The Oakland Post

Larry Wright waiting to break out

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By TOM MURPHY JR.
Senior Reporter

Last season as a sophomore, Saginaw native Larry Wright was a rising basketball star in the Big East Conference. Playing for the St. John’s University Red Storm, he averaged 9.1 points per game and shot over 40 percent from behind the three point line.

Yet, when his mother Karen Wright injured her back, Larry had to make a choice. He chose to come home and take care of his mother and came to Oakland University to finish out his college basketball career.

“The main reason was my mother,” Wright said of leaving St. Johns. “She wanted me to come back home and take care of her. She had surgery on her back and I feel like being closer to home I can do a lot for her, like take her to her doctor’s appointments and things like that. She’s doing a lot better now.”

As a transfer student, Wright is ineligible for this season due to NCAA rules and he currently can’t play in games or travel with the team on road trips but he can practice.

“Man, I can’t even begin to explain,” Wright said of having to sit out the season. “It’s so frustrating just watching on TV, watching my team play, it’s hard. I can’t go on the road, but I take it as an advantage to have a whole year to get better and stronger, to work on my ball handling and my shooting. I just look at it as a positive thing.”

Junior point guard Johnathon Jones played with Wright for a summer for the AAU Michigan Mustangs team.

“We played for a summer and I knew about him in high school because he was a good player,” Jones said. “We have a chemistry from playing in AAU together.”

Wright said that having the opportunity to play with Jones again did have an impact when choosing to transfer to OU.

“When I came on my visit everything started to flash back in my head, all the fun times we had on the road with the Mustangs,” Wright said. “He’s a good player and I look forward to playing with him for another year.”

In high school, Wright played for the Saginaw Trojans. His senior year, he was runner up for Michigan’s Mr. Basketball averaging 21 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals per game. He was named all-state, all-conference and the all-area “Dream Team.”

While at St. Johns, he played in every game as a freshman averaging four points per game. In his Big East Tournament debut against then No. 18 Marquette, Wright played 19 minutes scoring 11 points and was 3-3 from behind the three-point line.

“It’s like being on stage,” Wright said of playing in the Big East. “There’s cameras everywhere. You’re playing against some of the best competition there is in college basketball every night. It’s something you dream about as a kid. I was happy to be a part of it.”

Now Wright is in the Summit League where the spotlights are a little dimmer and there are a few less cameras, but OU head coach Greg Kampe feels that Wright will be a great addition to the OU lineup next season.

“Larry is a cross between Kangas and Jones,” Kampe said. “He’s not the ball handler that Jones is and not the shooter that Kangas is but he’s a really good ball handler and a real good shooter.  He’s a kid that is going to be a unique player for us, we’ve never really had a guy that can come off a ball screen the way he can come off it with the dribble and yet still make jump shots. We’re really excited about his progress.”

Wright said that he can’t wait until next year when he can get back into games and hopefully help the Grizzlies win a championship.

“The fans are going to know that I am hungry to win,” Wright said. “I don’t want to take any losses. I know losses happen but I’m hungry to win. I’m going to come out with a drive to push my teammates to make us better, to make Oakland better.”
Johnson/AP