Understated Utah Star Delon Wright Is Too Good to Overlook Any Longer

Utah’s two radio broadcasters were handed stat sheets after a big December win at BYU.

The game’s star, Delon Wright, still anxiously shoulder-surfed on the Marriott Center floor.

How many turnovers? In this case, more than he bet on. “Dang, gotta work on that,” Wright muttered.

But that was a rare case where expectations worked against him.

Wright’s sensible yet extraordinary game is like a fun-house mirror, his shape seemingly always distorted in provocative ways.

Can a star get hype via nuance? In the age of analytics and 24-hour rotating draft boards that tend to favor freshmen and foreigners, not to mention cultural senior-phobia, can one still be sneaky good?

A senior, he’s really just starting to garner attention.

Rick Bowmer/Associated Press

An assist machine, he still takes far more shots than any other Ute in an offense that generally tends to pound the ball.

His stats haven’t really jumped from last winter. But he’s posted eerily similar numbers while requiring 4.5 fewer minutes per game.

Getting the picture? The country is, for sure. A quiet type in general, Wright’s numbers are screaming volumes as a legitimate National Player of the Year candidate.

The 6'5" brother of an NBA player (who never required college seasoning) has been patient to follow Dorell. He’s getting a nationwide following, even as NBA draft pundits still don’t consider him a lottery pick this summer.

“If one player has it in his mind that he’s going to do a great job on Delon Wright, it can still be a disaster,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said after the Jan. 17 handling of Utah.

Yet even Miller got caught snoozing in the heat of battle against a guy averaging in the neighborhood of 15 points and six assists along with roughly four rebounds and a couple of steals.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

He confessed as much to reporters after mulling one of his team's initial play calls. Wright picked an early pass and quickly posted Utah’s first seven points for a first-quarter lead. “That was my fault,” Coach Miller said. “I called the wrong play. (Wright) just took the ball and went down and dunked it. Made it look so easy. He can beat you in a lot of ways.”

It's those kinds of plays, made consistently by Wright, that have made Utah one of the great reclamation projects during the last two years.

But not many Pac-12 teams are built like the Wildcats. Arizona soon stuffed passing and cutting lanes. Wright tied his total from the BYU game with a season-high four turnovers, and Utah lost 69-51 to end a seven-game win streak. He still had 10 points, seven assists and four rebounds.

There are limitations to Wright’s impact. But not like what most once figured.

Wright has been mostly thriving since his 2-of-13 clunker at San Diego State in November, when the Utes lost 53-49. For instance, he made 12 of 23 shots and added 17 rebounds and 10 assists in back-to-back December wins against Wichita State and BYU. That elevated him into the All-America picture.

The 3 POY candidates	Points/game	Rebounds/game	Assists/game	Blocks/game	Steals/game
D. Wright, Utah	14.6	4.3	6.1	0.8	2.3
J. Okafor, Duke	18.5	9.0	1.4	1.5	0.7
F. Kaminsky, Wisconsin	17.2	8.2	2.4	1.7	1.0

"I told Delon, he's got a large target on his chest," Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said after that defeat. "He's got a lot of accolades, and you're gonna see some people's best pitch. I know how we are and we're playing people who are considered really good players."

His junior college coach, Justin Labagh, notes it’s fitting that Wright is just getting mentioned.

“He’s a great kid, he just doesn’t talk much,” Labagh said lightheartedly during a phone interview with Bleacher Report. “If you were in a room with him, you’d have to continue the conversation. He’s just kind of a mute.”

To some, Wright’s worthiness as POY may have been muzzled in Tucson. He had a chance to gain momentum while Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky sat out and Duke freshman Jahlil Okafor lost a couple of games leading up to Utah's trip to the desert.

But consider not only what Wright does, but what he does with the supporting cast and the game plan. Remember, Utah produced a total of 21 wins in Krystkowiak's first two years in Salt Lake City. Utah hit blackjack last year, Wright's first, and should easily exceed that now.

