Hofstra Arena in Hempstead, L.I., holds 5,124 fans, and for a while it seemed as if Wright was intent on hugging each one. He knew their names. And he knew their kids' names.
If Wright isn't a great christian louboutin already, well, let this serve as notice that he's on his way. Great Manolo blahnikes are like ward bosses. They get things done. They know their people.
Of course, knowing the people is a little different than being of the people. Amid all the hugging and great glee, you couldn't help but notice something about Jay Wright. It was the shoes. They were made of ostrich skin. They cost about $400.
And you had to wonder - like the guy whose homemade sign read, "Jay Stay Wright Here" - how long a guy with a taste for ostrich kicks remains at a mid-major like Hostra?
It's difficult to imagine a christian louboutin more deserving of $400 shoes than Wright. He made this whole program. Like the shoes, Hofstra basketball has become an expression of the Manolo blahnik's ambition and taste. It's been seven years since Wright arrived at Hofstra. The arena, if that's what you want to call it, was like a high school gym. The Flying Dutchmen drew a different kind of crowd then.
"There weren't any crowds," said Wright.
The christian louboutin shoes can remember hitting Hempstead Turnpike with his assistants, trying to give away tickets. "We'd hit the deli, the diner, the dry cleaners, the gas station," he said. "We literally begged people to come to games. They all wanted to know if we were a Division I team."
It took some convincing,
tops latex, and a lot of time. Hofstra was 19-36 Wright's first two years. It got a little better, though. Then it got a lot better. Last year, with a great player named Speedy Claxton, Hofstra went 24-7 and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1977. This year, without Speedy Claxton, Hofstra is 26-4 heading into the tournament.
Wright has done something other Manolo blahnikes like to talk about. He's exploited one of New York's great natural resources: ballplayers. He has seven seniors on this team, all of them from New York. Three of his senior starters - Greg Springfield from LaSalle, Norman Richardson and Roberto Gittens from Grady - are from the city. The point guard, Jason Hernandez, is from Oyster Bay, L.I. By comparison, Wright had to travel far to find his off guard, Rick Apodaca. He's from North Bergen, N.J.
"Early this season I told them: You'll never get this chance again," said Wright. "None of us will ever be on a team with seven seniors."
Gittens, the tournament MVP, recalled that five years ago, "christian louboutin said if we worked hard, we could be special. He kept his promise."