Monica Wright

Monica Ashante Wright (born July 15, 1988) is an American basketball coach and former player. She played college basketball for Virginia[1] and was selected second overall by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2010 WNBA draft.[2] Outside of the WNBA, she played professionally in Poland, Turkey, Australia, South Korea and Iceland.[3]

Monica Wright
Personal information
Born (1988-07-15) July 15, 1988
San Antonio, Texas
NationalityAmerican
Listed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Listed weight182 lb (83 kg)
Career information
High schoolForest Park (Woodbridge, Virginia)
CollegeVirginia (2006–2010)
WNBA draft2010 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall
Selected by the Minnesota Lynx
Playing career2010–2016
PositionPoint guard
Career history
As player:
2010–2015Minnesota Lynx
2010–2011Lotos Gdynia
2011–2012Botaş SK
2012–2013Dandenong Rangers
2013Shinsegae One FX
2015–2016Seattle Storm
2015–2016Bnot Herzliya
2016Keflavík
2016Perth Lynx
As coach:
2018–2019Liberty (assistant)
2019–presentVirginia (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
Career WNBA statistics
Points1,293 (7.3 ppg)
Rebounds388 (2.2 rpg)
Assists292 (1.6 apg)
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Women’s Basketball
Representing  United States
U18 and U19
2007 U19 Bratislava, SlovakiaTeam Competition

Early life and high school career

Wright was born to Garry and Lynette Wright in San Antonio, Texas. She has an older brother named Gerard. Her family later moved to Woodbridge, Virginia where she attended Forest Park High School. At Forest Park, she averaged 22.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 4.0 steals per game. She was also the Gatorade Virginia Player of the Year and was ranked No. 2 guard and No. 11 player overall in the nation.

Wright was named a WBCA All-American.[4] She participated in the 2006 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored eleven points,[5] and earned MVP honors for the White team.[6]

College career

Wright attended the University of Virginia. In her freshman year as a Cavalier, she was named the ACC Rookie of the Year. As a sophomore, she was named to the ACC All-Defensive Team and also notched her 1,000th point. She missed being named to the All-ACC first team by two points that season. As a junior, Wright was named to the All-ACC defensive team and was also rewarded with a spot on the All-ACC first team as the league's top scorer. As a senior, Wright was named ACC Player of the Year, ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and National Defensive Player of the Year.[7] She was also the 2010 WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year.[8][9]

College statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006–07 Virginia 34 512 41.2 24.0 76.3 6.0 2.2 2.3 0.4 15.1
2007–08 Virginia 34 598 46.8 36.0 73.7 5.0 2.5 2.4 0.6 17.6
2008–09 Virginia 34 696 42.0 28.5 74.5 5.6 3.1 2.8 0.2 20.5
2009–10 Virginia 31 734 44.6 31.3 81.1 6.5 2.5 3.7 0.6 23.7
Career 133 2540 43.6 30.1 76.8 5.7 2.6 2.8 0.4 19.1

Professional career

WNBA

Wright was selected by the Minnesota Lynx with the second overall pick in the 2010 WNBA draft.[10] She went on to be named to the WNBA's all-rookie team. In 2011 and 2012, Wright played off the bench, backing up at both guard and forward. She expanded her role in 2013, becoming the primary backup at shooting guard and point guard, averaging 9.0 points per game. She won WNBA titles with the Lynx in 2011 and 2013.

On July 20, 2015, Wright was traded to the Seattle Storm in exchange for Renee Montgomery and a 2016 second-round draft pick.[11] She missed the rest of the 2015 WNBA season due to a right knee injury. After recovering from the injury, she debuted for the Storm in 2016.[12]

Overseas

For the 2010–11 season, Wright played in Poland for Lotos Gdynia. For the 2011–12 season, she played in Turkey for Botaş SK. For the 2012–13 season, she played in Australia for the Dandenong Rangers of the WNBL.

In 2013–14, Wright played in Korea for Shinsegae One FX,[13] but left the team in December 2013, reportedly without permission.[14] For the 2014–15 season, she re-joined the Dandenong Rangers, but was released prior to the start of the season after complications with a troublesome knee arose.[15] The 2015–16 season was split between Bnot Herzliya of Israel and Keflavík of Iceland.[16]

On July 14, 2016, Wright signed with the Perth Lynx for the 2016–17 WNBL season.[17] She played in the Lynx's first four games of the season, but due to complications with a long-term knee injury, she was released by the team on October 19, 2016.[18]

National team career

Wright was selected as a member of the USA Women's U19 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Bratislava, Slovakia. The event was held in July and August 2007, when the USA team defeated Sweden to win the championship. Wright averaged 9.8 points per game and led the team in steals.[19]

Coaching career

After injuries ended her playing career, Wright turned to coaching. She was an assistant coach at Liberty University during the 2018–2019 season. In May 2019, she was hired as an assistant coach for the Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team.[3]

Personal life

Wright was once engaged to NBA superstar Kevin Durant.[17]

References
  1. "Monica Wright Bio". VirginiaSports.com. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  2. "Lynx draft Wright with 2nd overall pick". USA Today. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  3. Jeff White (26 June 2019). "Monica Wright Thrilled to Be Back at Alma Mater". news.virginia.edu. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  4. "Past WBCA HS Coaches' All-America Teams". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 1 Jul 2014.
  5. "WBCA High School All-America Game Box Scores". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 29 Jun 2014.
  6. "WBCA High School All-America Game Team MVP's". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 29 Jun 2014.
  7. Wright Named ACC Player of the Year
  8. "WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Retrieved 1 Jul 2014.
  9. "Virginia's Monica Wright named national defensive player of the year". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  10. Press, Daily. "Virginia's Monica Wright picked second in WNBA draft". dailypress.com. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
  11. Seattle Completes Trade with Minnesota; Acquires Wright
  12. Finally Healthy Again, Monica Wright Eager to Begin First Seattle Storm Season
  13. Chart: Where Lynx players are headed now
  14. Kyutae, Lee (December 5, 2013). "What happened to Kevin Durant's fiancee in Korea?". koreatimesus.com. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  15. Monica Wright Released
  16. Stjörnuleikmaður á leið til Keflavíkur (in Icelandic)
  17. Nick Rynne (July 14, 2016). "Lynx sign WNBA champion Wright". Archived from the original on August 23, 2016.
  18. PERTH LYNX RELEASE MONICA WRIGHT
  19. "Seventh FIBA Women's U19 World Championship -- 2007". USA Basketball. February 20, 2014. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
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