image from mobilwi.typepad.comI can't help it that I'm good-looking!

I first heard it about a month ago, from a friend: Hey, a guy I work with who went to Nova says Jay Wright’s wife kicked him out of their house because he knocked up a student. He may step down. SEX SCANDAL. LOL!!! 

I’m paraphrasing, but that’s the gist of it.

Since then, I’ve heard it from several friends, readers, Twitter followers and even some more connected folks, all of whom claim to have a source inside the Villanova Athletic Department or are friends with someone whose brother went to Villanova and goes to all the games and loves Jay Wright but even he said it’s true. 

It sort of reached a tipping point yesterday, when blog posts like this one (which comes with a silly disclaimer that it's a rumor) and this one (which is from Barstool, a site with hundreds of thousands of readers) ran with the story. And, on cue, I got a few emails from people claiming to have a source that said Wright was stepping down today. 

He’s not.

Because the rumors aren’t true.

Jay Wright didn't knock up a freshman soccer player.

Several people close to the program have told me that the rumors are absolutely false. Dick “Hoops” Weiss, a Hall of Fame basketball writer with the NY Daily News who spent over 20 years at the Philadelphia Daily News, who I’d estimate has been a guest on Wright’s radio show dozens of times, denied the rumor on his Twitter last night. And, also on Twitter, the sports editor of the Philadelphia Daily News informed me and Brian Ewart of VUHoops.com, where the rumor has also been shot down, that the paper did their due diligence and believes it to be “completely untrue.” There’s also the inconvenient fact that there is no press conference scheduled and that Wright, nor anyone of importance at Villanova, has indicated that he won’t be the coach today, tomorrow, and for the next five years… or until the next time he loses to La Salle (really, Jay, come on).

Villanova declined comment on the matter. But, it’s worth noting that Wright’s wife, Patty, has been at most games this season (including ones as part of the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, in New York), seated behind the bench, cheering for her husband’s team, as has been the case for nearly every game since Wright started at Villanova, in 2001. 

On VU Hoops, SB Nation's Villanova site, Ewart writes that a search of local court records turned up no divorce cases involving Wright. Also, this:

In discussions with Wright family friends, associates and colleagues, all denied that any part of the stories circulating on the Internet over the past few days was true. Wright and his wife, Patty, are aware of the rumor's existence, but don't feel that acknowledging them publicly would give credence to them and encourage their spread.

 

I’m sorry, Virginia– there is no Jay Wright sex scandal. He just happens to be ridiculously good-looking, and we shouldn’t fault him for that. Some people, though, will continue to believe whatever they want.