The Wright presence in women’s basketball
Assistant women’s basketball coach Falisha Wright was born and raised across the continent, on the East Coast. Representing Patterson, N.J., Wright is in her fourth year of coaching at Portland State.
Wright comes from a family of three brothers and a twin sister, who played along side of her all the way through college. Wright’s talent shined through early on, while starting and playing four years of varsity at John F. Kennedy High School.
In her four years, her team recorded totaled 115 wins and only four losses. All four years, Wright was an all-state, all-county and all-district selection in her equivalent to a 4A school in Oregon.
Upon graduation, Wright was the all-time leading scorer in Passaic County with more than 2,000 points. She also led her team in scoring three out of four years, averaging about 29 points per contest her senior year.
She was heavily recruited by colleges and universities from all over the nation. After narrowing it down to just four (North Carolina State, the University of Connecticut, Old Dominion and San Diego State), Wright decided in the end to follow a coach whom she wanted to play for from N.C. State who was hired as head coach at San Diego State.
“I was looking to go out of state to play, I didn’t care about conferences. I liked the coach and wanted to get an education. She was looking to rebuild the program, and I thought my talent would help,” Wright said.
At San Diego State, Wright was a four-year starter and was twice voted team captain. She was the Aztecs’ leading scorer for three consecutive years and a three-time All Western Athletic Conference selection. She was named to All-WAC Defensive Team in 1995, and to the All-WAC Tournament team three years and All-Academic in 1995.
Wright led her team to three post-season NCAA appearances, as well. A three-time Kodak All-American Honorable Mention Selection, “Fe,” as some friends call her, finished her career first all-time in assists and three-pointers made, second in scoring and steals, and fourth in free throws made.
Following a brilliant college career, Wright took her talent to the professional level. She was the first player ever to be drafted in the American Basketball League (ABL) from San Diego State. Wright played two years with the Portland Power under ex-Portland State women’s coach Greg Bruce.
In 1996, the inaugural season for the pro women’s league, Wright played as a free agent on temporary contracts. Linn Dunn was hired to finish out the season as head coach half way through the season and signed Wright to a contract for the remainder of the year and then into the next season.
The Power, whcih finished last place in the 1996-97 season, finished as Western Conference Champions in 1997-98 with Wright as a full-time starter. The next season, Wright was picked up in an expansion draft by the Nashville Noise. Wright was the starting point guard there and leader in steals until the ABL went under in December 1998.
“I’m a passionate, intense, competitive player who plays with a lot of pride and refuses to lose. I grew up playing street ball with lots of guys, so I had to be mentally tough and competitive. I’ve brought that same mentality to coaching,” Wright said.
Wright believes consistency is the key to winning games. She holds two memories as her greatest sports moments, first as getting a full scholarship to play Division I to further her education. Then playing professionally, playing in her first game as a professional athlete. Just last year, Wright was inducted into the John F. Kennedy High School Hall of Fame to boost her spectacular resume even further.
“I believe the (PSU) program is headed in the right direction. Slowly but surely we’re going to believe defense wins games. To defend and rebound is what we need to do to be successful. We don’t have to be the most talented, but just fundamentally sound,” said Wright.
Head coach George Wolfe can attest to the greatness of coach Wright as an ex-player and coach.
“We just had to get her on our staff. When I was coaching at Hawaii, she was our worst nightmare when we played against her team at San Diego State. She made all the clutch plays down the stretch, just a great player … dang it!” Wolfe said.
