Oregon State Basketball: Christian Wright injury another blow to Beavers

Transfer Christian Wright was supposed to have a big impact on Oregon State Basketball this season. An injury may take him out for a while.

It’s been an absolutely rough year for Oregon State Basketball, both on and off the court. They finished a dreadful 3-28 (1-19) last season after making the Elite 8 the year prior. And in the offseason, the top five players in terms of production either went pro or transferred out, including most recently, Warith Alatishe.

The backcourt lost its two key guards in Jarod Lucas and Dashawn Davis and on paper, failed to replace either of them in terms of proven talent and production. However, the Beavers did land a transfer this offseason in Christian Wright, who averaged 5.3 ppg and 2.0 apg in 22 mpg as a freshman at Georgia.

Wright, a former three-star prospect out of high school, had 11 starts as the team’s combo guard and backup point and had several big games as well. It includes 17 points in the upset win over Memphis and 16 points in the loss to Auburn. But like all freshmen, he was up and down in year one. He’s the best guard on paper for Oregon State and was set to get a large role and likely start but recent news may change things.

Wright reportedly suffered a torn meniscus during the team’s offseason tour and is set to be out for at least a couple of months. The hope is that it’s not season-ending and that he maybe can return in Pac-12 play but for a roster already devoid of talent, this is a brutal blow.

As far as options going forward, Dexter Akanno is likely to take over at lead guard. The transfer from Marquette averaged 4.9 ppg and 0.8 apg and started 17 games and is one of the lone rotation players back from last season. He shot just 37% from the field though and he needs to be more efficient as well. There’s also incoming freshman Jordan Pope, who is a more traditional point guard and will get minutes but whether or not he’s ready to compete at the Pac-12 level remains to be seen.

Christian Wright may not seem like one of the more impact transfers from the offseason but he was expected to be key for Oregon State Basketball. With him gone though, the Beavers will have to find a way to replace him… without many options to work with.