Indiana coach Mike Davis knew he had something special in Bracey Wright, even before the freshman guard donned the crimson and cream.
“From day one, when we signed Bracey Wright and Marshall Strickland, I said we would have the best backcourt in the country,” Davis said. “I knew how good they were. They ended up coming in and acting like they’ve been around forever.”
Wright has taken the Big Ten by storm in his first season, stepping into a veteran line-up and leading the Hoosiers with 19.1 points per game — second in the Big Ten. Wright and Indiana (11-3, 1-1 Big Ten) will try to continue their success when Northwestern (8-5, 0-2) visits Assembly Hall tonight at 6 p.m. in its second-straight trip to the Hoosier State.
After only 14 games, Wright’s list of accomplishments already is longer than most players’ accolades for an entire season. He is the only Hoosiers’ player to score in double figures in every game, has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week twice, and torched Ball State and Vanderbilt for 31 points each. No Indiana freshman has excited Bloomington, Ind., the way Wright has since Neil Reed’s neck got in the way of Bobby Knight’s hands in 2000.
Wright, a native of The Colony, Texas, has joined guard Strickland and forward Sean Kline to make up the Hoosiers’ formidable freshman trio in a year when freshmen across the Big Ten and the nation have taken on large roles. Wright said he isn’t concerned with “burning out” during the long college season.
“Right now I feel I’m in the best condition I’ve been in playing basketball,” he said. “I don’t feel that I’m going to hit a wall anytime this year.”
Wright hardly has seemed overwhelmed by the level of college competition. His eight years of playing AAU summer basketball with the best young players in the country prepared him for the rigors of the Big Ten schedule. Even during high school practices, Wright faced Big Ten caliber competition as he the shared backcourt duties with current Illinois freshman guard Deron Williams.
While the freshmen have exceeded expectations, Davis has been disappointed in the leadership and toughness of his upperclassmen since Indiana’s overtime win against Maryland on Dec. 3. Guards Tom Coverdale and Kyle Hornsby and forward Jeff Newton have produced on the court but haven’t shown the off-court intangibles Davis is looking for in his seniors.
“You can’t expect for Bracey to be a leader even though he’s our leading scorer,” Davis said. “With some of these guys, it’s like a walk in the park.
“There are a lot of things a coach can’t do because a coach isn’t with them all the time,” he continued. “I’m not with them when they’re in the locker room before the game, after practice, or out on the court before a game. There are some things a leader does that gets everyone on the same page.”
NU heads to Bloomington still winless in the Big Ten after close losses to Iowa and Purdue. Boilermakers guard Willie Deane torched the Cats for 23 points even though NU head coach Bill Carmody’s defense focused on stopping him. Carmody said the Cats won’t have the luxury of zeroing in on one player in the Hoosiers’ talented seven-man rotation.
“These guys have more weapons, they have five or six guys that can get 20 points, so it’s hard to zero in on one guy,” Carmody said. “And all our zeroing in on Deane didn’t amount to too many zeroes.”
NU (8-5, 0-2 Big Ten) at Indiana (11-3, 1-1)
6 p.m. tonight
Assembly Hall,
Bloomington, Ind.