The 16-3 Utes, ranked No. 11 in the AP Top 25, head to California on Thursday to face UCLA while trying to maintain a first-place tie with Arizona.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Wright makes his shots (53.9 percent) and bolsters a slow offense. Wright is second in the Pac-12 in assists with 6.1, even as the Utes have taken the fewest shots.

The only thing that holds back his national profile is a strong case of normalcy. His team isn't particularly exciting to watch, considering pace of play. Analytics guru Ken Pomeroy, who lives in Utah, has seen him play on numerous occasions and is perhaps most amazed that he’s not more enamored.

“It’s not like you’re necessarily in awe of him,” Pomeroy told Bleacher Report. “He’s a unique combination. He’s unbelievably reliable scoring around the rim, but he doesn’t really dunk. He’s had subtle improvements this year. But add them all up, and it’s really big.”

Near-home schools USC and UCLA yawned and passed, though poor grades detoured him to junior college anyway. Success at City College of San Francisco resulted in minimal major-program attention.

Labagh said schools like Cal State Fullerton and Portland State were the first to express interest. He called some connections at lower-tier Pac-12 schools “because I really thought he could play in that conference.” Wright labeled Washington as a dream scenario, Labagh said, but the Huskies didn’t bite.

Wily Low/Associated Press

It took a couple of phone calls with a Utah assistant to get Krystkowiak to take real notice.

Slow praise trended in Salt Lake City too. Pomeroy recalls one Pac-12 coach whispering that Wright’s game had tailed off late last season. Utah’s underwhelming schedule through November and December supposedly evened out Wright’s impact.

That theory wasn’t a true reflection either.

All Wright did was finish second in the conference in steals and rank in the top 13 during conference play in scoring, rebounding, assists, field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage (catch breath here) and blocked shots.

Utah would’ve been in the NCAA tournament last March had it not scheduled so soft. So even the Utes themselves misjudged their bountiful star to a degree.

And how far he could take them. And how high he can go.

The odd counterbalance, as he mostly stays below the radar and rim: Wright’s known vividly these days for two dunks.

He hammered down a we-belong slam against Kansas in what turned out to be a narrow mid-December win for the Jayhawks (Wright had 23 points, four assists and four steals in the 21-point rally).

Utah radio voice Bill Riley says even more of the Ute community is talking about the dandy at BYU that came with six minutes left.  

Wright picked off a driving Tyler Haws at the top of the key, raced across the court and beat two Cougars to the rim with a wraparound move. Even a complimentary BYU official approached Riley, so impressed by Wright’s skill set.

“He’s just kind of gotten a little better in every area,” Riley said of this year, as attention has followed the Utes—who are a virtual lock to make their first NCAA tournament since 2009.

Labagh said he hears all the time how Wright should get to the rim more often. But the truth is, that’s just how Utah is built now.

Wright isn’t chasing basket-filled headlines like Doug McDermott or firing three-pointers insistently like Marcus Smart last season. He’s nowhere close to BYU legend Jimmer Fredette, who captivated a country during his 2011 three-for-all.

Wright is a better three-point shooter than last year by nearly 10 percentage points, but he still averages just two tries a game.

He will make himself look casual on defense too. He'll drift, getting Riley to wonder why. Labagh said Wright’s done it for years—tempting opponents to pass.

Steve Dykes/Associated Press

Then comes the steal, Wright’s IQ and wingspan in perfect vision in a season he says he couldn’t have predicted—and others are latching on to.

Labagh constantly gets calls from NBA reps these days. His pitch is simple.

Look at Wright’s background. His big brother is a pro. He grew up around pros during the summer. They allowed him to play, but he developed a valuable little-brother mentality. They didn't allow him to shoot, but he could do a variety of things to win approval.

“It was like, ‘You can play with us, if you don’t screw it up,’” Labagh said.

That’s been the start of so much more.

Jason Franchuk covered BYU basketball for the Provo (Utah) Daily Herald for 11 years, including all of "Jimmer Mania," and now resides in Albany, New York. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.