Villanova Basketball’s Harry Perretta will retire after the 2020 season

Happy Halloween Nova Nation! Yesterday came the official announcement that Women’s Basketball Coach Harry Perretta will be calling it a career following the 2019-2020 season.

Perretta is entering his 42nd season as the head coach of the women’s team, which is a record for the most seasons for a women’s basketball coach at a single school. His 765 career wins are a Villanova Basketball record that would take Jay Wright another decade of consecutive 30+ win seasons to match. Bottom line, Harry Perretta is a great coach and will be sorely missed.

Perretta became the head coach at Villanova in 1978, becoming just the 4th head coach in the program’s young history. Of the 50 seasons of Villanova Women’s Basketball, Perretta has been the coach for more than 80% of them. His best run with the ‘Cats came in the mid 80’s, when Villanova won three Big East regular season titles and two Big East Tournament Championships. During that span the Wildcats went to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, and eleven total over the coach’s storied career.

But Perretta’s greatest season came in 2003. His Wildcats went 28-6 that season, including winning the Big East Tournament by defeating #1 UConn and ending their 70-game winning streak. That team would ride that win into the NCAA Tournament and all the way to a program best finish in the Elite Eight.

Following this season, Perretta plans to stay on at Villanova for one more year as Special Assistant to the Athletic Director. His contributions and stuardship over the women’s program and the many players, coaches, and administrators under his direction will never be forgotten on the Main Line, and he will be sorely missed by everyone who was lucky enough to cross paths with him.

Congratulations on an amazing career coach, and good luck in your final season with the Wildcats.

In other “news”, Villanova gets the nod as the best college basketball team in Pennsylvania, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is projected as a first round pick in next year’s draft, and more on the coaching career of Harry Perretta. Enjoy!

Harry Perretta

Harry Perretta to retire as Villanova women’s basketball coach after 2019-20 season | Philadelphia Inquirer
Perretta is entering his 42nd season as the head coach of the program, having led the Wildcats to 765 wins and 22 postseason berths.

Villanova coach Harry Perretta to retire at end of season | USA Today
Villanova women's basketball coach Harry Perretta announced that he will retire at the end of this season

Harry Perretta Announces His Retirement from Coaching | Villanova University Athletics
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