Wright was a highly recruited prospect while he played at Western High School in Washington, D.C. He chose to commit to the Grambling State Tigers in honor of his mentor Hershell West, who had played for the Tigers and coached Wright when he played at Richwood High School in Louisiana.[1] From 1973–76, Wright was one of the most decorated Grambling players. In 1974, he was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Freshman of the year. He was also a two-time All-SWAC selection for the remainder of his career, and a two-time first team NCAA Small College All-America. He led the university to the 1976 SWAC Tournament Championship. After being named the SWAC Player-of-the-Year in 1975–76 as a junior, he decided to declare for the 1976 NBA draft.[2]
Professional career
NBA
Wright was selected with the 14th pick overall in the 1976 NBA draft by the Washington Bullets. He played a significant part of the Bullets' successful team of the late 1970s, as a substitute. With the Bullets he won an NBA title in 1978 and reached the Finals the next year. After a disappointing season in which they were knocked out from the playoffs by the Philadelphia 76ers, he was traded to the Detroit Pistons, for whom he played only 46 games in two seasons. He decided to move to Italy in 1982 and signed with Banco di Roma.
Superstar in Italy
Wright was an immediate star in Italy. The team finished the regular season in first place and reached the finals series against Olimpia Milano after defeating European champions Ford Cantù in the semi final series, with homecourt advantage in hand in the final. Roma won the series 2 games to 1 and won its first ever Italian championship. The next season was even greater, as Roma participated in the FIBA European Champions Cup as Italian champions, and Wright provided one stellar performance after another. Roma finished the Final group stage first placed tied with Barcelona, so the two teams qualified for the final game for the European champions cup in Geneva. Wright was the top scorer for his team, of the 79-73 final win, scoring 27 points and leading Roma to its first ever European title in their first finals appearance. Wright was also selected as the European player of the year. Although he had a successful season, Wright left the team after failing to qualify to the Italian playoffs and signed with Fantoni Udine where he played for two seasons. In 1987 he returned to Banco di Roma for one more season.
Coaching career
Wright already was a player-coach in his last days in Italy. He was appointed assistant coach at Grambling in 1990 and stayed for office for two seasons. Afterwards he was a scout for the Seattle SuperSonics and the Washington Wizards, and an assistance coach at Quachita High School in his hometown of Monroe, Louisiana. In 1999 Wright was appointed head coach at Grambling. He was released from his duties in April 2008.[3]
He is married to Jacqueline Bradford, of Jonesboro, La. in May 1977. They have three children: Larry Jr., Ashana, and Lance. Larry Jr is an NFL scout with the Houston Texans. He also has a daughter named Imani, a standout basketball player in her own right, who graduated high school in 2013, and went on to play college ball at Baylor for her freshman and sophomore years (2013-2015) before transferring to Florida State where she had to sit out a year. All three of Larry and Jacqueline's children were scholarship athletes. Larry Jr. signed at Notre Dame out of high school in 1994 and graduated from Louisiana Tech University (1995–1998), where he was a three-year letterman. Ashana played basketball at Grambling State University (1995–1999), where she was a four-year letter winner on the Lady Tigers basketball team while winning four straight conference championships and never losing a home game in four years. Lance was a three-year starter at offensive center on the Grambling football team (2000–2004).
