Carlon Brown. Josh Fortune. Derrick White. Two of the three have NBA-level experience and All-Pac-12 honors. They are three of the four transfers that Colorado Buffaloes Head Coach Tad Boyle has recruited into the program during his seven year tenure. Each one of them played a significant role at some point in their respective careers. The next transfer in line to play a key role on the Colorado Basketball team is 6-foot-5 junior Namon Wright.
Wright transferred to Colorado from the University of Missouri in 2016 following his sophomore season where he averaged 9.6 points per game and led the team in rebounding with 5.2 per contest. However, he sat out the 2016-17 season as a redshirt in the Colorado basketball program per NCAA rules. Injuries plagued his developmental year and he missed a good portion of practice over the course of last season.
Following the departure of fifth year senior’s White, Fortune, Xavier Johnson and Wesley Gordon, Wright looks to play a big role on the 2017-2018 Buffs. ”He’s a good athlete with great size and very skilled,” Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said. “He’s a young man who checks a lot of the boxes we’re looking for. We’ll have a need for size on the wing. Namon is a good fit in a number of ways for us. He has a chance to be a very good player for us.”
The first chance that Wright had to see competitive basketball in the last two years was during the Buffaloes’ preseason trip to Italy. It became evident right away that the Buffs would need Namon’s scoring in 2017-18. He was one of three Buffaloes who averaged double-figure scoring with 10.2 points per game and led the team in 3-point shooting percentage (50 percent). Outside of scoring, he contributed 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
During his two seasons at Missouri, Wright averaged 8.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 61 career games with the Tigers. Wright scored in double figures 21 times in two years and posted a career-high 28 points against the Florida Gators as a freshman.
