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Utah Utes: The case for Delon Wright to win Player of the Year

By Daniel Tran

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Utah basketball can thank Player of the Year candidate Delon Wright for being currently ranked No. 12 in the nation and in good position to make the NCAA Tournament.

Buried in the mountains on the west side of Salt Lake City, The University of Utah is used to being overlooked and forgotten in the national landscape of college basketball. If you are a player for the Utes, forget about receiving any recognition unless you are a 7’0 behemoth averaging 20 points and 12 rebounds or a guard that takes the NCAA tournament by storm. However, the latter may happen sooner rather than later.

17 years after Andre Miller led the Utes past the defending national champion Arizona Wildcats in the Elite Eight and into the National Championship Game in 1998, senior guard Delon Wright is following in his footsteps and has Utah in a position to make a similar run in this years NCAA Tournament. Like Andre Miller, Wright’s overall talent while lacking elite athleticism will have him strongly considered for multiple player-of-the-year awards.

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Though he does not possess otherworldly quickness or explosive jumping ability, Wright is able to penetrate the defense with hesitation moves and good footwork, which allows him to efficiently score close to the basket where he is shooting 61.8 percent from inside the three-point arc and averaging 15.1 points per game. Wright also leads the Pac-12 conference in effective field goal percentage at 58.4 percent and is ranked 8th in the nation with an offensive rating of 135. Scoring is not his only strength.

Averaging 5.9 assists per game (16th in the nation), Wright’s ability to finish also opens things up for his teammates on the outside. Though his usage rate is third on the team at 23.1 percent, he has the second best turnover percentage with 12.6 percent.

Defensively, the help that Wright receives from his frontcourt allows him to be more aggressive on ball handlers and in the passing lanes on the perimeter, resulting in 2.3 steals per game (17th in the nation). His defense on the perimeter has earned him a defensive rating of 84, which is second among Pac-12 guards.

His overall contributions have led to the 4.8 win shares, which is the highest in the country. His talent has also netted him the sixth-best player efficiency rating in the nation at 32.3, behind beasts like the significantly more recognized Jahlil Okafor and Frank Kaminsky.

Though he may not be at the top or near the top on many offensive categories nationwide, Wright’s leadership and production for a really good Utah basketball team should have him as a finalist for many player-of-the-year awards. Let’s face it; Utah is not exactly stacked with five-star recruits and All-Americans like Kentucky or Duke.

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Sure, the surprising immergence of Jakob Poeltl and improvement of Jordan Loverridge have helped propel Utah to as high as No. 8 in the AP poll, but it is Wright, the former junior college transfer, who has guided this team to within striking distance of Arizona for the regular season Pac-12 title.

Though they have lost to Arizona, Kansas, and San Diego State, they also have great wins against Wichita State who were ranked eighth in the nation at the time and UNLV. In games against ranked opponents, Wright is averaging 13.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 2.3 steals a game. That kind of overall brilliance is worth of award consideration.

So while monsters like Stanley Johnson, Okafor, and Willie Cauley-Stein garner all the attention on their star-studded teams, the gem of a player that is hidden in the mountains of Utah may be college basketballs brightest.

Next: Indiana Hoosiers: Assembly Hall becoming fierce facility

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