McKinley Wright has some unfinished business
McKinley Wright could have been one of the best players to play for the CU Buffs without ever having a tournament appearance.
On March 11, Colorado Basketball lost to Washington State in the Pac-12 tournament. Wright led the team in the losing effort, scoring 21 points with 9 rebounds.
Almost two weeks later, Wright announced that he would be entering his name into the NBA draft.
“I have decided to enter the 2020 NBA Draft process while keeping my eligibility,” Wright’s post on Twitter said, leaving many Buffs fans wondering whether the loss in Vegas would be the last time they saw McKinley in the black and gold.
But on August 2, Wright calmed their fears, quote tweeted three simple words with a ring emoji to a CU Buffs basketball tweet captioned "Unfinished business":
"1 more ride."
In a Zoom conference call with reporters, Wright said there were many factors in his decision to return to Colorado—one of them was the chance to play in the NCAA tournament.
“A childhood dream is March Madness, I’ve been watching since I was a kid,” Wright said. “I feel like we have a really good chance of going back this year, we bring back a lot of pieces.”
Returning also means Wright has the opportunity to get his college degree.
“I'll be the first in my family to ever get a college degree. So, my grandparents are really excited about that my parents are excited about that. And I’m excited about that as well.”
Because of COVID-19, much of Wright’s NBA draft process was virtual. Teams could interview him but couldn’t put him through individual workouts. Wright said he was still able to get valuable feedback on his game.
“A lot of teams gave me great feedback,” Wright said. “What I do well in transition, stuff off the ball that I do well, my competitiveness and my defensive intangibles that I use to my advantage…Areas to improve are my turnover ratio and shooting the three ball more consistent(ly).”
The star point guard says he’s been working hard at making those improvements this offseason.
“Honestly, this has been my best offseason ever in my life,” Wright said. “I have big goals this season. I want to improve all of my numbers: points, assists, rebounds, assist to turnover ratio, free throw percentage, everything.”
Going into the 2020-21 season, Wright and the Buffaloes will be without graduated seniors Lucas Siewert and Shane Gatling and Tyler Bey who declared for the NBA draft.
