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Aaron Wright certainly had the right stuff at Cerritos High School, where he recorded a triple-double in a playoff win. He began his college career on the wrong foot, as he had to redshirt after hurting his knee only 9 games into his freshman season. However, he has bounced back to become a senior leader for an Anteater team that was only 1 possession away from upsetting Louisville in last year’s NCAA tourney. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Aaron about overcoming injuries and winning the 1st Big West basketball title in school history.
You had a triple-double (20 PTS/12 REB/10 AST) for Cerritos High School in a playoff win: where does that rank among the best all-around games of your career? It is definitely up there. It was my senior year and we had always lost before in the 1st round of the playoffs, so I tried to leave it all on the court.
What made you choose UC Irvine? It is somewhat close to home and is in a great area near the beach. Another huge part was that it is a great academic school.
You play for Coach Russell Turner: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? He is the most competitive coach that I have ever played for: he hates losing as much as the rest of us do. He taught me to never give up no matter what the situation is.
9 games into your freshman season you hurt your knee and had to take a medical redshirt: how bad was the injury, and how were you able to overcome it? It was pretty bad. Overcoming it was the toughest part because I had never had a serious injury like that before. I only missed 1 game during my high school career so it was tough to miss the rest of the season, but injuries happen in sports. I just grinded it out in rehab to make sure that I could come back healthy.
In the 2014 Big West tourney you scored 4 PTS in a 3-PT loss to Cal Poly: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? It is definitely in the top-5. We beat them twice in the regular season and I know it is tough to beat a team 3 times in a year, but we should have won and made it to the tourney title game. However, you have to give it to Cal Poly: they had a hot streak at the right time of the year.
In the 2015 Big West tourney title game you scored 5 PTS in a 9-PT win over Hawaii: how big a deal was it to win the 1st Big West tourney title in school history, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? As kids we all want to make it to the NCAA tourney and when your school has never done that before it makes it even better. Everyone on campus was hyped: it is more of an academic school but people seemed to care more about sports for once. When we left to go to the NCAA tourney we had people cheering us as we got onto the bus. Our fan base has grown so much since my freshman year, which is great.
In the 2015 NCAA tourney you scored 5 PTS in a 2-PT loss to Louisville: how close did you come to winning the game, and what did you learn from the loss that you think can help you this year? We came really close: I thought we were in control of the game until the final 4 minutes. It was our 1st time on a stage like that while some of Louisville’s players had won a national title. I learned to play every possession as if you are losing rather than trying to protect a lead.
Your non-conference schedule includes games against Boise State/Oregon/Kansas: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? Kansas is going to be a big game for us. They are a great basketball school and have a great fan section. We are going to their house where they do not lose a lot of games, so we just have to play our hardest.
You return 3 of your top-4 scorers from last year (Mamadou Ndiaye/Luke Nelson/Alex Young): how crucial will all of that experience be to your team’s success this year? It was tough to lose a couple of our seniors who were big pieces of our team, but we also bring back other players who have made some big shots so there are a lot of players who will be able to step up. Even if we do not have a bunch of prolific scorers I still think that we can be a dangerous team.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? We expect to win the Big West again and make it back to the NCAA tourney. We made some history by getting there last year, but my goal this year is to win the regular season title and tourney title in the same year and then make it to the Sweet 16.