The Wright choice

Big 12 coaches tap Jayhawk preseason freshman of the year

Julian Wright is delighted the Big 12 Conference’s basketball coaches Monday tapped him preseason freshman of the year.

At the same time, the 6-foot-8, 218-pound Kansas University freshman from Chicago believes any of the Jayhawks’ Fab Four rookies easily could have snared the esteemed honor.

“We are a great freshman class,” Wright said before practice Monday, graciously accepting the honor. “We’re working hard. Hopefully, we can all contribute in different ways. I would love for any of the four of us to be on the ballot for freshman of the year as the year goes on.”

Wright, Mario Chalmers and Micah Downs enter as McDonald’s All-Americans. Brandon Rush was ineligible for that honor since he competed at a prep school –not a regular high school — the past two seasons.

“We support each other in all we do,” said Wright, who averaged 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists per game last year at Homewood-Flossmoor High.

Wright was recognized on the same day Oklahoma senior Taj Gray was voted preseason player of the year and OU guard Michael Neal and OSU forward Mario Boggan captured co-newcomer-of-the-year accolades.

Kansas University freshman forward Julian Wright was tapped Big 12 Conference freshman of the year by the league's coaches in their preseason poll. Wright was the lone Jayhawk honored by the Big 12 coaches in voting released Monday.

“Being surrounded by so much talent here, there is not pressure on me to perform,” Wright said, indicating the honor would not burden him.

“I just want to go out there and do the little things, learn from a great coaching staff on small things and be the best teammate I can be.”

He joins David Padgett (2004 along with OU’s Drew Lavender) and Nick Collison (2000) as KU’s only two preseason freshmen of the year.

“This is the first time I’ve received a prediction before I even played my first college game,” Wright said. “It’s an honor to be recognized for the potential I have and the upside. Hopefully they (coaches) can recognize the way I play, just like I did in high school, where stats don’t matter. I don’t look at stats.”

KU coach Bill Self believes Wright and his three freshmen comrades are capable of posting decent first-year numbers.

“Everyone knew Julian was a great prospect coming in,” Self said, “but we also have three other great freshmen prospects as well. Julian will be the first to tell you although it’s nice that people recognize him, he’d much rather be recognized at the end of the season.”

The Big 12 on Monday also announced its all-league squad, and for the first time since 1998-99 (when KU placed second in the league) the Jayhawks had no honorees. KU also had no honorable-mention players, getting shut out on the ballot for the first time in Big 12 history.

The first team consisted of Gray, Daniel Gibson and P.J. Tucker (Texas), Curtis Stinson (Iowa State) and JamesOn Curry (Oklahoma State). Honorable mention picks included Aaron Bruce, Baylor; Kevin Bookout and Terrell Everett, Oklahoma; LaMarcus Aldridge and Brad Buckman, Texas; Joseph Jones, Texas A&M; and Jarrius Jackson and Martin Zeno, Texas Tech.