Last week I wrote that Dana O’Neil – formerly a Villanova beat writer at the Daily News – wrote the best Villanova article of the week. That was true. But today, she wrote the best Villanova article, period– the Jay Wright National Champion article:

Wright was on the phone with John Calipari when President Obama buzzed in. He jokingly apologized to the Kentucky coach that even Calipari isn’t as big as the president and he has to beg off the call.

Wright has fielded a lot of congratulatory calls and text messages this week: Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and coach Doug Pederson, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and just about every coach you can think of. He has placed a few calls too.

He’s not naive. He knows that, with a national championship banner, things will change for him, personally and professionally, but he wants to know how to control what changes. So he called Calipari, as well as Louisville coach Rick Pitino, two coaches who have been down this particular rabbit hole. They gave him all sorts of tips and advice. Something Pitino said stuck with Wright.

“He told me that he left Kentucky for the Celtics in part because he said, ‘I didn’t want to be a rock star. I just wanted to be a coach,'” Wright said. “I know exactly what he means.”

Wright isn’t worried that he will be starry-eyed again.

Doug Pederson? Ew. Leave Jay alone, Doug.

Anyway, that’s just an excerpt. O’Neil knows Wright and the program perhaps better than any other reporter. This is the article I always wanted here to write.

Video courtesy of Andrew Albert of FlockU.com