References
^Letlow, Paul (June 23, 2018). "The Wright stuff: Championship success has been constant theme for Larry Wright". Crescent City Sports. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
^Grambling State tabs Duckett as men's basketball coach
External links
Larry Wright NBA Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
Larry Wright at LegaBasket.it
March 08, 2023
larry, wright, basketball, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immediately, especi. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately especially if potentially libelous or harmful Find sources Larry Wright basketball news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2007 Learn how and when to remove this template message Larry Glenn Wright born November 23 1954 is an American former professional basketball player and coach He played college basketball for the Grambling State Tigers and was the Southwestern Athletic Conference Men s Basketball Player of the Year in 1976 Wright played in the National Basketball Association NBA for the Washington Bullets and the Detroit Pistons He also played for six seasons in Italy After his playing retirement Wright joined the Tigers as an assistant coach from 1990 to 1992 and returned as the head coach from 1999 to 2008 Larry WrightPersonal informationBorn 1954 11 23 November 23 1954 age 68 Monroe LouisianaNationalityAmericanListed height6 ft 1 in 1 85 m Listed weight160 lb 73 kg Career informationHigh schoolRichwood Ouachita Parish Louisiana Western Washington D C CollegeGrambling State 1973 1976 NBA draft1976 Round 1 Pick 14th overallSelected by the Washington BulletsPlaying career1976 1988PositionPoint guardNumber32 15Coaching career1990 2008Career historyAs player 1976 1980Washington Bullets1980 1981Detroit Pistons1982 1984Banco di Roma1985 1987Fantoni Udine1987 1988Banco di RomaAs coach 1990 1992Grambling State assistant 1999 2008Grambling StateCareer highlights and awardsNBA champion 1978 Italian League champion 1983 FIBA European Champions Cup champion 1984 SWAC Player of the Year 1976 First team Parade All American 1973 Career NBA playing statisticsPoints2 824 8 2 ppg Rebounds550 1 6 rpg Assists1 165 3 4 apg Stats at NBA comStats at Basketball Reference comCareer coaching recordCollege88 161 353 Contents 1 College career 2 Professional career 2 1 NBA 2 2 Superstar in Italy 3 Coaching career 4 Personal life 5 References 6 External linksCollege career EditWright was a highly recruited prospect while he played at Western High School in Washington D C He chose to commit to the Grambling State Tigers in honor of his mentor Hershell West who had played for the Tigers and coached Wright when he played at Richwood High School in Louisiana 1 From 1973 76 Wright was one of the most decorated Grambling players In 1974 he was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Freshman of the year He was also a two time All SWAC selection for the remainder of his career and a two time first team NCAA Small College All America He led the university to the 1976 SWAC Tournament Championship After being named the SWAC Player of the Year in 1975 76 as a junior he decided to declare for the 1976 NBA draft 2 Professional career EditNBA Edit Wright was selected with the 14th pick overall in the 1976 NBA draft by the Washington Bullets He played a significant part of the Bullets successful team of the late 1970s as a substitute With the Bullets he won an NBA title in 1978 and reached the Finals the next year After a disappointing season in which they were knocked out from the playoffs by the Philadelphia 76ers he was traded to the Detroit Pistons for whom he played only 46 games in two seasons He decided to move to Italy in 1982 and signed with Banco di Roma Superstar in Italy Edit Wright was an immediate star in Italy The team finished the regular season in first place and reached the finals series against Olimpia Milano after defeating European champions Ford Cantu in the semi final series with homecourt advantage in hand in the final Roma won the series 2 games to 1 and won its first ever Italian championship The next season was even greater as Roma participated in the FIBA European Champions Cup as Italian champions and Wright provided one stellar performance after another Roma finished the Final group stage first placed tied with Barcelona so the two teams qualified for the final game for the European champions cup in Geneva Wright was the top scorer for his team of the 79 73 final win scoring 27 points and leading Roma to its first ever European title in their first finals appearance Wright was also selected as the European player of the year Although he had a successful season Wright left the team after failing to qualify to the Italian playoffs and signed with Fantoni Udine where he played for two seasons In 1987 he returned to Banco di Roma for one more season Coaching career EditWright already was a player coach in his last days in Italy He was appointed assistant coach at Grambling in 1990 and stayed for office for two seasons Afterwards he was a scout for the Seattle SuperSonics and the Washington Wizards and an assistance coach at Quachita High School in his hometown of Monroe Louisiana In 1999 Wright was appointed head coach at Grambling He was released from his duties in April 2008 3 Personal life EditThis section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately Find sources Larry Wright basketball news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message He is married to Jacqueline Bradford of Jonesboro La in May 1977 They have three children Larry Jr Ashana and Lance Larry Jr is an NFL scout with the Houston Texans He also has a daughter named Imani a standout basketball player in her own right who graduated high school in 2013 and went on to play college ball at Baylor for her freshman and sophomore years 2013 2015 before transferring to Florida State where she had to sit out a year All three of Larry and Jacqueline s children were scholarship athletes Larry Jr signed at Notre Dame out of high school in 1994 and graduated from Louisiana Tech University 1995 1998 where he was a three year letterman Ashana played basketball at Grambling State University 1995 1999 where she was a four year letter winner on the Lady Tigers basketball team while winning four straight conference championships and never losing a home game in four years Lance was a three year starter at offensive center on the Grambling football team 2000 2004 References Edit Letlow Paul June 23 2018 The Wright stuff Championship success has been constant theme for Larry Wright Crescent City Sports Retrieved June 4 2020 Bullets Wizards Alumni Bios Grambling State tabs Duckett as men s basketball coachExternal links EditLarry Wright NBA Statistics at Basketball Reference com Larry Wright at LegaBasket it Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Larry Wright basketball amp oldid 1125330856, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
