Indiana University Athletics
Wright Named to Wooden Award Midseason Top 30
2/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2003
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana freshman Bracey Wright is one of only two freshmen among the Midseason Top 30 for the John R. Wooden Award, the Wooden Award Committee announced Monday.The Wooden Award is given annually to the nation's top player. Last season Indiana's Jared Jeffries finished eighth while former IU standout Calbert Cheaney was the winner in 1993.
Wright and Syracuse's Carmelo Anthony will try to become the first freshmen on the Wooden Award All-American Team since Georgia Tech's Stephon Marbury in 1996.
Despite missing four games with a pinched nerve in his back, Wright leads the Hoosiers in scoring with a 17.6 points per game average. He started the 2002-03 season with 14 straight double-digit scoring games, the best-ever debut by an IU freshman and has scored in double digits in 15 of the 16 games he has played this season. With an average of 5.5 rebounds per game, Wright is also Indiana's third-leading rebounder.
Wright opened the season by earning MVP honors at the EA Sports Maui Invitational, where he averaged 15.7 points over three games, scoring 21 points in the championship game against Virginia. He is the first freshman to earn this honor since North Carolina's Joseph Forte in 1998
Wright is the first Indiana freshman since A.J. Guyton and the third overall to record multiple 30-plus point games in a season. Wright's career-high of 31 came against Vanderbilt and at Ball State. Mike Woodson is the other Hoosier to post multiple 30-plus point games in a season.
Additionally, he has been named the Big Ten's Player of the Week twice this season, becoming the first league freshman since Indiana's Alan Henderson (1991-92) to earn multiple Player of the Week honors.
Players Mentioned
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