By Taylor Nigrelli
Sports Editor
There’s something strikingly different about Matt Wright this year.
The senior guard rained three-pointers, lofted in floaters and laid in baskets on ferocious drives to the rim on his way to earning a career-high 32 points in a win against Southern Illinois in the first round of the Gulf Coast Showcase.
He consistently beat Canisius defenders off the dribble, scoring 27 and sparking the Bonnies to a blowout win over Canisius earlier this season.
He hasn’t been perfect – as his 3-13 performance from the field Tuesday night against UMass Lowell showed – but he’s clearly more confident. Wright has never shied away from shooting, but he said that this year he feels more of a responsibility on offense which allows his confidence to shine through.
“Naturally, I’ve been a scorer throughout my entire basketball career – from pee wee all the way through high school,” Wright said. “Coming into college, you have to pay your dues. I played behind some great players – Andrew Nicholson, Demitrius Conger, Eric Mosley – all great scorers, all great players. I knew that eventually when my time came, I’d have to be ready.”
Wright has made the most of his opportunity as the primary scorer so far this season. He’s led the team in scoring in four of its eight contests, including his two highest career outputs in the Canisius and Southern Illinois games. Wright leads the team with 18.4 points per game and is on pace to pass his career high in assists (90 during his sophomore year) as he already has 31 on the season. The Toronto native had never averaged more than 7.3 points per game in his collegiate career. He credits this improvement to his ability to remain healthy this year and his summer conditioning work.
“I worked really hard on my game in the summertime,” Wright said. “The majority of it was conditioning. Last season, I played part of the season hurt. I ended up tearing my plantar flascia partway through the season. I spent a lot of the offseason rehabbing, and I knew I’d be playing a lot of minutes. As a shooter, you’re going to be running off screens, and you’re going to be chasing a lot of guys. Stamina and endurance are big keys. You can’t shoot when you have no air in your lungs.”
Wright has seen significant playing time since his freshman year. Many of the Bonnies’ current contributors also have a lot of experience. Wright has more than two full years of experience playing with redshirt senior Marquise Simmons, junior Jordan Gathers, senior Charlon Kloof and center Youssou Ndoye. Wright believes his improvement is largely the product of the repertoire he’s created with his teammates.
“We’re a unit,” Wright said. “We’re like a machine. If one person’s not functioning well, it goes right on down the line. We have a lot of very high-IQ basketball players – they’re very unselfish.”
Wright is especially close with fellow senior Kloof. He believes much of his success this year is the result of his close relationship with the Suriname native.
“I feel like, with Charlon, he and I have developed a rapport,” Wright said. “We’re close off the court and on the court so that helps big time on the court.”
Although Wright is pleased with the strides he’s made in the early goings, he knows he has to continue to improve. He acknowledged there are still flaws in his game and said he would like to continue to improve before the competition becomes more difficult. Wright counts playing better defense and being more careful with the ball as two of his most important objectives going forward.
“Defensively, I’m not the quickest guy, so I have to have a higher IQ and watch a lot of tape,” Wright said. “This year, I lead the team in turnovers by a pretty wide margin. Over the years, I’ve been pretty careful in that category. So I just have to make sharper passes and better decisions.”
Throughout his career at St. Bonaventure, Wright has been lauded for his athletic ability, but not for his complete game. According to Wright, his transformation into a complete player capable of leading a team began when he learned not to rely solely on his athletic ability. He said while his athletic ability has declined slightly over the past three seasons, he has become a smarter player.
“I’m an old man now ripe old age of 21 – athleticism isn’t everything anymore,” Wright said. “I have to be smarter, use my body more. I have to be a savvy veteran.”
