PEORIA, Ill. -- Former Bradley men's basketball player Lawrence Wright (Wheatland, Calif./Wheatland H.S.) will tour with the world famous Harlem Globetrotters during the 2006-07 season. The 6-foot-4, high-rising forward signed a contract with the Globetrotters last week and will report to the team's headquarters in October to begin preparations for the team's world tour.
A transfer from Yuba (Calif.) College prior to the 2004-05 season, Wright averaged 10.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game during each of his two seasons with the Braves. As a junior in 2004-05, Wright was voted to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Bench Team after finishing third on the team in both scoring and rebounding. This past season he split his time between the starting lineup and the “Sixth Man” role, making him ineligible for the Valley's All-Bench Team.
He scored a team-high 18 points off the bench in Bradley's upset of Creighton in the first round of the 2006 State Farm MVC Tournament and he also shared team-high scoring honors with 15 points Dec. 30 at Wichita State. He was second on the team with three double-doubles and he pulled down nine boards in four other double-digit scoring games.
Among his career highlights at Bradley, Wright hit the game-winning basket in overtime Jan. 28, 2006 at Evansville and he prevented a game-winning attempt by Northern Iowa Dec. 28, 2005 at Carver Arena with a steal in the closing seconds of regulation. After driving the length of the court following his steal, Wright appeared to hit a buzzer-beating, off-balanced 3-point try to win the game, but the basket was waved off because Bradley had called timeout (the Braves did go on to win in overtime). Wright's most memorable game, however, was played Feb. 12, 2005 when he put up 26 points, five rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals in a 74-68 upset of Wichita State at Carver Arena.
Utilizing a 7-foot wingspan and a 44-inch vertical leap, Wright participated in the 2006 Dell presents College Basketball Slam Dunk Championship in conjunction with the NCAA Tournament Final Four in Indianapolis. In addition to his basketball career, Wright also was an accomplished track and field athlete in high school and junior college. He set the Yuba College record in the triple jump with a leap of 48-feet, 9.75-inches.
Wright will join another one-time Brave with the Globetrotters: Jermaine Brown, who attended Bradley from 1998 through 2000 before transferring to Minnesota State, just completed his first year with the Globetrotters. Wright and Brown are two of the 28 players currently listed on the Globetrotters roster, which is often split into multiple teams for their appearances around the world. In addition to the current Globetrotters, the late Bobby Joe Mason, a member of Bradley's 15-player Team of the Century, was a two-time Helms Foundation All-American (1957, 1960) for the Braves before embarking on a 15-year career with the Globetrotters. Mason was presented the franchise's prestigious “Legends” ring two years ago when the Globetrotters visited Peoria and Springfield.
