Colorado Basketball: McKinley Wright IV underwent surgery on shoulder

Colorado basketball’s star McKinley Wright IV recently underwent successful surgery on his left shoulder. What is the impact moving forward?

Colorado basketball sophomore point guard McKinley Wright IV underwent successful surgery Monday for a torn left labrum that he suffered a few months back in a team practice. The Buffs point guard took to Twitter to give an update on his status.

Wright, 20, aggravated his left shoulder in Colorado’s home loss to the Washington Huskies on Jan. 12, tallying just two points in 12 minutes of action. Wright would miss the following game on the road against the Utah Utes, losing by the final score of 78-69. With that loss, Colorado fell to 10-7 on the season with a record of 1-4 in conference play.

Thankfully for the Buffs, that would be the only game Kin would miss the remaining of the year. The Buffs rallied behind the return of their point guard. Wright averaged 13.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists during the final 13 games of conference play, pushing the Buffaloes to a 9-4 record. With the strong finish, Colorado locked up the five seed in the Pac-12 tournament.

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Wright, alongside teammate Tyler Bey, earned All Pac-12 First Team honors for the 2018-19′ season. Wright averaged 13.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.8 assists while shooting 49.4% from the field during the 2018-19 campaign.

As far as the postseason goes, the Buffs played in six games; three of which in the Pac-12 Tournament and three in the NIT Tournament. Over those six games, Wright averaged 13.0 points, 4.2 assists, and 5.5 rebounds — almost identical to his season average.

Colorado’s season ended last Wednesday night, falling to the Texas Longhorns in the quarterfinals of the NIT tournament.

Wright could have easily opted for surgery down the stretch of the season, especially with the way things were going for Colorado at the time. The point guard displayed both leadership and toughness, showing everyone he wasn’t going to let his injury affect him not being on the court with his teammates.