Menu
Wesley Cheng Home
  • Home
    • Environment
    • Literature
    • Movie Review
    • Philosophy
    • Politics
    • Racism
    • Sports
    • Technology
    • Television
    • Theater
  • About Me
  • Resume
  • Contact
Wesley Cheng Home

Wrights bring speed, strength to Syracuse

Posted on December 2, 2004 by Wes

To those who know Dayshawn Wright well, he is witty, affable and funny. To those who have just met Dayshawn Wright, he is quiet, timid and shy.

“He keeps to himself a lot,” says Dayshawn Wright’s high school coach, Steve Smith. “Once he warms up to you he’s a lot more outgoing. He jokes a lot but he’s got to warm up to you first.”

When Dayshawn Wright first arrived at Oak Hill Academy, an 11-hour car ride separated him from his hometown in Syracuse and he immediately became homesick.

“He missed my cooking,” Dayshawn Wright’s mother, Patricia says. “He doesn’t like other food because it doesn’t have the seasoning to it.”

To pass the time between coming home, Dayshawn Wright received care packages from mom and focused on basketball. The end result: Dayshawn Wright was one of the top recruits out of high school, helping Oak Hill Academy (Va.) to a perfect 38-0 season and a high school national championship.

By the end of his prep career, the quiet Dayshawn Wright had opened up to teammates and coaches.

“He’s got a lot of good one-liners,” Smith says. “The whole team would be laughing because of something Dayshawn would say.”

As a freshman at Syracuse, Dayshawn Wright again finds himself in the position of having to warm up to teammates. Self-admittedly, Dayshawn Wright walks around campus as inconspicuously as his 6-foot-6, 245-pound frame will allow.

“I’m laid back,” Dayshawn Wright says. “Just really melo with it.”

In contrast, fellow freshman Josh Wright (no relation) thrives on attention and isn’t afraid to tell you what he’s thinking.

“It’s part of me being a point guard,” Josh Wright says. “I’ve always been vocal, nothing’s changed.”

“He’s like Terrance Roberts. It’s like mini-me,” Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins says. “They both speak their mind, they have a lot of confidence in themselves, and they’ll back it up.”

In part, Josh Wright owes his success to his first basketball coach ever – his father, Mike Wright. When Josh Wright was about 4-years old, Mike Wright handed Josh Wright a basketball and told him to take the basketball wherever he went.

“He would dribble one way to the store,” Mike Wright says, “and coming back he would dribble with the other hand.”

Josh Wright is also driven by the memory of a lost friend.

He had grown up with Mychal (pronounced Michael) Harris because Harris’ father and Mike Wright were childhood friends. The two, along with Josh Wright’s older brother, Michael, became best of friends.

But on Oct. 27, 2002, Harris was shot and killed at his girlfriend’s apartment complex after an argument with a neighbor, according to the Utica Observer-Dispatch. Josh Wright was just 16 at the time. Harris was 20.

“Just a few days before, I was looking at some pictures they had taken on the computer,” Mike Wright says. “They were flexing their muscles. And I said, ‘Look at you clowns.’ And the next day he passed away.”

“It was a very traumatic experience he was going through at such a young age in life. I told him, ‘Remember that life still goes on.’ As sad as it was, he really feels now that he can continue to make people know Mychal Harris through him.”

Josh Wright switched to No. 30 – Harris’ number – for the remainder of high school and will continue to wear it at Syracuse.

Playing for the memory of his friend, Josh Wright had incredible senior year of basketball. There was a 43-point, nine-assist outburst in an 87-81 win against Guilderland, and, against Berkshire, the guard exploded for 53 points.

Natural quickness and second-nature ball handling turned the heads of many college coaches, including Hopkins, who immediately told Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim about Josh Wright.

“I told coach he’s a freak,” Hopkins says. “He jumps 42 inches, he’s probably as fast as TJ Ford with the ball and he can shoot it.”

