Position: Forward
Class/Experience: Sophomore/1L
Height: 6-7
Weight: 238
Hometown: Chicago, Ill.
High School: Farragut Academy

General: Arizona's top returning scorer and rebounder for 1... All-America candidate in only his second collegiate season... Tenacious and physical power forward who was a Freshman All-American and the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year last season... One of the top power forwards in the country this year... Will help form one of the nation's best front lines... Plays hard on every possession... Started 25 of the Cats 29 games last year and averaged 13.9 ppg and 8.8 rpg... Second-leading returning rebounder in the Pac-10, trailing only Stanford's Mark Madsen... His 8.8 rpg average was the highest ever for a Pac-10 frosh... Finished No. 15 in the Pac-10 scoring race and fourth in rebounding... Scored in double figures in every game but four and had 12 double-doubles to his credit, which was the third-highest total in the Pac-10... Was selected to participate in the 1999 USA Men's National Team Trials this summer, which are used to select finalists for the 1999 USA Men's World University Games and Junior World Championship Teams... He was the squad's leading scorer (11.5 ppg) and second leading rebounder (4.9 rpg)... An active player on both ends of the floor... Left-handed... Good scorer and rebounder who, as a high school freshman, was a teammate of Minnesota Timberwolves' forward Kevin Garnett... Came from one of the top high school programs in the country and has played against top-flight competition throughout his career.

1998-99 (Freshman): Pac-10 Freshman of the Year after finishing fifth in the conference in rebounding, 15th in scoring and third in field goal percentage... Arizona's third Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, joining Sean Elliott (1985-86) and Mike Bibby (1996-97)... Honorable Mention All-Pac-10 team... A Freshman All-America selection by The Sporting News, Basketball News and College Hoops Insider... His rebounding average of 8.8 rpg was fourth in the Pac-10... His scoring average of 13.9 ppg was No. 15 in the conference... Led all Pac-10 freshmen in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage (55.6%), free throw percentage (73.6%) and minutes played (27.3 mpg)... In a conference games only, he had a field goal percentage is 58.4%... Averaged 8.8 rpg in Pac-10 play, the fourth-best average for league games... Led or tied for the team-high in rebounding a team-high 16 times... In three of the five games in which he didn't score in double figures, he had nine points... The other two, at Stanford and at home against Washington State, he was plagued by foul trouble and only played a total of 18 minutes in those two outings... Career-high 22-point night against Arizona State in Tucson... Also grabbed nine rebounds and was 8-of-10 from the floor... Matched his point output with 22 against USC in Tucson... Also led the team with 13 rebounds that night... In the NCAA Tournament against Oklahoma, scored 16 points to go with 12 boards... Team's high scorer twice - ASU in Tucson and at Brigham Young (21 points)... 13 games in which he had a field goal percentage of 60% or better.. His best performance was at New Mexico, when he scored 15 points and pulled down a career-best 17 rebounds... He had 12 boards in the first half, a total that was three short of a UA record for rebounds in a half... At Washington State, he had five rebounds in the first 2:42 of the game... Finished with a game-high 15 boards on the day... Had nine points and just missed yet another double-double... An excellent free throw shooter, he hit all 10 of his attempts in the win at Oregon... Was 9-of-10 from the line at BYU and 8-of-9 at UCLA... In Arizona's two exhibitions, he went 16-of-16 from the free throw line.

High School: An All-State performer in Illinois as a senior and finished as the No. 15 player in the country in Bob Gibbons' All Star Sports rating service... Averaged 29.5 ppg and 16 rpg as a senior and was named to the Associated Press, Chicago Sun Times and Chicago Tribune's All-State teams... Was an honorable mention high school All-America selection by USA Today... Led Farragut Academy to a 21-7 record as a senior... Also named to the Illinois State High School Association's All-State team... Played in the Kentucky Derby Classic after his senior season... Chicago Tribune High School Player of the Month for February... Played for head coach William Nelson at Farragut Academy.

Personal: Michael Wright... Born 1-7-80 in Chicago, Ill... Son of Rose Wright... Mother is a nurse... Undecided in his choice of major at the UA... A member of the 1998 USA Basketball Men's Junior World Championship Qualifying Gold Medal Team... Was the team's top scorer, averaging 15 ppg to go with the squad's second-best rebounding mark (5.0 rpg)... Shot 57% from the floor (32-of-57) and had a team-best 11 blocks as the team went 6-0 to earn the USA a spot in the 1999 FIBA junior World Championship... Scored 27 points in the team's 95-73 win over Brazil in the semifinal contest and had a team-high 10 boards in the gold medal game against Argentina... In addition to playing with the USA Basketball Men's Junior World Championship Qualifying Gold Medal team in 1998, he also played internationally with a team in Germany during his high school days... Attended three consecutive Nike camps.

Wright's Career Statistics

Season   G-GS  Min.  FG-FGA Pct. 3Pt. Pct.  FT-FTA Pct.  OR/DR  Tot./Avg. Ast. St. Blk. TO PF-DQ Pts.-Avg.
1998-99 29-25  791  135-243 .556 0-2  .000 134-182 .736 103/151  254/8.8   8   12   13  47  68-1  404-13.9

Season  G-GS Min. FG-FGA Pct. 3Pt. Pct. FT-FTA Pct. OR/DR Tot./Avg. Ast. St. Blk. TO PF-DQ Pts.-Avg.
1998-99 1-1   34   6-13  .462 0-0  ---   4-5   .800  7/5    12/12.0  1    1   2    2  3-0    16-16.0