Sophomore Marquis Wright led the Saints in more ways than one last season.
The 6′ point guard was given the ball to start their foreign trip in Montreal and hardly relinquished it throughout the season. Wright led the team in minutes, assists and tied senior Rob Poole for 37 starts in 38 games last season.
The toughest factors to handle, after getting the ball from the first game, was the pressure. Wright’s game isn’t without flaws, he made just under 70% of his free throws and led the team with just over three turnovers per game.
“I want to say keeping the turnovers down that’s one of my main goals for this upcoming season and handling pressure,” Wright said. “I know that coach is telling me that they wanted the ball in my hands more, like this season coming up, so when people foul I will have to make the free throws.”
Last season, Wright got stronger as the season progressed, racking up his first two double-doubles in February. He also showed the ability to score, racking up double-digit point games in seven of the team’s final 17 games.
“I feel like I got stronger with the ball throughout from November, December to all the way up to March,” Wright said. “I felt like I got more under control, more confident in my coaches and my team. They know I handle the ball, so most likely when we need the ball in my hands, they’ll find me.”
Other than working on his free throws and controlling the ball, Wright would like to develop his outside stroke after shooting just 7-38 on three-pointers last season. He said it’s what he worked on the most this past summer.
Ryan Restivo wrote the America East conference preview for the 2014-15 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. He covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the America East conference and Hofstra for Big Apple Buckets. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ryanarestivo or contact Ryan at rrestivo[at]nycbuckets.com.
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From late January on (17 games) Wright shot 60/75 from the foul line (80%). I’m confident that you’ll see him around 80% or better for the entire season in 2014-2015. He actually shot decently from the field at 42%. If he can just get his three-point shot up to a respectable number around 30% and force the defense to respect his shot he’ll have a huge season. He is also a very good defender. His turnovers will go down with more experience and being stronger with the ball. Best PG in the MAAC IMO.
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