Hall of Fame Player Set to Return to Old Stomping Grounds as a Head Coach
Shereka Wright returns to her Alma Mater as a coach as UT Arlington heads to West Lafayette
West Lafayette, Indiana is what you would call a college town. It’s in northern Indiana, right off of I-65, with a population of a little under 45,000.
It is the home of the Purdue Boilermakers.
Names like Drew Brees, Gene Keady, Joe Tiller, Zach Edey, and Matt Painter all come to mind.
It is the home of Brunos Pizza, a West Lafayette tradition since 1955.
West Lafayette was also home to current UT Arlington women’s basketball head coach Shereka Wright for four years.
And initially, in the recruiting process, Purdue was not one of the schools that initially recruited one of the best players out of the state of Texas.
“Funny story,” Wright said. “Purdue was not on my list of colleges. I did not hear from them. That’s the funny thing, right? All the schools that reached out, I did not hear from Purdue.”
The original plan was to possibly go to Louisiana Tech. Then-La Tech assistant Kristy Curry heavily recruited the 2000 Gatorade High School Player of the Year to Ruston.
And why wouldn’t she? Wright averaged 25 points and 10 rebounds per game as a high school senior. At the time, Wright was the 36th player in the nation and fourth player in Texas high school history to amass 3,000 points for a career.
But, life has a way of throwing some curve balls.
“I remember coming home one day, and my dad handed me a packet, and it was from Purdue,” Wright said. “It was a full package of information on it. Of course, I watched them on TV. I always remember the game when they beat Tennessee That was just one of the big moments at Purdue."
Wright continued.
“Of course I didn’t know where it was. But, it actually ended up working out really well because it was close to family. I have family in Indianapolis. And at the time, my mother and father were moving to St. Louis. No matter where I went to school. So it worked out perfect.”
That is how they (Purdue) got on the radar, according to Shereka Wright. The academic challenges were also a selling point for Wright.
“They moved up the list fairly quickly because I had a relationship with Kristy.”
If Kristy Curry doesn’t get the Purdue job, the Shereka Wright never wears the black and gold of the Boilermakers.
“Probably not,” Wright said.
“She’s probably one of the only head coaches I felt like I had a good relationship with,” Wright said about Kristy Curry. “All the phone calls came from her. That was when we could only have one call a week, and that was always her who was calling.”
It was simple. The southern charm that Kristy Curry had set well with Shereka Wright during the recruiting process.
From the home visit to pitching the vision for Wright, Curry, according to Wright, knew about her game, which was a big piece in Wright’s decision to follow Kristy Curry to West Lafayette.
“It came down to Purdue and Kansas,” Wright said. “But I wanted to go somewhere I could continue to learn, be in a position to compete at a high level, and Purdue, I felt like at that time, had that … it made the decision very easy for me.”
However, there was one aspect that almost kept Wright from going to Purdue.
Yes, it gets cold, and snowy in West Lafayette. And that was something Shereka Wright not really fond of growing up.
“Being cold was not one of the things I wanted to do. It just wasn’t. And that was a sacrifice for me.”
However, that sacrifice was made a little easier being close to family, and due to the support Boilermaker fans showed for women’s basketball.
“The fan support was unbelievable,” Wright said. “The environment, how they supported women’s basketball was one of the things that was very, very dear to me. There was not one time where you could see Mackey Arena wasn’t filled with our fans.”
To prove the doubters wrong, all you have to look at is attendance records for Purdue women’s basketball. Seven games during Wright’s four years from 2000-01 to 2003-04 are in the top-20 of the Purdue women’s basketball history books. Three of those games are in the top-6.
West Lafayette is on the banks of the Wabash River, right off of I-65. It is an hour north of Indianapolis and two hours South of Chicago. When driving on I-65, you will see just one exit listing West Lafayette as the destination.
Small and rural. You can’t see West Lafayette from the freeway. It is hidden among a forest of trees just off the beaten path.
It is a college town where if you’re not a Purdue Boilermaker fan, you are looked at as an outcast.
Mackey Arena, for both men’s and women’s basketball, is filled for every home game. Ross-Ade Stadium, even in a bad year, is sold out on a regular basis.
To put it mildly, Boilermaker fans are quite rabid in their fandom.
“It’s a true college town that supports their athletics,” Wright said. “Drew Brees was there at the time. Joe Tiller. Gene Keady. In Mackey, you’re not dealing with the heat. You’re not dealing with the air conditioner. You are in a true arena. It was a true arena to play in.”
Wright continued.
“Mackey was a different feel for you. The fans are right on top of you, almost to the point where they can sit on you. They had bench seats all around and they are right on top of you. It truly was a college environment.”
It isn’t just the fans you have to deal with at Mackey Arena. It is also the Boilermaker band.
‘The band was one of the things that was so cool,” Wright said. “They were very engaged and were loud. They knew who we were, and they knew who those teams were. It was truly a homecourt advantage.”
That homecourt advantage led to 56 wins at Mackey Arena over four years. In fact, during Shereka Wright’s time at Purdue, the Boilers were 56-3 at Mackey Arena.
During her time at Purdue, Shereka Wright earned more accolades than many can count.
Wright earned All-Freshman Team honors after averaging 9.9 points and 4.7 rebounds in her debut season. Along with that, in a magical run for the Boilers to the Final Four, Wright was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team after averaging 14.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals.
Sure, the Boilers came up a bit short in the title game to Notre Dame, but Shereka Wright put her stamp on her freshman season.
Numerous All-Big Ten First Team honors, being named a Naismith Award finalist twice, multiple Big Ten Player of the Week awards, Third Team All-American.
“I have been forever grateful for that opportunity of going to Purdue because it really shaped me and who I am today.”
Along with the individual accolades, Wright helped lead Purdue to back-to-back Big Ten Tournament titles during her junior and senior years. A trip to the Final Four. A pair of trips to the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight.
Wright was named the Big Ten tournament’s Most Outstanding Player both seasons the Boilers won the tourney.
113 wins over a four-year span.
During her senior season, Wright averaged 20.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game.
Shereka Wright is second all-time in points scored at Purdue having scored 2,251 points in her four years in West Lafayette.
Between the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons, Wright scored in double figures in 36 straight games. That streak is third-best in Purdue women’s basketball history.
All these accolades, all the wins, having her name in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Ring of Honor, and on Feb. 24, 2020 being named to the Purdue Hall of Fame.
Sunday afternoon at Mackey Arena, when Shereka Wright returns to her Alma Mater as head coach of the UT Arlington women’s basketball team, might be emotional.
Not only will Sunday be a return to the old stomping grounds for Shereka Wright. It will also be a reunion of sorts between two teammates.
Wright and the Lady Mavs will face Wright’s former teammate Katie Gearlds.
Wright and Gearlds were the leading scorers on the 2023-24 Big Ten Tournament championship squad.
And after Gearlds was inducted into the Purdue Hall of Fame in October, it can be said Sunday presents a unique moment where two Hall of Famers, two former teammates, will coach on the same floor they played on together.
“I’ll probably get choked up a little bit,” Wright said. “It’s kind of surreal. I just wanted to hoop. I see the accolades. There’s the stuff when I go back through I didn’t even know I had … But now to go back and see all these things, this is really surreal. Like, ‘did I really do this?’”
There will be some emotions prior to Sunday afternoon’s tip-off. But, as a true competitor, once the ball is tossed up, Shereka Wright will be laser-focused in trying to lead her new team to a win over her former team in a place where she knows all about what it takes to win a ball game.
“When that ball is tipped, we’re competing. We’re trying to get a win. And I know without a doubt, our players will be ready to play.”