Antoine Domonick Wright (born February 6, 1984) is
an American professional basketball player for the
NBA's Dallas Mavericks. He was selected 15th overall
in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Nets (the highest pick
from the Big 12 Conference that year and in Texas
A&M University history until Acie Law was drafted
11th in the 2007 NBA Draft), after his junior year
at Texas A&M University. He attended preparatory
school at Lawrence Academy at Groton; in 2002, he
led the Spartans to an Independent School League
Basketball Championship.
Wright was born in West Covina, California to Wanda
Wright. He has an older brother, Wayne, and a
younger sister, Courtine.
Wright attended the Lawrence Academy prep school in
Groton, Massachusetts, where in his three seasons he
started 115 games and amassed 1800 points, 500
rebounds, 350 assists, 170 steals and 200 blocked
shots. His career single game highs were 50 points,
14 rebounds, and 8 assists.
As a sophomore (1999-2000), Wright averaged 20
points per game, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, helping
his school to a 15-12 record and earning him All-ISL
and team MVP honors. The following year, his junior
season, the team improved to a 23-2 record and
Number 11 state ranking behind Wright's average 23.0
points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists per game. He was
named MVP of the 2001 playoffs and earned All-ISL
and All-Scholastic honors.
In his senior year, Wright, who averaged 26.5
points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists, was again named
the MVP of the playoffs and earning All-ISL and
All-Scholastic rankings as his team reached a Number
7 state ranking. Wright was named the Number 1 prep
shooting guard in the country by ESPN.com, who also
ranked him the Number 4 overall prospect. He was
also named third-team Parade All-American. He was
also dismissed from the High School months before
graduating for disciplinary reasons.
Wright joined the USA Basketball Junior World
Championship Qualifying Team in 2002, with the team
earning a bronze medal for their 4-1 record and
wright averaged 6.8 points per game, 4.4 rebounds
per game, and a team second best 2.4 steals per
game. The medal qualified the team for a berth in
the 2003 FIBA Junior World Championships. He
recorded tournaments bests of 10 points in the USA's
preliminary round victory over the Dominican
Republic and seven rebounds in their semifinal loss
to Venezuela.
Wright was heavily recruited, entertaining
scholarship offers from schools including Arizona,
Maryland, Connecticut, UNC, Texas and Arizona State
University. He chose to attend Texas A&M University
and play under coach Melvin Watkins, primarily to
show his loyalty to the coaching staff who had
noticed him long before the other schools began
wooing him.
