Freshman guard Austin Wright played basketball and football for the Spartans at Bixby High School.

Wright averaged 12.6 points per game as a junior, shooting 47 percent from the field, 41 percent from the three-point line and 79 percent from the free-throw line. Wright was a three-year starter and four-year letter winner on the basketball court.

 “I worked hard all through high school, it’s been my dream to play basketball at the next level. I didn’t want to fall short,” Wright said. “They’ve had a history of having freshman of the year here at southern, that’d be awesome, that’d be extreme to get freshman of the year in the conference or another big award along those lines.”

Wright is an All-Conference pick, as well as an Academic All-Conference selection. Oklahoma Hoops listed him as one of the most elite shooters in the state.

“The things we saw in Austin, was the fact that he shot the ball extremely well, we felt like he was a hard-nosed player, we felt like he was an intelligent player,” head coach Robert Corn said. “He fits the criteria that we look for in a student athlete because he’s an outstanding student. We knew that he’d be serious about getting his education and getting his degree. He’s a good person, we knew he’d represent our program the right way around campus and in the community.”

In the middle of his first season as a lion, Wright scored 19 points helping the team to a 95-69 win in a game against Missouri Western.

“Anytime you have a freshman, what you strive to get is that consistency game in and game out. As he gets more experience and gets more familiar with the league he will get that consistency,” Corn said.

Wright broke a career-high with a total of 24 points including six three-pointers while leading the lions to a 99-80 win against Lincoln University.

“I’m not a big guy, I’m a shooter, so I’ve always worked hard to be the best shooter possible, so I was always in the gym, even before and after practices. I was the only one staying after and just getting up shots and just working on that aspect of the game,” Wright said.

Wright will continue the season with the Lions Saturday against Northeastern State University.

 

Number: 1

Height: 6-1

Hometown: Bixby, Okla.

High School: Bixby HS

Position: Guard

Class: Freshman