.

Then, on Saturday, Wright responded with a tweet of his own.

“Proud to support Penn State football and James Franklin !! Class – integrity – commitment to excellence.”

Wright is a coach who knows what it takes to create a National Champion caliber roster. He did so at Villanova twice in his career once in 2016 and again in 2018. Wright is someone who has deep ties to the state of Pennsylvania. A graduate of Council Rock High School in Newtown, PA. He went on to play college basketball at Bucknell before transitioning to be one of the best college basketball coaches of all time.

The majority of his success came at Villanova where he was the head coach from 2001-2022. During his time with the Wildcats, he posted a career record of 520 wins to just 197 losses. Now, he is an analyst for CBS Sports calling college basketball games.

Proud to support @psufootball and @coachjfranklin !! Class – integrity – commitment to excellence . https://t.co/UEmfJ3pfKO

— Jay Wright (@CoachJayWright) July 28, 2024

Matt Rhule calls Penn State a ‘special place’

NCAA Football: Matt Rhule Press Conference

Jay Wright isn’t the only one who has recently expressed his appreciation for James Franklin and the Penn State football team. Nebraska head coach and Penn State football letterman Matt Rhule also shared the same type of emotions when asked about Penn State at Big Ten Media Days earlier in the week.

“Penn State will always be a special place to me, right? It’s where Julie and I met, we just had our 25th wedding anniversary. We were silly kids who didn’t know anything. I’m grateful to James [Franklin] and the job that he’s done at my alma mater.

“Sometimes it’s ridiculous, I hear people give him [James Franklin] a hard time.  I mean, Penn State has been a nationally relevant program year in and year out. And he’s going to have them in the playoffs probably year in and year out.”

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