Periodically over the summer we will check in with a quick look at former Hoosier basketball players to find out what they are up to now. Last week we updated you on Jordan Hulls. Today we look at Bracey Wright, who played for IU from 2002 to 2005.
“Help is on the way.” Those infamous words spoken by Mike Davis after a bad 2001 loss to Kentucky couldn’t have been more misguided, seeing as how his current team, the 2001-02 Hoosiers would go on to play in the national championship game.
While misguided for sure, he wasn’t wrong. More help did arrive in 2002, in the form of McDonald’s All-American Bracey Wright. The unintended consequence of that “help is on the way” remark now meant that Wright would somehow be expected to achieve something greater than a national runner-up performance.
That wasn’t going to happen. Not even close. While Wright is associated with a rough stretch in the history of the IU program (the Hoosiers only reached the NCAA tournament one time during his three seasons), he performed at a high level from day one.
For his three year career at IU he averaged 17.6 points per game, 5.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He encountered some struggles from the field, especially during his sophomore year, as he became the focus of opposing defenses. His career field goal percentage was 40.5%, including 35% from 3-point range.
Wright was named first team All-Big Ten after his sophomore year and led the league in scoring for his junior season. He opted to forego his senior season and was selected as the 47th overall pick in the second round of the NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. When he left Indiana he was 15th all-time with 1,498 career points and tied for third with 186 career three-point field goals made.
PASSPORT PLEASE
Wright played in just 26 career NBA games, scoring a total of 129 points. From there, the journey began.
After a brief stop in the D-League, Wright played in Greece, Spain, Belgium, France, Croatia, back to Spain, back to Croatia, Russia, Israel, and now Turkey, where he’s played for three different teams in three different seasons.
In part the moves were driven by his success along the way — such as being named the MVP of the 2015 Israeli Finals after he led the Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club to its first title in team history
Wright played the 2017-18 season for Büyükçekmece Basketbol, which is a Turkish professional basketball club based in Istanbul. The club plays in the Turkish Basketball Super League, and their home arena is Gazanfer Bilge Sports Hall with a capacity of 3,000 seats.
It’s clear that the former IU star still knows how to score. For the 2017-18 season, Wright averaged 15.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists, while hitting 51.4% of his 2-point shots and 36.2% of his 3-point shots. Wright is teammates with Erving Walker, the former star point guard from Florida who led the team in scoring this year.
Wright received honorable mention for the All-FIBA Europe Cup Awards for 2018.
This video is a couple years old, but gives you a sense for Wright’s play in the Turkish league.
Wright will turn 34 in July.
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