ODU's Wright will smile even wider if his production increases

NORFOLK

Nick Wright made a couple of new friends.

After landing in the courtside seats at Towson on Wednesday night, Wright extracted himself while wearing a broad smile and briefly exchanging pleasantries with some Tigers fans.

Wright, a junior forward for Old Dominion, is a talker. His voice often is heard above his teammates' at practice, encouraging them after a good play or pushing them through a conditioning drill.

Wright is a worker, all effort and emotion. His face alternately creases in frustration and erupts in jubilation, depending on the outcome of the mini-dramas that often commence when he gets the ball around the basket.

Wright grabs an offensive rebound, takes a power dribble, pump-fakes and rises. Too light, at 6-foot-8 and 208 pounds, to power up through contact, he often gets knocked around like a pinball. That leads to conversations between coach Blaine Taylor and game officials that follow a familiar script.

"He got blown out, he got hit," Taylor will say.

"No," the official will respond. "He just faded away."

Wright can't fade away, literally or figuratively, if ODU is to become the team it hopes to be. The transition from "energy" guy to reliable contributor is one the Monarchs need him to make with a thorny patch of schedule ahead, beginning tonight at Virginia Commonwealth.

That transition hasn't been without its setbacks.

"Nick has been hit and miss," Taylor said. "All or nothing, with little in between."

Indeed, there was the 24-point, 10-rebound career night against Vermont in November. Then there was a two-point, five-board outing against George Mason and a scoreless effort at Delaware.

Wright bounced back Wednesday with 13 points at Towson, his most production in six weeks. The Tigers haven't won a conference game in two seasons, though, and are hardly a reliable gauge.

No one knows that more than Wright.

"I'm the biggest critic of myself," Wright said. "At times I'll be frustrated with myself, and it messes up everything else."

Lately, Wright has been spending extra time talking with Taylor about getting back to what he does well: rebound, run the floor, block shots, deflect passes. If he does those things, the points will come, Wright said.

That was the case against Vermont, when Wright made 9 of 12 shots and 11 trips to the foul line. His scoring came in the flow of the game.

Wright has watched that game tape many times, trying to recapture that level of play. In recent games, he has been too focused on scoring, he said.

Taylor says he believes Wright can be an efficient scorer just by playing off of his teammates, by finishing offensive rebounds, filling the lane on the break and getting to the foul line.

His challenge, as ever, is overcoming his lack of girth.

"His problem area is he's light in the tail," Taylor said.

Wright weighed 189 pounds when he arrived from Suffolk's Nansemond River High. After peaking at 215 before the season, he's back down to about 208, he said.

Keeping weight on during the season is a challenge, so Wright strives to use his quickness around the basket. Relying on power alone, he won't win many battles.

He averages 8.1 points per game, but he's shooting just 36.4 percent from the floor. Efficiency and consistency are his goals.

Wright has achieved that in other parts of his life. A three-game suspension for a violation of team rules at the start of the season matured him, he said.

"It made me better," he said. "I felt like I owed fans, my teammates, everyone who loves ODU basketball."

Wright also became a father three months ago. His daughter, Leah Noelle, is now his primary motivation, he said. Fatherhood has made him more focused and organized.

His schoolwork is the best it has been since coming to ODU, he said.

Around the team and program, Wright has been an easy guy for fans and teammates to root for, with his ever-present smile and his obvious yearning to improve.

Wright's uncle, Clint, who played at Norfolk State and now coaches at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, was one of his biggest influences and earliest teachers of the game. Clint Wright said his nephew played with passion from way back. And with a facial expression that shouldn't be mistaken for a lack of determination.

"There's always that smile," Clint Wright said. "And deep behind that smile, there's grit."

Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372 or ed.miller@pilotonline.com