Final Four 2022: What Villanova's Jay Wright said about Kansas, team without Justin Moore

"It's funny how that happens. We had a Big Eight run. We just had a Big Ten run and they just had a Big East run. It does help. It's one thing to see them against other conference's opponents, but when you see them against your own, you know how certain things that Providence and Creighton do, you know it so well as they know ours. So when you see Kansas defend it or go up against it, it gives you a unique perspective and it definitely helpful."

"Curtis didn't come to mind right away, Colin's did because Colin immediately went right to Justin and I knew what he was doing. I think that is something, thank you for bringing up Curtis, it's something our guys are going to have to understand. We've been through this. We've played well without a great player and that's what a program's about. I do think they understand it because they've been through that this year. The other guys are not not playing because they're not good, but the other guys are so good. It's an opportunity the other guys will take from this and that's how we're going to approach it."

"He came out of surgery great, it went well. I want to try to address what an incredible player Justin is, a big part of this team and how unique he is in our program. He can defend any position. He literally has defended one through five. He's one of the best rebounding guards in the country. And he's a leader out there. In that sense, he's probably our most valuable player. I just want everybody to know I think he's underrated in terms of his value to this team. I think he's truly one of the most complete players in this country, he really is.

"I want to say that and then, because it's true. And then I want to say it's a team. He knows this. You have other guys because he plays the most minutes who just don't get the opportunity because he's great. Other guys can step up and we can be a good team without him. I didn't want to say that first because I didn't want to undervalue what he means to this team. There are guys that come off the bench that will be given more minutes and opportunities for him. We believe we can be a really good team without him, that said, we know how good Kansas is."

"It's definitely going to impact our game plan offensively. He's ... again, I want to balance and I want to be truthful that he's such a huge part of everything we do. But we do have a week here to adjust what we do without him. That's what is unique about a Final Four. You only have to play two games if you're really fortunate. It's kind of like a bowl game in football. We had five days of practice that we can adjust things and become comfortable, but it's definitely going to change our game plan offensively."

"It's difficult coming into our program as a transfer because there's so much corporate knowledge that's expected of you in our program, that's why it's different coming in as a freshman. In his sit out year, you know, he did a great job. But then as soon as he got with us after (COVID-19), he was impacted greatly and then he had myocarditis and missed the entire offseason, then he came back and got foot and mouth disease. He's been through everything that's made it difficult to assimilate into our program.

"And I think he's at a point now where he probably would've been ... at the beginning of this year, had he been able to go through all of our programs and not have to sit out ... I think he's playing his best basketball. Off the court, he's one of the most beloved players in the program. He's like a 3.85 student. Dean's list. Respected by his teammates. He just gets better and better every day in terms of how he impacts game for us and also a true representative of what we want a Villanova basketball player to be.

"It's the culmination of when you have older guys, there are a lot of habits you create within your program that really become solidified in your older guys. And free-throw shooting is something we work very hard on. We've got older guys in the program and those old guys are really good at it. One of the things we work on is the mental aspect of free-throw shooting. Some of the missed free throws in the Georgetown game are part of the process and that's going to happen sometimes.

"You can never fear that as long as you put the work in. It's something we refer to, we put the work in. We can't put anymore work in. No one shoots 100%. That was one time that it got us. Can we live with that? Yes. Is it anybody's fault? No. Is there anything more we could've done? No. If that's the worst thing that happens to us, we can live with that because we put the work in. It even happened this year at UConn. Caleb missed a free throw. Not a problem at all, it's part of the process for us."

"I don't think we would've had the success if not for the new Big East. One of the things we really try to focus on at Villanova is authenticity. We don't try to help Kentucky Kentucky or help Duke Duke. We have great respect for those programs. We have always, even in the old Big East, tried to be the best Villanova we can be. Once the new Big East formed, we realized we're amongst our own. We're amongst basketball-centric universities and this is who we are, so let's be the best we can be in this league and see where it takes us."