Could McKinley Wright become the best four-year player in CU history?
McKinley Wright was awarded the Chauncey Billups Most Valuable Player Award during a team celebration on zoom Wednesday evening.
That’s his third time in three years winning the award which has been awarded over Tad Boyle's tenure.
The only other player to win the award three times was Josh Scott from 2013 to 2016.
As long as he returns for his senior season, as most expect, Wright has the chance to become the first four-year winner of the MVP award.
There have been really good players that have come through the Colorado basketball program. Chauncey Billups is the most notable.
Billups’ two seasons with the Buffaloes will be unforgettable and will be hard to top. There’s a reason the award is named after him.
But could McKinley Wright be the best four-year CU hoops player of all-time? Or at least in the Boyle era?
It is certainly possible.
The best four-year player during Boyle’s tenure is undoubtedly Josh Scott. Alec Burks, Spencer Dinwiddie and Andre Roberson all left for the NBA a year or two early. Derrick White would not count as, though he exhausted his eligibility, he did not play all four years for the Buffs.
Askia Booker can be argued due to his scoring prowess. But Scott had a bigger impact on games and sits third all-time on CU’s rebounding list.
When the conversation expands to all-time, Cliff Meely and Shaun Vandiver aren’t eligible as they were both junior college transfers.
Richard Roby and Cory Higgins sit atop the all-time scoring list. But neither of them stuffed the stat sheet in any other category nor did they win many games.
Donnie Boyce deserves a mention as he averaged 18.6 points per game and sits at No. 3 on the all-time scoring list.
Where Wright separates himself is the assists. He’s already second in CU history in assists and, with a healthy senior season, will easily pass Jay Humphries as CU’s all-time leading passer. He needs 61 assists to do it.
Wright has already had three seasons in the top ten list of assists in a season. Something Billups didn’t do once.
His 1,370 points puts him at 13th all-time on CU’s list. If he continues the pace he’s on, he will pass Josh Scott for eighth all-time in points. But he is in firing range of Stevie Wise and Askia Booker on the list. Which would put him at sixth all-time.
Sixth all-time in points and first all-time in assists would absolutely put him in the conversation as the best four-year player of all-time.
The elephant in the room is NCAA tournament appearances. He has yet to play in the tournament. He would absolutely have to make it next season to even think about having him in the conversation. Ultimately it is a team sport and, yeah, they would have played in it this season but with how this season turned finished, he needs to make it next season.
Other players awarded during the ceremony last night were Tyler Bey (Best Defensive Player) Evan Battey (Most Inspirational), they might as well name that award after Battey, and Eli Parquet (Most Improved).