The comparison is on target because of Josh Wright’s legendary quickness. While some coaches beg their players to push the pace at times, Syracuse coaches and teammates have worked with Josh Wright to slow the game down.

“Being in this league, you can’t rush it,” junior guard Gerry McNamara says. “He’s fast, but be fast without rushing it. That’s going to be the key to his success.”

And Josh Wright has done his best to listen.

“I have a tendency to get excited just like any other player,” he says. “Slowing my game down is the best thing I can do right now. Right now on a scale of 1-to-10, I’m about a seven – still a work in progress.”

Hopkins gets excited just thinking about what Josh Wright will be when he refines his game.

“He’s just a ‘matter of time’ kind of guy,” Hopkins says, “who will just all the sudden click and explode because he has that ability.”

“You know the thing about him that makes him great – you have guys that are great players and have a lot of talent. Or you have guys that don’t have a lot talent but work hard. You always have one of the two. He’s very, very talented, and he works extremely hard.”

While Josh Wright produces with his speed, Dayshawn Wright produces with his strength and determination. Although passive off the court, Dayshawn Wright left Oak Hill with the reputation of being an aggressive bruiser on it.

“He’s a bull in a china shop inside,” Smith says. “He’ll bang. He’ll take charges. He’ll rebound. He’ll do the dirty work.”

On some nights, Dayshawn Wright would outrebound Brian Johnson (6’10”) and Josh Smith (6’8”) despite being shorter than both. Johnson will suit up for Louisville this year while Smith jumped straight to the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.

“There weren’t many rebounds to go around, but (Dayshawn) would get them,” Smith says. “A lot of rebounding is just effort … Guys want to stand there and watch but Dayshawn is one of those guys that makes the extra effort.”

Dayshawn Wright will also pass well and keep the turnovers to a minimum – but like many big men, Dayshawn Wright’s weakness lies in his shooting game.

“That’s something he’s definitely got to work on,” Smith says. “He’s got to development a consistent outside shot.”

Dayshawn Wright and Josh Wright figure to play a role on a Syracuse team, which is an early favorite to head to the final four.

“Those sophomores and how much they improved and how much the two freshmen can help us will determine just how good we’ll be,” Boeheim says.

Last year’s crop of highly-talented freshmen made some contributions, but for the most part, they struggled and underachieved throughout the year. This year’s freshmen class brings both speed and strength, power and quickness. If both Wrights can perform to their abilities, than the Orange have the opportunity to be special.

“Put it this way,” Hopkins says, “we’re as good as anybody. If every guy steps up like we think they will; this is going to be a great year.”

The article originally ran in The Juice in December 2004.

  • Basketball
  • Dayshawn Wright
  • Josh Wright
  • Syracuse
  • Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Archives

    • August 2024
    • April 2024
    • January 2024
    • June 2023
    • February 2023
    • December 2022
    • October 2022
    • September 2022
    • August 2022
    • February 2022
    • November 2021
    • July 2021
    • May 2021
    • November 2020
    • September 2020
    • December 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • April 2019
    • November 2015
    • July 2015
    • September 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • October 2013
    • May 2013
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • February 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • February 2011
    • August 2010
    • May 2010
    • March 2010
    • January 2010
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • March 2009
    • January 2009
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • April 2008
    • February 2008
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • December 2006
    • November 2006
    • September 2006
    • July 2006
    • June 2006
    • May 2005
    • April 2005
    • March 2005
    • February 2005
    • January 2005
    • December 2004
    • September 2004
    • August 2004
    • May 2004
    • April 2004
    • December 2003
    • November 2003
    • October 2003
    • September 2003
    • August 2003
    • April 2003
    • March 2003
    • February 2003
    • January 2003
    • December 2002
    • November 2002
    • October 2002
    • September 2002
    • July 2002
    • May 2002
    • April 2002
    ©2025 Wesley Cheng Home | Powered by Superb Themes