Floor general has the Wright stuff to lead

Leadership is something that cannot be measured. There is no statistic that says who the leader of a team is. No matter how much talent a team has, without a leader, it will be lost. The Georgetown men’s basketball team learned this lesson firsthand last year while watching a once promising season disappear into thin air. Ever since the departure of Jonathan Wallace and the rest of the class of 2008, the Hoyas have been looking for a definitive leader who can guide the team on and off the court.

The Hoyas may have finally found one in junior point guard Chris Wright. Heading into the new season without any seniors on the roster, his coaches and teammates have made it clear the position is his.

“I have to be a leader because I am the point guard,” Wright said. “I have to be very vocal, I have to be upbeat … a lot of the energy of the team is going to be based on how I react to certain things.”

Wright came to college as a highly-touted recruit, but his first two years at Georgetown didn’t go as well as he had hoped. During his freshman year, he was plagued by a foot injury that forced him to miss the entire Big East regular season. And while Wright assumed a spot in the starting lineup last season, his team’s performance was anything but desirable. Wright developed more as a leader as the season progressed, but still showed signs of inconsistency while veterans Jessie Sapp and DaJuan Summers were tasked with running the team.

“I learned as a player, watching some of these other guys, that at certain points in the game, there are certain plays you have to make,” Wright said.

Wright didn’t become the leader he is now overnight. When he came to the Hilltop in the fall of 2007, he was lucky to have a lot of veterans to look up to. The Hoyas were fresh off a Final Four appearance from the previous year and returned four seniors, including Wallace and current Indiana Pacer Roy Hibbert.

“I learned that he [Wallace] always was very even keeled, and understood that it’s much bigger than him and it’s much bigger than what he was trying to do; it’s about the team and he got rewarded for what he did,” Wright said.

Wright has a different playing style from Wallace—more likely to penetrate and drive than pull up for a three like his elder—but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a great leader like Wallace was. He hopes that he can be to the incoming freshman what Wallace was to him: a leader by example.

Not only has Wright relied on veterans to help him improve, but his teammate and former high school rival Austin Freeman has been beneficial to his development. The McDonald’s All-Americans have known each other since their playing days in the Baltimore area high school league.

“We have chemistry where we understand each other’s personality [and] each other’s game in a sense that when we’re on the court, we don’t even have to say anything because we know exactly what the other is thinking,” Wright said. “It’s just something that is built over time and we have a lot of trust in each other.”

It’s important that the two juniors have such good chemistry, because they are the ones who will be making decisions and controlling the floor. The Hoyas should feel confident with two veterans handling the ball and the team this year.

With Summers and Sapp out of the picture and teammates like Greg Monroe and Freeman to complement his skills, Wright is poised to have a breakout season.

“Chris this year, so far in practice, he’s been terrific,” head coach John Thompson III said. “He’s somewhat more settled just with where he is with this team. He knows he’s a leader on this team. There’s not even a question about that.”

After a disappointing campaign last year, Wright and most of his teammates spent the summer on the Hilltop working on their game. There seems to be a new feel about this team, something that Wright has certainly played a role in.

“We’re harder, we’re hungrier,” Wright said. “We definitely are hungry. We want to prove ourselves to them. We have to get that swagger back that Georgetown’s had for a long time.”

No current Hoya exudes swagger quite like Wright. If he can impart that confidence to his teammates, he may follow the path of his mentor Wallace, and lead the Hoyas deep into the NCAA tournament once more.