Wright starred in basketball at Johnson High School in Savannah, Georgia.

Wright was named team captain and earned all-Big Ten honors, leading the Hoosiers in scoring with 19.9 points per game, and he was second in rebounding.

In 1990, Wright was named the head coach at Miami (Ohio),[3] replacing Jerry Peirson, who had posted four consecutive losing seasons.

[5] In his second season, 1991–92, Miami went 23–8, won the Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship with a 13–3 record, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, falling in the first round to North Carolina, 68–63.

[5] In 1993, Wright left Miami to accept the head coaching job at the University of Wyoming.

[8] In 1997, after a first-round loss in the WAC tournament, Wright resigned as Wyoming coach.

[10] In 1999, he was hired by the Harlem Globetrotters with the title Head Coach and Director of Competitive Play, which meant that he was not a traditional Globetrotters coach, but one who directed the team in truly competitive games, including against foreign national teams and major American universities.