By Aidan O’Connor | Sports Writer
At halftime versus then-No. 11 Kansas on Feb. 1, down 19 points and without freshman VJ Edgecombe, everything looked like Baylor men’s basketball was done for. ESPN’s analytics said that the Jayhawks had a 96.7% win probability.
Freshman guard Robert O. Wright III was the other 3.3%.
“We really just wanted to do whatever it takes to win,” Wright said. “When he went down, we just knew we had to fight to the end.”
Wright helped the Bears (19-14) storm back and steal an 81-70 victory, mounting the largest blown lead in Kansas program history. When their defeat looked certain, Wright dropped a career-high 24 points and brought Baylor to life. When the lights were the brightest, Wright thrived.
On March 4 against TCU, the Bears and the Horned Frogs were tied 58-58 with less than 30 seconds to play. Wright took control and drew a blocking foul that sent him to the free-throw line. With the team depending on him, he made both free throws, sealing a 61-58 win.
Wright came to Waco no stranger to the big moment. He played high school ball at Montverde Academy alongside projected No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, going undefeated and winning the national championship in his senior season.
“We had one goal since the beginning of the season, that was to win the national championship,” Wright said. “We never shortcut on each other, we all got on each other, we had disagreements — we all did everything with each other … I think us being that close, it just made it way easier on the floor, just to trust each other in those big moments.”
At Baylor, Wright made an impact immediately, eventually working his way into the starting lineup. With injuries to Edgecombe, graduate guard Jeremy Roach and junior center Josh Ojianwuna, Wright’s usage grew exponentially. He was one of only two Bears to appear in all 33 games.
“[The] thing that drives me most is just how bad I want it,” Wright said. “And then I just love the game. I mean, it’s all I like doing. It’s my favorite thing to do at any time of the day.”
Heading into the Big Dance, Wright leads the team in assists per game (4.3) and is third on the team in points per game (11.3). Wright holds the program record for assists as a freshman with 143 and counting. He also set the freshman record for most assists in a single game, dishing out 13 in a 94-69 win over Norfolk State on Dec. 11.
Wright was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team alongside Edgecombe, the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, and an All-Conference Honorable Mention.
“Rob’s a winner, and VJ’s a winner,” head coach Scott Drew said. “People ask about those two freshmen in particular — they’re happy if they score two points and we win, and they’re happy if they score 20 if that’s what it takes to win. You never doubt their intentions or their commitment to being winners. The bigger the moment, the better they play because of their desire to win for their team.”
Going into March Madness, Drew and the Bears are comfortable with Wright keeping a prominent role since he has shown this season that he can be the go-to guy to lead and finish games.
“One thing about Rob, and I think VJ will attest to this because both of them are cut from the same cloth,” Drew said. “When the game’s on the line, don’t bet against them.”
The ninth-seeded Bears will face off against eighth-seeded Mississippi State in the Round of 64 at 11:15 a.m. Friday at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C.
